Did the Rejection of Christian Principles in French Universities Lead to Genocide in Cambodia?
77Cambodia Images of Genocide 1975-1978
The Khmer Rouge tribunal began in earnest in the later half of 2011. The trials against the remaining Khmer Rouge top officials (e.g., Nuon Chea) came over 30 years after the end of the Khmer Rouge regime. One may wonder of ultimate causes and contributors to that horrific era in Cambodia history.
Questions about Causes of the Cambodian Genocide
A fellow Ph.D. student suggested, "to whom much history is given, much is required." If this is so, what about professors in French universities in the mid 20th century? Why did they choose to reject traditional studies in the humanities including hermeneutics and Christian writings and embrace Marxism and Leninism? What responsibility do they bear for the brutal applications of their ideologies that humans could erect their own utopian society? Could an understanding of Christ's view of human beings and his actions towards human beings have brought about more humane results?
Seeds of Communist Activity in Cambodia from Late 1920's
As part of this discussion, it should be noted from the outset that the seeds of Communism had been planted in the Cambodia from the late 1920's and early 1930's. These seeds were sown by Vietnamese and Chinese factions (mostly Vietnamese) in Cambodia in opposition to the French rule and harsh conditions in French and Malay run industries in Southeast Asia. Still, Saloth Sar did attend school at a famed French University where Communism was embraced by a faction of the French academic elite.
Not an Attempt to Lessen Blame of USA
To ask questions about French university professors is not an attempt to downplay the USA indirect involvement through the bombing of the Viet Cong supply lines in eastern Cambodia. Nor the USA's backing of the Khmer Rouge as the legitimate government of Cambodia against the Vietnamese occupation from 1979 to 1990.
Not an Attempt to Exonerate Pol Pot and Other Cambodian Leaders from Responsibility
These questions are no attempt to exonerate Pol Pot, Chea Nuon, and other Khmer Rouge leaders of their crimes. They had free will and free choice to do the right thing and act humanely towards their fellow Khmer countrymen.
Teachers in Cambodia Trained in France
From the mid-19th to mid-20th, the Southeast Asian region called Cambodge was subjugated under French rule (Chandler, 2008). During that time the French would send potential Cambodian teachers to study in French universities in order to train them in the French educational system.
Saloth Sar (aka Pol Pot) Educated in French Universities
One Khmer young man from Cambodge named Saloth Sar went to study in one of those universities along with a few other young men from his country. In those times, French professors had rejected God and Christ and the study of the Christian literatures for the writings of Jean Jacque Rousseau, Voltaire, and Karl Marx and embraced the Communist Manifesto. Those French professors who rejected God and Christ and the principles of the Christian Bible taught Saloth Sar and his compatriots that the best way to establish a humanistic utopian society in their home country was to wipe out all the governmental, religious, and educational leaders and officials and start over with peasant children.
Saloth Sar as Pol Pot Leads Communist Revolution in Cambodia
Upon returning home and beginning his career as a teacher in Cambodge's educational system Saloth Sar and his fellow Khmer students began to organize a Communist movement in Cambodge. In the mid-1960s the movement strenghten and the Khmer Rouge Revolutionary army was formed. In 1975, Saloth Sar now known as Pol Pot led his forces into Phnom Penh of what is now known as Cambodia and over the next three years instigated the mass murders of his own Khmer ethnic people. Estimates of the genocide in Cambodia range from 1.5 to 3 million people.
Rejection of Christian Principles in France Led to Genocide in Cambodia?
So it seems a rejection of the Bible and God and the principles of Christ in the Scriptures led to the teaching of a different worldview in regards to society and how to build society. The new worldview of Communism led to a horrific holocaust among the people of Cambodia (not to mention the countless lives led in the other French colonized territories of Vietnam and Laos).
Why the Humanities are an Important Part of Education
All this only to unscore why we need to include study of the humanities in leadership studies and training. Although the curriculum one chooses to include from the humanities is crucial for a positive outcome.
Who Really Failed?
