American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America

[Gryphons Eyre]

I am still figuring out the way DU works. Like most things in modern living its all about packaging.
I am very passionate about the issues I speak to; they are part of what is driving me these days.
Communicating that is difficult at best.

There are forces gathering in America that threaten our democracy; freedom to enjoy life as the framers of our constitution envisioned; rewriting the story of the American people and in process turning the future into an apocalyptic nightmare.

The insidious nature of this is the subterfuge in which it is eating away at the soul of America. It disguises itself as Christianity and patriotism; laying claim to the only true way to be American. It is none of these.

I have referenced this topic in two separate occasions here but I believe it is critical to include what is being presented here when you consider articles concerning Ann Coulter; the Council for National Policy, The Center for Reclaiming America, the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute; and a whole host of who's who in right wing politics.

In a recent interview with Chris Hedges on NPR which can be heard here, Chris Hedges speaks of the extremist movement that has assumed control of evangelicals and the Republican Party in America.

NPR provides a link to the first chapter of his new book "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America" entitled "faith" in which he lays out the classical definition of what fascism is and opens with this quote:

Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be most unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols. We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. We should claim that any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law, and we should consider incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal, in the same way as we should consider incitement to murder, or to kidnapping, or to the revival of the slave trade, as criminal.

-- Karl Popper, The Open Society and Its Enemies

For all those that think this is a fringe group that represents little or no threat to America I would suggest you dig a little deeper. I found this site concerning the Council for National Policy most informative including the listing at the end Present Officers & Prominent Members Index

Ok that is my attempt at informing you as to what we are dealing with. What you do with the information is up to you.

g

[BOSSHOG]

1. Thanks Gryphons Eyre and welcome to DU

I think you will find DU a wealth of information and your obvious contributions are greatly appreciated. I have thought for some time that "christian" "conservatives" in America with all their fake compassion and their constant hating in the name of Jesus Christ are domestic enemies of our constitution. I look forward to your future posts.

[creeksneakers2]

2. Welcome to DU

I share your belief that the right wing is engaging in creeping fascism. Most here also agree with your belief. Those outfits you mention are some of the scariest out there.

[ixion]

3. Welcome to DU, Gryphons Eyre

glad to have you aboard. I think you'll find many like-minded people here. This isn't about political parties. This is about restoring our republic.

[Fovea]

4. Welcome

The religious right has been rising for a long time now. I think they present a danger and have for decades, I think they have reduced their support to the least critical elements in American society.

As one small example of this, note the behavior and demographics of CPAC as presented to the world. It was as I saw it, a Sunday school dressup outing for Buffy and Jody, Mr. French's charges all grown up.

Normally they would be skipping class at the ivy league bizz school or lower rank law school. In the corners of the room might lurk the occasional psychotic jesuit philosophy major Straussian, pretending to be a conservative, or a terrified log cabin conservative.

The rest were either cynical parvenues, or deeply delusional. Or both.

And look at what passed for their entertainment.
Ann Coulter. I could say more, but her name itself has become an insult sufficient to the cause.

[Maat]

5. I just read the book, "American Fascists;"

I'm usually VERY critical, but this book was great! I've researched the radical religious right in this country for a few years now. This book is VERY informative. I just couldn't put it down.

I started researching the RRR when my in-laws moved to the Midwest and became Southern Baptist. The Southern Baptist Conference (the administrative organization that most Baptist churches belong to) was taken over by radical rightwingers progressively the last two decades or so.

And there was a thread on Coulter being invited to speak at the "Center for Reclaiming America."

Both of these organizations are discussed in the book. It was a fascinating book.

Welcome to DU!