Chris Hedges: The Christian Fascists Are Growing Stronger

[marmar]

from truthdig:




The Christian Fascists Are Growing Stronger

Posted on Jun 7, 2010
By Chris Hedges


Tens of millions of Americans, lumped into a diffuse and fractious movement known as the Christian right, have begun to dismantle the intellectual and scientific rigor of the Enlightenment. They are creating a theocratic state based on “biblical law,” and shutting out all those they define as the enemy. This movement, veering closer and closer to traditional fascism, seeks to force a recalcitrant world to submit before an imperial America. It champions the eradication of social deviants, beginning with homosexuals, and moving on to immigrants, secular humanists, feminists, Jews, Muslims and those they dismiss as “nominal Christians”—meaning Christians who do not embrace their perverted and heretical interpretation of the Bible. Those who defy the mass movement are condemned as posing a threat to the health and hygiene of the country and the family. All will be purged.

The followers of deviant faiths, from Judaism to Islam, must be converted or repressed. The deviant media, the deviant public schools, the deviant entertainment industry, the deviant secular humanist government and judiciary and the deviant churches will be reformed or closed. There will be a relentless promotion of Christian “values,” already under way on Christian radio and television and in Christian schools, as information and facts are replaced with overt forms of indoctrination. The march toward this terrifying dystopia has begun. It is taking place on the streets of Arizona, on cable news channels, at tea party rallies, in the Texas public schools, among militia members and within a Republican Party that is being hijacked by this lunatic fringe.

Elizabeth Dilling, who wrote “The Red Network” and was a Nazi sympathizer, is touted as required reading by trash-talk television hosts like Glenn Beck. Thomas Jefferson, who favored separation of church and state, is ignored in Christian schools and soon will be ignored in Texas public school textbooks. The Christian right hails the “significant contributions” of the Confederacy. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who led the anti-communist witch hunts of the 1950s, has been rehabilitated, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is defined as part of the worldwide battle against Islamic terror. Legislation like the new Jim Crow laws of Arizona is being considered by 17 other states.

The rise of this Christian fascism, a rise we ignore at our peril, is being fueled by an ineffectual and bankrupt liberal class that has proved to be unable to roll back surging unemployment, protect us from speculators on Wall Street, or save our dispossessed working class from foreclosures, bankruptcies and misery. The liberal class has proved useless in combating the largest environmental disaster in our history, ending costly and futile imperial wars or stopping the corporate plundering of the nation. And the gutlessness of the liberal class has left it, and the values it represents, reviled and hated. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_christian_fascists_are_growing_stronger_20100607/

[Angry Dragon]

1. We are on the road to the New Dark Ages

and from that the human race may never recover.

Perhaps it is time for this species to go extinct and make way for a better one.

[paparush]

4. Is your attitude any different from Christo-Fundies praying for the Rapture?

[Angry Dragon]

5. Yes

They have much different beliefs than I do.

[awoke_in_2003]

24. Look at how education is being

de-funded, the lack of emphasis on math and sciences, trying to incorporate Intelligent Design into science classes, and the examples posted about the Texas textbooks. Yes, we are trying to crawl back there, and a very vocal minority is the driving force. We peaked with the moonshot.

[Donnachaidh]

33. the Fundies are doing MUCH more than praying for the Rapture

They are actively trying to drag people back into the ignorance they themselves live in. They are actively assaulting education and science. They are actively trying to take over and change our government.

[paparush]

35. I agree with that 110%!

I live in western NC, definitely in the middle of the Bible Belt (Ex- May 27th is "March for Jesus" day, when local Christians get together and march for Jesus then hold a rally on our PUBLIC town square).

I've definitely noticed a tone among conservative Christians of "praying for the rapture". "I'm just so tired. I wish the Rapture would just go ahead and happen."

These folks really believe a sky-angel is going to descend from the clouds and make all their worries disappear. Its group lunacy. Its Embracing Denial (tm), one of the remaining things America is collectively good at.

[truth2power]

36. Yes, Angry Dragon's point of view is different, in that

the Fundies are looking for some magical god in the sky to destroy those they see as their enemies.

That we are moving toward a new Dark Age presupposes that we are instrumental in our own destruction.

[LiberalLovinLug]

41. In fact they have now move beyond that

No longer do the Fundies huddle in their churches content in their celestial assurances that ONE DAY they will be proved right as they rise up into the clouds, pointing down and laughing at all the sinners, the liberals, the homosexuals, and the poor shmucks that chose the 'wrong' religion.

