 | |
| Author | Chris Hedges |
|---|---|
| Subject | Fascism, Christian right |
| Publisher | Free Press |
Publication date | 2007-01-09 |
| Pages | 272 |
| ISBN | 978-0-7432-8443-1 |
| OCLC | 72799668 |
| 322/.10973 22 | |
| LC Class | JC481 .H38 2007 |
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America is a 2007 non-fiction book by the American journalist Chris Hedges. American Fascists profiles the rise of an American Christian right, and argues that the politically active bloc possesses the features of a fascist movement.
The first chapter leads with an exposition on the importance of establishing the will of God as unknowable in mainstream Christian circles, along with some acknowledgement of Biblical errancy. This is contrasted with the ascendance of a minority doctrine that preaches a faultless Bible that then offers an absolute message about the desires for God to establish a Christian United States through dominion theology and tenuous interpretations of the book of Revelation. The chapter also examines the outsized media influence and corporate support of this minority perspective, as well as their increased political presence during the George W. Bush presidency.
The second chapter elaborates how this new movement is fueled by a "culture of despair" arising from economic uncertainty following widespread outsourcing of United States economic production, and especially has a strong influence in the Rust Belt because of those conditions. It closes with a demonstration on how this despair is opportunistically captured by the Christian right through their religious narratives of salvation and renewal.
The third chapter, titled "Conversion," covers the tendency for churches in the movement to conduct love bombing and other cult tactics to increase membership. This is followed by a chapter on "The Cult of Masculinity" within the movement that permits the subjugation and alienation of women and emphasizes Biblical doctrines that center male hegemony.
The rights of LGBT persons are covered in the fifth chapter titled "Persecution," in which prejudice against gay and lesbian individuals is legitimized within the Christian right through othering and the projection of their own motivations to discriminate. The next chapter outlines how the highly contradictory nature of the motives and doctrines of the Christian right is sustained by a "War on Truth" that legitimizes pseudosciences like conversion therapy and creationism.
The seventh chapter outlines perceived classism and excessive opulence on the part of highly visible business leaders within the movement as well as prosperity gospel preachers. Followers are said to embrace economic inequality as a means of righteous vindication for the elect. The next chapter describes how some religious institutions in the movement primarily view salvation and church membership as a financial imperative. This is followed by the chapter "God: The Commercial," which contrasts the pro-capitalist opulence of Trinity Broadcast Network televangelist Paul Crouch with the destitution and despair of wide swaths of their target audience.
The final chapter, titled "Apocalyptic Violence," evaluated sermons of preachers in the Christian right that included calls to action for preparedness in case of an imminent apocalyptic conflict. Hedges notes that, instead of presenting spiritual influences as an immaterial threat, Christian media like the Left Behind series names existing institutions and Islam as seats of power for the Antichrist. Hedges then argues that the movement, being financially sponsored by a broad range of corporations and increasingly preoccupied with messages of committing violence, represents a threat to the open society. Hedges concludes by calling for opposition against what he describes as a biblically unfounded and deeply fascistic Christian right.
Rick Perlstein of The New York Times was critical of the work, saying that Hedges "writes on this subject as a neophyte, and pads out his dispatches with ungrounded theorizing, unconvincing speculation and examples that fall far short of bearing out his thesis." Perlstein was unconvinced of Hedges' presentation of the Christian right as a possible violent threat, and continued that "Hedges is worst when he makes the supposed imminence of mass violence the reason the rest of us should be fighting for the open society." [1]
Conservative outlets like National Review [2] and Human Events [3] gave negative reviews for the book, alleging that Hedges exaggerated the violent potential of the Christian right and unfairly characterized the movement as fascist.