One question: who failed in that those French teachers rejected God and Christ and embraced the Communist Manifesto? What part did the church play in that failure? How did the claims of the Bible become so irrelevant to 18th,19th, and 20th century European society? Or what caused those in the higher eschelons of France's educational system to reject their Christian heritage? What of those same tendencies do we see in our current society - in American and elsewhere?
Chandler, D. (2008). A History of Cambodia. Yale University Press.
Kierman, B. (2004). How Pol Pot Came to Power, 2e. Yale University Press.
Cormack, D. (1997). Killing Fields, Living Fields - An Unfinished Portrait of the Cambodian Church. UK: Monarch Publications.
Kierman, B. (2002). The Pol Pot Regime. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press.
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Good thoughts Eric. I also have wondered about Rwanda also very influenced by Belgium/France. Right next door to both countries you have ex-colonies or territories affected by the Brits that didn't necessarily embrace the same intellectual
Philosophies as those found in Europe. I also think that romanticism and narcissism also fueled the thinking and as Weber says Ideas have Consequences.
Chris, Great to hear from you. I appreciate your comments and your insights concerning Africa.
Druid David, Thank you for adding to this conversation. I was once cautioned about stepping in to fight someone elses fight. Seems the USA did not think carefully enough about the consequences of anti-Communist hysteria.
Did the rejection of Christianity lead to genocide. This is a very old and very tired argument.
If the rejection of Christianity leads to violence or genocide, then we would expect societies and cultures that have rejected Christianity to be, if not genocidal, at least more violent. This is not what we observe. In fact today the least religious, most secular cultures--such as Norway, Japan, Sweden, Netherlands or Germany--are among the most peaceful and stable on earth.
If it were true, we would also expect more Christian societies to be more peaceful than less Christian societies. Again, this is not what we see in reality. We see significant violence and ethnic cleansing among devoutly Christian cultures in the Middle Ages (the Crusades, the Inquisition, campaigns against Jews). We also see violence perpetrated by Christians today in places like Nigeria and India.
If Christianity led to peace, we would not see these outcomes in history and in the modern world.
Christians need to understand that secularism/ atheism in and of itself does not make people more violent. Yes, the major communists of the 20th century (Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao) were atheists. They also did not speak English. Perhaps, then, it is lack of speaking English that makes people genocidal?
Instead, it seems to make more sense to look at these people's writings, speeches and actions to determine what caused their violence. And what we find there is that it was violent revolutionary communism that is to blame. Not secularism or atheism, not the fact that they did not speak English, not the fact that they were all men, or any other thing they happened to have in common.
Violent revolutionary communism. It is very straightforward, but some Christians seem not able to see it.
secularist10, Thank you for sharing your insights to this question. You make some very poignant points on the issue. I would argue that a strict read of the New Testament would show that the atrocities committed by so-called "Christian" regimes in the Middle Ages do not align with Christian principles in any way. Still, you are correct when you say that the blame lies at the feet of the violent nature of communism.
Eco, it is my pleasure.
Just as there are different versions of theism (violent, nonviolent, Islamic, Christian, backward, progressive), there are different schools of thought or value systems that fall under the "atheism" umbrella. A nihilistic, anti-human mentality can exist under atheism, as can a humanist and pro-life one.
What we find in many rich societies today is a humanist emphasis on people's well being and happiness, leading to peace, security, freedom and individual rights. But it is all very secular.
A violent revolutionary political ideology can fall under the umbrella of theism (fascism or the revolutionary ideology of the Iranian Ayatollahs) or atheism (Stalinism or Maoism).
So it is not theism or atheism in and of themselves that necessarily lead to problems, but the derivative schools of thought within them.
Thanks for starting an interesting discussion.
It occurs to me reading secularist10 that satan does not have to go after those he already has. Many seemingly nice people will not enter Heaven's gate and as we know even ones who did things in His name will be told to depart from Him, He never knew them. Many will miss salvation maybe because they cannot put faith in the simplicity of it. Others make up their own rules and truths.
Christians in America have moved to political correctness even, or especially, in the church. We will soon see the price for that I believe.
Druid Dude Level 4 Commenter 5 months ago
It's feasible. It's certainly a fact that French colonialism in Indo-china embroiled the U.S. in a very costly fiasco called the Viet Nam conflict.