Black Panther and the Errors of Russia

T'Challa: You want to see us become just like the people you hate so much! Divide and conquer the land as they did!
Killmonger: Nah, I learned from my enemies. Beat them at they own game.
T'Challa: You have become them! You will destroy the world, Wakanda included! (Black Panther, 2018

Here is the secret that should no longer be a secret.

Here is the truth about the state of the world today.

We are ruled, many of us, in our hearts and in our minds, by the "errors of Russia"--by the errors that Russia unleashed on the world, beginning in 1917. We know this because Our Lady of Fatima told us so. Those errors are many, and have spread across the world, causing the destruction of many nations. They continue to poison our world to this day, and are perhaps the dominant cause of conflict right now.

You can see them on full display in Marvel's Black Panther--that is, you can see those errors detected, exposed, and left out for all to see.

What are those errors?

We can detect them and their slimy trail by examining Russia's history shortly before 1917 through 1929 and by looking at the errors' first great historical effect: causing World War II.

Briefly, here are some of the errors:

• "Anything in the name of." That is, being willing to do anything, no matter how evil, in the name of a cause or entity. Even the Jesuits, famous for their absolute obedience to their superiors and to the Holy Father, have always had a caveat to that obedience: They are not bound to commit mortal sin under obedience to a superior. Nothing and no one is worth losing our souls, not even God. God calls us to give everything to Him, not be willing to do anything without limits in His service. He is a God of order, a God who gives rules and binds Himself with covenants. He is not the unfettered, lawless, willfull bully in the sky. The heart and core of the errors of Russia is this: "anything in the name of." We see this in Black Panther in Killmonger's willingness to kill indiscriminately in the name of justice, to do anything in the name of liberation, even take away liberty; to do anything in the name of justice, even to commit injustice; to do whatever it takes to set the African diaspora free, even by subjugating the rest of the world and whatever Africans might be loyal to T'Challah.
• Communism. This is one of the clearest errors of Russia, and one of the deadliest. But Communism is not one single idea. It is a complex web of ideas, consisting of a number of errors intertwined with some truths. The best way to discern its errors and sort out what is true is to go deeply into the life and writings of Pope St. John Paul II, a man of long experience in living under the terror of Soviet Communist rule, as well as an intellectual man of faith who could pick out the truths that swayed people to become fellow travelers with the Communist system. The errors contained within Communism include:
• Atheism. As has been clearly pointed out in works such as de Lubac's The Drama of Atheist Humanism, atheism destroys human dignity in the name of human dignity, stripping away the religious understanding of the meaning of humanity and history, and replacing it with a howling void. Catholicism's answer comes in Gaudium et Spes, 22.
• An idolatrous approach to history, and ironically, an ahistorical one. Marx replaced the "day of the Lord" with the Revolution in his system, expecting historical processes to somehow produce a day of perfect justice without an eternal, omniscient just judge. He expected, really, everything to sort itself out in the end. History would right every wrong.
• The two most important realities in human history are political power and economics, or money. These are the prime movers of all of history, and necessary and sufficient explanations for every motive, every action, every aspect of human history. You can see this error on full display in every political party's campaign strategies and in every news network's broadcasts. What truly matters? What truly rests behind every shift of culture, every human act? Power and money get "serious" coverage. Everything else is practical (the weather; traffic), entertainment (sports, movies, TV shows, morning shows, etc.), or human interest puff pieces. Hence, the media both is certain that entertainment is just entertainment, never to blame for a change in morality or any serious consequences. At the same time, advertising is a multibillion dollar business. And of course, the press just doesn't GetReligion

There are more, and there is much more to discuss in Black Panther, and indeed, in all the Marvel movies, some of the greatest proclamations of the Gospel of Life out there. But let me just close by saying once again: We have all the clarity we need on the solution to the problems of today, problems caused or exacerbated by the errors of Russia.

We are to turn to the Immaculate Heart.

We are make the First Saturdays devotion--at least the five, but really, I think that those of us who know of this devotion and its importance should make a committment to try to be faithful to it as best we can to the end of our lives. If we hope to lead others to it, we must be setting an example of taking it seriously and in finding it doable and rewarding.

We should be praying the Rosary daily for peace in the world, as Our Lady of the Rosary requested at Fatima. Getting a blessed image of the Immaculate Heart (or even better, of the Alliance of the Two Hearts) up in your home is a good move. Lighting a blessed candle in her honor, etc.--all very good.

And do the works of mercy. Pick one. Stick with it. Perform them faithfully. (And, speaking as someone who's bad at it, be nice to yourself when you don't stick with it. Pick yourself back up, get to Confession, and start again.)

We are to become immaculate through the grace of God, given in the Sacraments, given in Christ. We are to become like Mary, and thereby overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are to become what we love, not what we hate. We are to become good in order to fight evil, not become evil in order to overmaster the former Dark Lord. Victory looks like Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn, not Saruman, Denethor, and Gollum; like Aslan, not the White Witch.