The times we are currently living in may feel a bit “surreal” and “weird” to us, not unlike the strange feelings that the fearful Dorothy, the pensive Tin Man, and the frightened Scarecrow felt when they encountered the Cowardly Lion in the Land of Oz. Ironically, The Wizard of Oz movie release date occurred in the year of 1939, the same year that Hitler and Stalin’s forces invaded Poland on that fateful day of September 1, 1939.

If we were to draw allegorical comparisons betwen the movie and real life, the world at the time of the screening of this film was collectively holding its breath, trying to ascertain what living in the shadows of a future under the ever-growing and powerful movement of National Socialism under Adolf Hitler in Germany or one under Stalin’s brand of Marxism-Leninism in the USSR, would look like.

The world was still reeling and recovering from the aftershocks and the aftermath of World War I, a war in which 9 million combatants died, 23 million were wounded, and 8 million civilians died under genocidal and other adverse conditions. In 1918, the worldwide pandemic of “The Spanish Flu” also caused the deaths of more than 50 million worldwide during this insane time epoch. This “Plague” was referred to as “The Purple Death” due to the respiratory failures associated with the virus.

Additionally, just as the world was recalibrating after these global maladies, the economic collapse resulting from the 1929 Stock Market Crash took place, which plunged the world into The Great Depression. The economic recovery from this economic disaster lasted up until America’s foray into World War II in 1941.

In summary, this time period in our history was wrought with both “craziness” and “weirdness,” a period in which historians wrote that the world had gone collectively insane as we plunged ourselves into a form of public and private insanity.

Democracy itself or the democracies of that time period appeared to have no answers to the intractable problems of that day and age. Thus, the world felt it necessary to turn to dictators, authoritarian monsters who promised that they and only they could keep them safe and protect them from the harms and onslaughts of the world’s problems.

In some theological circles outside of mainstream Christianity, there was talk and comparisons of the world wars as being similar or parallel to the three temptations that Jesus experienced in the desert during his forty days of fasting. “All you have to do is bow down to me, submit to me, and allow me to have control over your decision-making, and I will guarantee you a ‘bright future.'”

The greatest trial and temptation for me, in my own life, had always been the temptation for me to abandon my faith, hope, and belief in the goodness of the world, in the meaningfulness of life, and in the strength, love, and kindness of humanity, collectively speaking, as well as “faith” in myself.

During many tumultuous periods of human history, I believe this “temptation” is presented to all of us. Are we afraid? Are we fearful? Do we need a leader who is a Leviathan, a “monster, in order to protect us” from ourselves?

The philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, certainly belived so…

I believe we are living in such a time, faced with these decisions and choices to make in our own lives…

As we make these decisions, please be mindful of The Wizard of Oz story. First, the Scary Lion was a mirage. The lion was fearful and lacked courage. Secondly, there were no monsters that they could not overcome. Even the Flying Monkeys and the Wicked Witch of the West succombed to a mere pail of water. The Lion gained courage. The Tin Man gained a heart. The Scarecrow could have a brain. And, Dorothy could travel home.

What today’s “Christofascism” promises to its adherents is peace, protection, and a safe harbor. However, if we succomb to the whims of a dictator, it will only be a matter of time before we will also be deemed as unfit and unsafe to others in this “pseudo-kingdom.”