No, they are impatient with that approach now. In fact it started in Reagan's term. A concerted effort to actually take over governments at all levels, led by Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and James Dobson. They needed a back door onto the political stage and the Rethugs knew they had nothing of substance to actually offer the middle and lower classes, so they gladly signed up for a partnership, made in Heaven. If Democrats were concerned only about peoples welfare on this earth, the Rethugs were also concerned with peoples everlasting life! Jesus was on their side.

And the problem is that it is difficult to put the Jesus back in the bottle. Their agenda has been wildly successful, to the point that no candidate can run unless he publicly bows his head and thanks the invisible man in the sky. You just have to look at places like Iran to see how this religious fascism can develop to the point that not only is there no separation of state and religion, but the religious figures openly control government. That looks like the path America is moving towards.

[jaxx]

2. Well! He certainly doesn't like the "liberal class".

Fear motivates the radical christian right. The more they can spread, the more sheep they gather.

[salib]

17. The "liberal class" in ways are us

And Chris Hedges is correct in calling out the failure which has led to the almost inevitable result we see here.

From the article:

Many of the tens of millions within the Christian right live on the edge of poverty. The Bible, interpreted for them by pastors whose connection with God means they cannot be questioned, is their handbook for daily life. The rigidity and simplicity of their belief are potent weapons in the fight against their own demons and the struggle to keep their lives on track. The reality-based world, one where Satan, miracles, destiny, angels and magic did not exist, battered them like driftwood. It took their jobs and destroyed their future. It rotted their communities. It flooded their lives with alcohol, drugs, physical violence, deprivation and despair. And then they discovered that God has a plan for them. God will save them. God intervenes in their lives to promote and protect them. The emotional distance they have traveled from the real world to the world of Christian fantasy is immense. And the rational, secular forces, those that speak in the language of fact and evidence, are hated and ultimately feared, for they seek to pull believers back into “the culture of death” that nearly destroyed them.

and

Those gathered into the arms of this Christian fascist movement are desperately struggling to survive in an increasingly hostile environment. We failed them; we owe them more: This is their response. The financial dislocations, the struggles with domestic and sexual abuse, the battle against addictions, the poverty and the despair that many in the movement endure are tragic, painful and real. They have a right to their rage and alienation. But they are also being used and manipulated by forces that seek to dismantle what is left of our democracy and abolish the pluralism that was once the hallmark of our society.


Yes, WE have failed. WE THE PEOPLE, and a tragically complaisant and enabling Liberal Establishment. It is only a "Liberal" establishment because we are in a liberal democratic Republic. All the things that we complain about bitterly, but seem to be unable to really deal with, e.g. poverty, violence, war, corruption, etc. are exactly what the Christian Fascist Right feeds on. As with Scrooge, Ignorance and want is what we are leaving people with.

Liberal Democracy either can or cannot work. It is our generation's challenge (and the challenge for several before us). It is our test right now and so far we do not appear to be up to it. Small victories are basically trying to slow the boulder of societal ills down. These are not good signs and are proving to be a VERY POOR track record.

Step outside of the assumption that liberal democracy is the best system (and I DO believe that it is the best system), but step outside of that mindset for a minute and look at the 20th Century and the first part of this one. One can make a potent argument about the instability and nightmares which arguably could be seen as the "enablement" (if that were a word) of liberalizing society and Government without liberalizing economic opportunity and spirit. Whether it is that liberal education was not up to the task, or that the enlightenment stalled out, or that the Royalists and Fascists and Fundamentalists and Dominionists, not to mention the Libertarians, Neo-Liberals (Neo-Cons), etc., simply pushed back more effectively that we have pushed forward, the end result is that there is a century of nightmares which could be argued to be the result of liberalization.

Now, returning to our own understanding that a liberal democracy is a very good system and better than other tried on a large scale so far, I believe we must accept some if not a great deal of the culpability here. We are threatened with truly losing much of what was gained in the Enlightenment and the resulting progress born from it. We are facing "rock bottom", and as we know this one would go on for an entire Age, and be one of true shame on us.

It is not small potatoes, and it is no time to "circle the wagons" and complain about a comment like the "liberal class". It is a time to figure out and act upon what the Romans, Greeks, Iroquois, etc., failed at. It is ours to lose, and for our Republic to be on such a precipice already shows that we ARE losing it.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. Karen Armstrong has stated that fundamentalism appeals to people who have been

hurt by the modern world. It's an outlet for frustration.

[The_Commonist]

3. Jesus is spinning in his grave.

Imagine how creeped out Jesus would be by these people?
But he would love them anyway..

[AlbertCat]

18. Jesus is spinning in his grave.

That has got to be the funniest, and most blasphemous thing I've read in ages!

Watch it...he'll get tangled up in the Shroud of Turin!

[SkyDaddy7]

22. Your response was just as funny!!

Thank-you to both for making me smile after reading this article. Basically Chris Hedges said what I already know but did so in a way I could only dream of doing!

