verte76
Blue Crack Addict
I don't think we have a secular Right in Alabama. Our right-wingers are all fundies.
The Christian Right and the Rise of American Fascism
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yolland
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I can understand why someone who lived under the Nazis or other fascist regimes would be inclined to find frightening echoes of their strategies in the tendencies of some contemporary American social and political groups. My parents often did the same thing. But as a political scientist, I am tired of seeing the term "fascism" carelessly tossed around as an all-purpose synonym for any sort of authoritarian impulse. Fascism proper involves, among many other things, a mystical exaltation of the the supremacy of the state and the race over individuals and groups; cults of personality surrounding leaders seen as embodying the former; and a characteristic organization of the economy through trade-based (pseudo-)unions which are structurally independent of the state but committed to this overall ideology. There really is nothing quite like this in the world today, although I could think of a few groups in a few places (not here) that arguably meet most of the criteria.
And I find this particular statement way overdrawn as a speculation as to what most supporters of the Christian Right would actually be willing to go along with:
And I find this particular statement way overdrawn as a speculation as to what most supporters of the Christian Right would actually be willing to go along with:
Not likely, and even if it were, such a state would much more aptly be called theocracy than fascism. But melon is right: the same idealism and wistful Freudian longing for a state of perpetual refuge in mother's (or should I say father's) benevolently protective embrace that drives such subversions of democracy, also inevitably plants the seeds of its disillusioned undoing.
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nbcrusader
Blue Crack Addict
verte76 said:
Isn't that part of the problem. Some on the right are automatically bundled with "fundies" due to their stances on various issues.
verte76
Blue Crack Addict
nbcrusader said:
Yes. But our conservatives want it that way. In Alabama, this is what gets you votes, and naturally our politicians go that way. It's the way to get elected, and this is what politicians want.
blueyedpoet
Refugee
I try to avoid the word fascist when I speak about my distate for conservative christians. I find that the word turns so many people off they don't listen to what I have to say.
verte76 said:
And if it gets votes it's because what they purport to stand for matches what the voters want.
Isn't that democracy ? Candidate A says "I stand for this" and voter B says "yeah, that's what I believe, I'll have me some of that".
verte76
Blue Crack Addict
blueyedpoet said:
Oh, I don't think all conservative Christians are fascists. But some of them in my state with political aspirations, yes, I think they are fascists. I just hope none of them are elected in this year's elections, but I think I'm being too naive.
nbcrusader
Blue Crack Addict
verte76 said:
How do you distinguish between the Christians you deem fascists and the Christians who are not fascists?
A_Wanderer
ONE love, blood, life
The fascists adopt an efficient melding of the welfare state, corporations, security apparatus and notions of racial purity with a very strong sense of belligerent nationalism.
They also have a general sense of hatred towards Christians.
They also have a general sense of hatred towards Christians.
intedomine
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
verte76 said:The Christian Right scares the hell out of me.
Some commentators reckon that the Christian Right are gathering momentum here in Australia. It's hard to imagine it happening anytime soon, but it's the Abbotts and Danna Vales and the Family Firsts which will be right behind any such shift....
....and if the Chrsitian far-right did govern Aussie, I'm gonna start a Revolution, and I'm gonna have a coup, and tell them to all **** off...
martha
Blue Crack Supplier
intedomine said:
But use the real word. Asterisks tend to be a tad benign.
martha
Blue Crack Supplier
Good point.JMScoopy
Refugee
wow, im glad im apathetic towards most politcal issues.
Ft. Worth Frog
Acrobat
I think the word "fascist" is often misused by both right and left and this article appears to really misuse the label despite his mentioning of people like Bonhoeffer, etc.
Also, what many people fail to look at is the state of the official German church at that time-theologically, they were nothing like the Christian Right today. Either way, both sides use fear to get their way-the far left uses fear of the far Christian Right and vice-versa. What both sides fail to recognize is that most Americans don't really give a damn either way.