A book review by Joe Bailey of the Oregon Daily Emerald criticized Hedges' analysis of the political organization of the Christian right, adding that "Christians have the right to pursue their political objectives" and accused Hedges of adopting a "culture war mentality" that may embolden the Christian right. [4]
Historian Jon Wiener criticized Hedges' comparisons of the United States to the Weimar Republic as well as the lack of clarity in the book's policy proposals. [5]
A New York Observer review by Jonathan Liu described American Fascists as "audacious" and "daring" in its wide coverage of social issues and its broad denunciations of liberal and conservative society alike. Liu commented that Hedges' apparent tendency towards hyperbole may have arisen from a heavy reliance on referencing intellectuals who were personally impacted by World War II, such as Karl Popper and Hannah Arendt, and added that his own experiences at an anti-gay Love Won Out event were not as alarming as Hedges described. [6]
In an interview with Michelle Goldberg of Salon.com , Hedges said "it's an angry book," adding that "when I see how these people are manipulating the Christian religion for personal empowerment and wealth and for the destruction of the very values that I think are embodied in the teachings of Jesus Christ, I'm angry." [7]
Publishers Weekly wrote that American Fascists "forcefully illuminates what many across the political spectrum will recognize as a serious and growing threat to the very concept and practice of an open society." [8] Francine Prose of O, The Oprah Magazine mirrored this sentiment, saying that the subject matter poses "a clear and present danger to our precious and fragile republic." [9]
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.
Millenarianism or millenarism is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed". Millenarianism exists in various cultures and religions worldwide, with various interpretations of what constitutes a transformation.
Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a puritanical, revivalist, and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. The term has been used interchangeably with similar terms such as Islamism, Islamic revivalism, Qutbism, Islamic extremism, Islamic activism, but also criticized as pejorative, a term used by outsiders who instead ought to be using Islamic activism, Islamic revivalism, or one of the other terms given above.
Christian Identity is an interpretation of Christianity which advocates the belief that only Celtic and Germanic peoples, such as the Anglo-Saxon, Nordic nations, or Aryan people and people of kindred blood, are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and are therefore the descendants of the ancient Israelites.
The Christian left is a range of Christian political and social movements that largely embrace social justice principles and uphold a social doctrine or social gospel based on their interpretation of the teachings of Christianity. Given the inherent diversity in international political thought, the term Christian left can have different meanings and applications in different countries. While there is much overlap, the Christian left is distinct from liberal Christianity, meaning not all Christian leftists are liberal Christians and vice versa.
Dominion theology, also known as dominionism, is a group of Christian political ideologies that seek to institute a nation that is governed by Christians and based on their understandings of biblical law. Extents of rule and ways of acquiring governing authority are varied. For example, dominion theology can include theonomy but does not necessarily involve advocacy of adherence to the Mosaic Law as the basis of government. The label is primarily applied to groups of Christians in the United States.
How Should We Then Live: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture is a Christian cultural and historical documentary film series and book. The book was written by presuppositionalist theologian Francis A. Schaeffer and first published in 1976. The book served as the basis for a series of ten films. Schaeffer narrated and appeared throughout the film series, which was produced by his son Frank Schaeffer and directed by John Gonser. In the film series, Schaeffer attacked the influences of the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and Charles Darwin. The films were credited with inspiring a number of leaders of the American conservative evangelical movement, including Jerry Falwell. The complete list of materials that the Schaeffers produced under the title "How Should We Then Live?" include the initial book, a study guide for the book, the ten-episode film series, and study aids for the films.
Conservative Christianity, also known as conservative theology, theological conservatism, traditional Christianity, or biblical orthodoxy is a grouping of overlapping and denominationally diverse theological movements within Christianity that seeks to retain the orthodox and long-standing traditions and beliefs of Christianity, it is contrasted with Liberal Christianity and Progressive Christianity which are seen as heretical heterodoxies by theological conservatives. Conservative Christianity should not be mistaken as being synonymous with the political philosophy of conservatism nor the Christian right which is a political movement of Christians who support conservative political ideologies and policies within the realm of secular or non-sectarian politics. The two major subdivisions of Conservative Christianity within Protestantism are Evangelical Christianity and Christian Fundamentalism while the Confessing Movement, Confessionalism, and to an extent Neo-orthodoxy make up the remaining within Protestantism. Theological conservatism is also found in Roman Catholicism and is also found within Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Church of the East; and throughout all of Mainstream-Nicene Christianity in both Western Christian and Eastern Christian traditions, although not every community has had a direct connection with the Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy.
Monte Kim Miller formed a group known as the Concerned Christians in Colorado, during the 1980s. Created to combat New Age religious movements and anti-Christian sentiment, it has shifted to more of an apocalyptic Christian movement as the group adopted the less mainstream views of the millennium held by Miller. The group has been described as a terrorist group and is now inactive. They believe all Jews should be converted to Christianity.