Excellent Article! Or maybe not.

[awoke_in_2003]

25. you want to see blasphemy?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

6. It's been my impression that this stuff peaked some years ago and has been waning.

Other than the Texas textbook issue, the Falwell crowd hasn't had a lot to write home about lately.

[Doctor_J]

8. Nonsense

University professors are being purged for being insufficiently pro-war, or pro-Bush. Smaller school districts are having their boards overrun with anti-science nuts. Public schools are being eased out of existence period. Anti-science "think tanks" which catapult propaganda on global warming, evolution, economic issues, and so on are springing up exponentially.

Admitting the problem is the first step toward fixing it. Denial will make it worse.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

11. I'm not disagreeing that all that is going on. It's a problem.

I'm just saying that it seemed a bigger problem, and it's leaders more influential, in the recent past.

[Dr.Phool]

14. As Ralph Reed Was fond of saying....

"We move under cover of darkness. You don't even know that you're dead until you're in the body bag".


Stealth.

[Taverner]

15. Exactly - they've gone local

We only hear about it if it makes national news

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. Sarah Palin. nt

[Gidney N Cloyd]

10. The market for snake oil is not a new one. Palin's just one of the more recent salespeople.

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. The difference is, in the Falwell context it stayed firmly rooted in the

fundie church community - even with Liberty University and creationist museums and crap like that. With the advent of Palin and her ilk, they move out of the church and into the public area, taking over school boards, electing local officials who they hope to move up the ladder, even to Governor and VP candidate, with little direct and obvious connection to the fundie churches that spawn them. They are the second part of the burgeoning theocracy - the "theo" is Falwell and Robertson and Wallis, and the "cracy" is Palin and Bachmann and Scalito who have the political position and popular backing to create the theocratic legislation. Additionally, they have a fundie co-opted media which not only reports their positions but does everything they can to promote them as being at least equal, if not superior, to reality - ref: CNN homepage "Faith Blogs" which always go their way, and seldom if ever favor secularist, atheist, or humanist positions on the same subjects; looking at them you'd never think such a thing as the UU churches exist.

You dismiss them at your own peril.

[nichomachus]

16. Actually, it was Ralph Reed who moved it into the political sector

with his "stealth candidates" for office at the state and local levels

"I want to be invisible. I do guerrilla warfare. I paint my face and travel at night. You don't know it's over until you're in a body bag."
Ralph Reed, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, November 9, 1991.

In 1991, Sarah Palin was still a fishwife. She hadn't entered the big time by garnering 211 votes to become the corrupt mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.

[awoke_in_2003]

26. The Texas school book issue...

is, to quote the VP, a big fucking deal. They are the biggest purcaser of school books in the nation. Look for most southern and midwest states to follow suit. The northeast and California MAY find alternatives, or the might decide to go with the current. One day, I may have to move back to the cold and snow- but on the bright side, if this happens I will finally get good pizza again.

[xchrom]

7. recommend

[Kablooie]

12. No one expects the American inquisition!

[Mosaic]

20. He gives a good fair warning

The Christianists have throughout US history staged comebacks after periods of liberalism. This time they are outnumbered and won't be able to do it. Maybe being Christian can begin to mean something real again, like looking out for the common good, that would be progress.

[colsohlibgal]

21. Scary Possibility

It amazes me that, in the year 2010, any schools at all are giving weight to the Earth only being 5,000 years old. It's been proven that is far from the case but yet they persist in lobbying for lies.

These people are nuts but they seem to be the ones cranking out 10 kids and brainwashing them early. With them it's not enough that they live the life they want, they want everyone else to live like they think as well.

[awoke_in_2003]

27. yep, I used to work...

with a creationist/rapture ready person. He had seven kids. He was always uncomfortable around me as he knew I was an atheist. I never discussed religion with him once, but it was like he was afraid a lightning bolt was coming to take him out because I was around. I am about to go back to my former job, which is where he currently works. Ahhh, I am sure he is squirming just thinking about it :)

[southernyankeebelle]

23. Maybe it is time to divide the country into secular and nutbags.

[colsohlibgal]

28. Ceetainty About Beliefs

IMHO the logical stance on the big questions is to be agnostic. Who knows what it's all about? Those who claim to know are fooling themselves.

I think about all this a lot. Where did all this stuff, all that is that we know about, come from? How did all this, my TV, Jupiter, everything, spring out of nothingness?

I think someone or something had to be behind this but then I ask who made him, her, it, or them?

These are big, currently unknowable questions. How somebody could be so sure, on faith based on a long ago document written by different people at different times with more sections arbitrarily left out,of the details of "religion"? It just blows my mind.