Also, what many people fail to look at is the state of the official German church at that time-theologically, they were nothing like the Christian Right today. Either way, both sides use fear to get their way-the far left uses fear of the far Christian Right and vice-versa. What both sides fail to recognize is that most Americans don't really give a damn either way.
martha
Blue Crack Supplier
Ft. Worth Frog said:
I dunno. Look at election patterns recently.
Ft. Worth Frog
Acrobat
But what is voter participation at? That is the key. Voters were nearly split down the middle and keep in mind that many voters are not ideologues either way.
martha
Blue Crack Supplier
Ft. Worth Frog said:
Yes. That's the real problem. People who actually think it doesn't matter if they participate or not. I think we've all seen what that can get us.
OP
OP
joyfulgirl
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Sorry I haven't been back to my own thread but after posting it really haven't had time to get into it further. I just thought it was interesting for discussion and just want to point out that the premise of the article was that "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." Hedges isn't asserting that the Christian right of today is fascist but that there is evidence of seeds being planted. Hedges is probably in his 40s and a lot can happen in the next 40 years, and none of us can predict what any of it will be.
Kieran McConville
ONE love, blood, life
I think this is a very interesting topic, and I'd be far from sanguine about it. A lot can change very quickly (relatively speaking), and it's not just America.
Harry Vest
Refugee
A_Wanderer
ONE love, blood, life
Antipas Ministries is just as insane as every other God minded fool that gets off on the idea that they will be judged superior to other people. They are no different than the "Left Behind" mob or the cult like believers of the 12th Imam.
nbcrusader
Blue Crack Addict
Interesting the disconnect between the Statement of Faith and the application of Scripture as describe through the rest of the Atipas Ministries site.
Harry Vest
Refugee
How quick you are to "judge" Antipas Ministries - sure, some of what they say is highly questionable but if you were to take some time reading some of thier writings dating back to the early 90's they are right about one thing...the rise of Right Wing American Fundamentalist Christianity and it's "anti-christ" tendencies. These folks were on about an American Theocracy years before it was a trendy subject for magazines like Harpers. They have been on top of these "False Prophets" of the so called American Church for longer than anyone I know of. So before you label all of of Antipas Ministries "nuts" I would urge you to take a deeper look at SOME of the articles - they are extremely interesting. As far as comparing them to Tim LaHaye and his "Left Behind" bunch...you've got to be kidding!!!
A_Wanderer
ONE love, blood, life
The nature of the believer is to find more or less identical beliefs outrageous.Harry Vest said:
Scarletwine
New Yorker
I think Multinational COrporations and Bankers are driving us to facism with help from the Christian Right, or maybe that's a shield.
Interesting trailer. Congressman Ron Paul gave an excellent speech the other day, available on his website.
http://www.freedomtofascism.com/high.html
Interesting trailer. Congressman Ron Paul gave an excellent speech the other day, available on his website.
http://www.freedomtofascism.com/high.html
verte76
Blue Crack Addict
I think he's right, and this scares the 
out of me.
out of me.
nbcrusader
Blue Crack Addict
The same group that caused 9/11 are behind this.
What a bunch of malarchy. And, to top it off, just about all the quotes deal with the federal government, not multinational corporations, bankers and the Christian Right.
I guess clarity gets lost when looking through the fog of the VRWC.
What a bunch of malarchy. And, to top it off, just about all the quotes deal with the federal government, not multinational corporations, bankers and the Christian Right.
I guess clarity gets lost when looking through the fog of the VRWC.
Harry Vest
Refugee
If by now (2006) you don't have SERIOUS questions as to what went down on the morning of September 11, 2001 then you are at best a fool. Many of us realized something was wrong that very day!!! How dare you take the oh-so-easy route and just laugh at any "conspiracy" theories. Oh ya, I've got one for ya buddy - Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman as well. What a joke. Or better said " What a bunch of malarchy!!!
nbcrusader
Blue Crack Addict
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