Criticism of Christianity has a long history which stretches back to the initial formation of the religion in the Roman Empire. Critics have challenged Christian beliefs and teachings as well as Christian actions, from the Crusades to modern terrorism. The arguments against Christianity include the suppositions that it is a faith of violence, corruption, superstition, polytheism, homophobia, bigotry, pontification, abuses of women's rights and sectarianism.
Timothy James Keller was an American Calvinist pastor, preacher, theologian, and Christian apologist. He was the chairman and co-founder of Redeemer City to City, which trains pastors for service around the world. He was also the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and the author of The New York Times bestselling books The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (2008), Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (2014), and The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (2008). The prequel for the latter is Making Sense of GOD: An Invitation to the Skeptical (2016).
The relationship between Christianity and politics is a historically complex subject and a frequent source of disagreement throughout the history of Christianity, as well as in modern politics between the Christian right and Christian left. There have been a wide variety of ways in which thinkers have conceived of the relationship between Christianity and politics, with many arguing that Christianity directly supports a particular political ideology or philosophy. Along these lines, various thinkers have argued for Christian communism, Christian socialism, Christian nationalism, Christian anarchism, Christian libertarianism, or Christian democracy. Others believe that Christians should have little interest or participation in politics or government.
What constitutes as a definition of fascism and fascist governments has been a complicated and highly disputed subject concerning the exact nature of fascism and its core teachings debated amongst historians, political scientists, and other scholars ever since Benito Mussolini first used the term in 1915. Historian Ian Kershaw once wrote that "trying to define 'fascism' is like trying to nail jelly to the wall".
Christians have had diverse attitudes towards violence and nonviolence over time. Both currently and historically, there have been four attitudes towards violence and war and four resulting practices of them within Christianity: non-resistance, Christian pacifism, just war, and preventive war. In the Roman Empire, the early church adopted a nonviolent stance when it came to war because the imitation of Jesus's sacrificial life was preferable to it. The concept of "just war", the belief that limited uses of war were acceptable, originated in the writings of earlier non-Christian Roman and Greek thinkers such as Cicero and Plato. Later, this theory was adopted by Christian thinkers such as St Augustine, who like other Christians, borrowed much of the just war concept from Roman law and the works of Roman writers like Cicero. Even though "Just War" concept was widely accepted early on, warfare was not regarded as a virtuous activity and expressing concern for the salvation of those who killed enemies in battle, regardless of the cause for which they fought, was common. Concepts such as "Holy war", whereby fighting itself might be considered a penitential and spiritually meritorious act, did not emerge before the 11th century.
Christian fascism is a term which is used to describe a far-right political ideology that denotes an intersection between fascism and Christianity. It is sometimes referred to as "Christofascism", a neologism which was coined in 1970 by the liberation theologian Dorothee Sölle.
In the United States, evangelicalism is a movement among Protestant Christians who believe in the necessity of being born again, emphasize the importance of evangelism, and affirm traditional Protestant teachings on the authority as well as the historicity of the Bible. Comprising nearly a quarter of the U.S. population, evangelicals are a diverse group drawn from a variety of denominational backgrounds, including Baptist, Mennonite, Methodist, Pentecostal, Plymouth Brethren, Quaker, Reformed and nondenominational churches.
Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were opposed by many countries forming the Allies of World War II and dozens of resistance movements worldwide. Anti-fascism has been an element of movements across the political spectrum and holding many different political positions such as anarchism, communism, pacifism, republicanism, social democracy, socialism and syndicalism as well as centrist, conservative, liberal and nationalist viewpoints.
Siege is an anthology of essays first published as a single volume in 1992, written in 1980s by James Mason, a neo-Nazi and associate of the cult leader Charles Manson. After growing disillusioned with the mass movement approach of neo-Nazi movements, he began advocating for white revolution through terrorism. Referred to as the "Godfather of Fascist Terrorism", Mason has been proscribed as a "terrorist entity" in Canada.” Mason originally wrote the essays for the eponymous newsletter of the National Socialist Liberation Front, a militant splinter of the American Nazi Party.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline: Learning to Fight in a World on Fire is a nonfiction book written by Andreas Malm and published in 2021 by Verso Books. In the book, Malm argues that sabotage is a logical form of climate activism, and criticizes both pacifism within the climate movement and "climate fatalism" outside it. The book inspired a film of the same name.