But then I wasn't brainwashed from the time I was 1. My idea on how to conduct myself has always centered just around live and let live, treat others as you would like to be treated.

[Beartracks]

29. Ah, the Golden Rule.

Isn't "treat others as you would like to be treated" pretty much the nugget of most religions? It seems like that's what it all boils down to (or is supposed to boil down to). And -- oddly enough -- religion does not have an exclusive claim on the idea.

----------------------

[CLANG]

30. "treat others as you would like to be treated"

as a concept is merely common sense.

[earcandle]

31. True Story for a small clueless town

Kansas Song

[SnakeEyes]

32. I loathe the misuse of the word "fascist".

[nxylas]

38. It wasn't misused

Hedges is very precise in his definition of fascism, and articulates exactly why he thinks the Christian far right in America fits, or is close to fitting, that definition.

[Scruffy1]

42. Having spent some years studying these people

I would say that the word fascist fits very well. One of the political advantages they have is that facts and information do not matter since they operate from belief. Living in a neighborhood famous for its immigrant Catholics is quite a contrast to the right wing fundies who tend to be suburban and surprisingly middle to upper middle class. They always claim to be apolitical but of course always prefer the authoritarians. I have heard global warming endorsed from the pulpit snd seen right wing nuts like Michelle Bachmann endorsed from the pulpit of these fundamentalist pulpits.

[madrchsod]

34. gutless middle class...fuck you chrissy.

[burnsei sensei]

37. This is the very heart of the problem:

Quote:
The rise of this Christian fascism, a rise we ignore at our peril, is being fueled by an ineffectual and bankrupt liberal class that has proved to be unable to roll back surging unemployment, protect us from speculators on Wall Street, or save our dispossessed working class from foreclosures, bankruptcies and misery.
end quote.

The liberal class is ineffectual and bankrupt because of Third Way ideology.
We cannot implement European-style policies without a coherent and altruistic social contract.
People see the hollowness of liberalism, its loss of authority and its refusal to confront its political enemies-- in short, they see its lack of integrity.
When we study and embrace traditional liberalism-- that of unions, civil rights and anti-corporatism, one that checks with regulations the excesses of the powerful, things will get better.
That's why Alan Grayson is so popular. People see his integrity and appreciate it.
Even if they disagree, they find him worthy of respect.
Barack Obama cannot garner such respect because, instead of confronting his political enemies, he compromises with them.
He met with Karen Ignagni, who destroyed any public option or single-payer approach to health reform.
She took his script, and she took the leadership position away from him.
She was his political enemy. Not his friend. Never his friend.

[blackspade]

39. Not so fast!

I agree with Chris that Christo-fascists are a rising problem. However, I think he is a bit myopic in his view of this being a new phenomenon.
The rise and fall of these groups has happened several times in US history. I have personally seen the criminal and civil court cases here in KY for offenses like 'Not honoring the sabbath', indecent language, etc. These laws and repressive periods have generally coincided with periods of poverty and social depression. Historically these periods end when society recovers, usually by being united behind a person or idea. However, as Chris points out, this time may be different.

I disagree with his take on the mechanism. It is not the 'liberal class' that has run this country into a ditch. The 'liberal class' has been successfully disenfranchised for the last few decades by pragmatic corporatist that have hijacked the core of the Washington political machine. It is not the 'liberal class' that has failed. We, and I include myself, proudly, are liberals, not a class. We come from all backgrounds, including the poor and the rich.

What Chris fails to consider, is that the Reagan 'revolution' is what has started us down this current terrible road. For 30 years, first the Republican party, and the the Democratic party has been infiltrated by corporate thugs that have systematically victimized and disenfranchised its main constituencies. Ripping off and destroying the jobs of this part of the population had the happy side effect of driving them into the arms of the Christian Right who were, in turn, bankrolling and organizing for the Republican party.

Unfortunately, the same group of corporate thugs set their eyes on the Democratic party, where they have succeeded in finally seizing the party machine, derailing health care, wall street reform, environmental regulation, food regulations...the list goes on. These are the very programs that help the poor, the unemployed, and the struggling middle class and keep them out of the arms of the Christian Right. These corporatists have effectively broken the government and destroyed the public trust and made it impossible for the 'Liberal Class' to do anything. It is not for want of trying either. Numerous liberals are still in government and regularly do battle with these thugs. Unfortunately their numbers are not what is needed to get reforms that we desperately need. The Washington machine has effectively undermined liberals seeking higher office by cutting funding and supporting 'official' candidates.

Other than this part I think Chris is dead on about what this group of people are like and how they operate.

[Enthusiast]

40. It is not the "liberal class",

it is those that pose as the liberal class.