None Dare Call It Treason

A review of John Stormer's book by Carrie Hurd
Note: Carrie wrote this review for our local homeschool support group's April, 2001 newsletter.

As we have shared in past newsletters, we love to haunt any place that sells books. I recently picked up a book at the local food bank garage sale whose author looked familiar. With a quick read of the back cover the little old paperback went into my bag. It wasn't until a few weeks later that my oldest daughter, Lindsey, came to me saying, "Mom, have you read any of this book yet? You've got to read this, it is fascinating." Again, a few days later she came to me and said "Mom, at least read this chapter on education." Thus was my introduction to one of the most intriguing books I have read in some time.

The book, None Dare Call It Treason, by John A. Stormer was written in 1964 and sold over a million copies in just 6 months. It is a very readable compilation of facts from hundreds of Congressional investigations of communism and books written at that time on communism and socialism. I don't remember learning much about communism in high school or college, and never learned about the communist takeovers of Poland, Rumania, China, Korea and Cuba. This book defines and exposes communism from the 1940's - 1960's and also the part many in our government played in supporting the Communists -- fascinating!

This book is a must read for us as homeschoolers, if for no other reason than the chapter on education. Stormer presents an excellent history of John Dewey and other education reformers and their communist influence on the American education system. This book reads a bit like present day conspiracy theory book, but it was written 40 years ago, and the things he wrote about have happened and are present realities that we see all around us. Some of the other topics included in this chapter are: Textbook Revisions, Class Hatred (multiculturalism), Anti-Free Enterprise (look at Bill Gates), In the Lower Grades (the intentional erosion of academic achievement) and Internationalism (vs. patriotism).

I guess the most amazing and shocking revelation for me was the full understanding of the enslavement and murder of 600 million people under Lenin and Stalin. Add to this the millions who are still enslaved in communist China. We should think of these men and women in China, who today are being forced to abort their children and who are mutilated and killed if they dare go against the communist government and have more than one child. Communism is not dead. We and our children need to understand it and remember that it still very much exists today.

In the middle of reading None Dare Call It Treason, I providentially began reading The Pastor's Wife by Sabina Wurmbrand. I didn't even think about it being related to the Stormer book until I was half way through it (I could not put it down, I was worthless for almost an entire day). In 1949, when Soviet propaganda was asserting that free Christian worship was being tolerated behind the Iron Curtain, the communists arrested Pastor Richard Wurmbrand in Rumania for secret Christian activities. He was in prison for 14 years and Sabina, his wife was imprisoned and enslaved in different work camps for over 3 years. Pastor and Mrs. Wurmbrand lived and wrote, first-hand of the horrors of communism that John Stormer was writing about to enlighten the American people in his book. What these saints went through at the hands of the communists is unimaginable. They faithfully worked to build the church in spite of persecution. They only left Rumania when they were made aware that the churches outside the Iron Curtain had no idea what the communists were doing to people, specifically Christians. They testified in the early 60's in some of the congressional hearings that Stormer sited in his book.

If you are not familiar with The Voice of the Martyrs, you should be. It was established by Richard Wurmbrand to help persecuted Christians all over the world. Mr. Wurmbrand also wrote a book entitled Tortured for Christ and was active in his ministry until his recent death. The Wurmbrand books can be reasonably purchased from The Voice of the Martyers, PO Box 443, Bartlesville, OK 74005. (There are some passages in The Pastor's Wife that frankly discusses sexual matters, so I would not give this book to any of my children before reading it myself. I don't recommend it for anyone under at least 16.)

I think communism would be an excellent unit study for any of our older homeschool children. I have found two other excellent resources that should be great to include. Veritas Press offers One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn in its 9th grade curriculum. My two older daughters have both read and enjoyed this book (I plan to read it soon). Here is a quote from the back of the book: "This extraordinary novel is one of the most significant and outspoken literary documents ever to come out of Soviet Russia. It is both a brutally graphic picture of life in a Stalinist work camp and a moving tribute to man's will to prevail over relentless dehumanization. A masterpiece of modern Russian fiction." Veritas offers a $15 hardback, you should be able to find a soft back at Half Price Books for just a few dollars.

In the early 90's TBN produced the movie China Cry, which was the true story of Nora Lam. Set in China some thirty years before the bloody Tiananmen Square massacre, this movie portrays the harsh reality of the repressive communist regime and Nora Lam's indomitable will to survive. You should be able to get this at Blockbuster.

I understand from Rick and Lynette Driggers that there is an excellent video on communism narrated by Ronald Reagan. Sorry, I was unable to get more information from them before this had to be submitted. It should be well worth searching for.

It appears that None Dare Call It Treason is out of print. Zshops at Amazon.com show to have 39 copies for as little as $2.00 for a hardcover. John Stormer has more recently written None Dare Call It Education: What's Happening to Our Schools & Our Children? My good friend Michelle tells me that another of his books, Growing Up God's Way is her all-time favorite child-training book, especially recommending his chapter on Character. Both are currently available at Amazon.




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