Rise of American Fascism by Chris Hedges (KO's guest)

[cynatnite]

This is an article by Chris Hedges that no major publication would
print.

************

Dr. James Luther Adams, my ethics professor at Harvard Divinity School, told us that when we
were his age, he was then close to 80, we would all be fighting the "Christian fascists."

The warning, given to me 25 years ago, came at the moment Pat Robertson and other radio and
televangelists began speaking about a new political religion that would direct its efforts at taking
control of all institutions, including mainstream denominations and the government. Its stated
goal was to use the United States to create a global, Christian empire. It was hard, at the time, to
take such fantastic rhetoric seriously, especially given the buffoonish quality of those who
expounded it. But Adams warned us against the blindness caused by intellectual snobbery. The
Nazis, he said, were not going to return with swastikas and brown shirts. Their ideological
inheritors had found a mask for fascism in the pages of the Bible.

more at:

http://www.dallasuu.org/re/adult/huumanist/HedgesFascism.pdf

[tech3149]

1. Good catch!

I've only read a part of it and will read it again in the sobriety of daylight. It looks like a good choice for pamphleteering efforts, especially at church parking lots.

[Disturbed]

3. Fascism is upon us wtih a cross wrapped in the American flag.

Abuse and torture are the hallmarks of religous zealots.

[grasswire]

2. Hedges is a fascinating guy

He was a war correspondent for the NY Times for a couple of decades. He wrote "War Is a Force That Gives Life Meaning" and yet he is anti-war. A brilliant, brilliant fellow.

[nashville_brook]

8. i love his book... his Fresh Air interview was amazing! (link)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1195582

[cynatnite]

10. I am going to buy the new one coming out in Jan.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Fascists-Christian-Right-America/dp/0743284437/sr=8-2/qid=1159535729/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-1575068-3575121?ie=UTF8&s=books

[Blecht]

4. Telling paragraph from the article

Bush may turn out to be a transition figure, our version of Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck used
"values" to energize his base at the end of the 19th century and launched "Kulturkampt," the word
from which we get "culture wars," against Catholics and Jews. Bismarck 's attacks split the
country, made the discrediting of whole segments of the society an acceptable part of the civil
discourse and paved the way for the more virulent racism of the Nazis. This, I suspect, will be
George Bush's contribution to our democracy.

Too bad no editor caught the typo "Kulturkampt." It's Kulturkampf.

Anyway, thanks for posting this. Recommended.

[mopinko]

11. i think this would be reagun

all the lefties i knew back them saw all this coming.

[4morewars]

5. These are some scary people !

Damn, we live in interesting times, don't we ?

[ms liberty]

6. 5th K&R - Get thee to the Greatest Page - a must read! n/t

[symbolman]

7. I recall in the 80's getting drunk in college

and waxing philosophical, and I told my buddies that in 25 years or so we'd be "goose stepping for Jesus" all over the world.

Looks like I was right, wish I wasn't...

Brilliant writing here, thanks very much

[Skidmore]

9. Thanks for this article.