Marxism, based on the idea of dialectical materialism, makes the conjecture that the end justifies the means. While a seemingly ridiculous statement to the majority of people who judge an outcome based on the ethics of the process used to achieve it, this idea makes complete sense in the context of a Marxist society. Because Marxism essentially believes that whatever benefits the Communist party is “right” or “morally correct,” then its categorizing of actions as such is dependent not on the actions themselves, but rather their context or intent. So long as one’s actions are carried out to further the Communist party, they are considered “right” or “morally sound” based on Marxist ethics. On the other hand, actions that hurt the party are deemed “wrong” or “evil.” For example, the action of committing murder is not considered right or wrong in and of itself. Rather, its morality is dependent on the context in which it was committed. The murder of an Anti-Communist rebel would be considered morally sound, as it is considered a service to the party. However, murder of a party member or leader would be considered morally wrong due to its detriment to the party. This illustrates how the idea that the end justifies the means plays out in a very practical way within the scope of Marxist ethics.
As a Christian, I know that this claim cannot be true due to the existence of absolute morals. Because the belief that “the end justifies the means” ultimately states that the morality of an action is circumstantial, relative, and based on its outcome, it is contradictory with Biblical ethics. An action cannot be both a moral absolute and morally relative. Therefore, Marxist ethics cannot coexist alongside Biblical truth.
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