I've said the “library” was nothing to brag about. Much of the material I received consisted of propaganda pamphlets, averaging four or five pages. I learned the hard way that if I returned one as soon as I'd finished it, I'd get nothing to read for quite a while. So I began rationing myself to a limited number of words per day. When I say “limited,” I mean thirty to sixty words. Consequently, my daily quota was gone in a matter of seconds. Sometimes I'd steal a few words from my quota for the next day. Since the content of all the pamphlets followed the same political line, I was soon able to predict the outcome. Therefore, once the trend became apparent, I simply read the words. Some of the material was published by the Communist Party of the United States, which bothered me at first, because of the lies that were printed. However, I learned to keep my temperature down by reminding myself that it was possible to print this garbage in the U S of A, while there was no way such opposing political views would be allowed in Communist China.

When I'd finished reading a particular piece from beginning to end, I'd read it backwards, then upside down, and, finally, play word games with it. When the sight of it turned my stomach, I'd think, “To hell with it,” and turn it in.

On two or three occasions I got Russian novels. These, as was the case with most everything else, dripped with propaganda. I remember a couple of authors, Elya Ehernberg and Alexi Tolstoy (not to be confused with Leo Tolstoy). There was also a collection of short stories by Maxim Gorky. With the time I had on my hands, I could devour one of these novels in a day, which I did only once. Then, like all other printed matter, they were rationed.

Once there was a period of two months during which I received nothing to read. It seemed like two years. Several times I asked for something. The attendant would nod but never comply with my request. It was obviously intentional, but why?

The answer came in the form of a big, beautiful, cloth-bound, wine-colored edition of Problems Of Leninism by Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin!

I had been set up. I was supposed to be thirsting for the printed word, and I was! That book was treated with special care; I even kept it away from the open window at night, so it wouldn't get wet. I was sure there was knowledge within those pages that I wanted. I was right and I was elated.

After reading the pamphlets and propaganda novels, I had become anxious to learn about the philosophical basis of the Communist ideology. Therefore, I read every word of “Problems Of Leninism” very carefully, repeating some passages two or three times. It was really a research project, which meant I read the book several times. What I learned wasn't what my captors had intended, I'm sure.

As a Christian I was especially interested in knowing how atheism fit into the philosophy. I discovered the answer in the following passages from Stalin's book:

“....... Marx's philosophical materialism holds that the world by its very nature is material, that the multifold phenomena of the world constitude different forms of matter in motion, that interconnection and interdependence of phenomena, as established by dilectical method, are a law of the development of moving matter, and that the world develops in accordance with the laws of movement of matter and stands in no need of a 'universal spirit.'” (1)

Also:

“Speaking of materialistic views of the ancient philosopher Hericletus, who held that 'the world, the all in one, was not created by any god or any man, but was, is, and ever will be a living flame, systematically flaring up and systematically dying down,' Lenin comments: 'A very good exposition of the rudiments of dialectical materialism.' (Lenin, Philosophical Notebook, Russian edition p 318" (2)”

How about that for a case of myopia! Doesn't the fact that nature develops predictably, according to certain laws, demand an Almighty Creator?

What about space — The Milky Way galaxy, all of the galaxies we know of, all those we can't even see with giant telescopes? What about the beginning of all that is in space? What about eternity?

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