“American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America”By Chris HedgesCopyright 2006Free Press
Paperback, $14
274 pages
The sentence that’s key to understanding this Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter’s book appears on the last page of the new paperback edition, which is actually part of an interview of the author that appeared Jan. 8, 2007, in Salon.com:
“I don’t know how much it’s apparent, but it’s an angry book.”
That it is.
But it’s not particularly informative about the link between the Christian Right and the “fascist shift” described in Naomi Wolf’s “The End of America” (see my review here).
The vast majority of Hedges’ book describes the various ways in which pillars of the Christian Right condemn the left, the independent woman, the homosexual, the Muslim — and exploit the poor, the female, the old and the non-white.
In this, Hedges is, ahem, preaching to the choir, I think.
Perhaps it was new to Hedges, who earned his 2002 Pulitzer for the New York Times covering terrorism around the world. He had previously covered ruthless, nationalistic regimes in the Balkans and the Middle East.
In the Salon interview, Hedges mentions that he began to notice similarities between Serbian demagogues and American Christian Right “dominionists” when he returned to the United States. Again, from the last page:
“Because of my close coverage, or close connection with movements like Hamas or Milosevic, or even some of the despotive movements in Latin America like Efrain Rios Montt in Guatemala, I’d already been conditioned to smell these people out.”
Those of us who stayed in the United States during the 1990s are quite familiar with the harangues of the Pat Robertsons, Jerry Falwells, et al., and their belief that the Book of Revelation calls on us to expedite Armageddon, and what that would mean for all non-Christians and not-Christian-enoughs.
To Hedges’ credit, he doesn’t condemn the followers, people who “cling” to fundamentalist Christian, right-wing beliefs because their own lives have become too hopeless to survive without the “magical thinking” of televangelists such as Paul and Jan Crouch.
Some of the stories of these followers are clearly sympathetic. One has a strong sense of “hate the sin, love the sinner” in this book.
It’s the sort of sophisticated attitude one might expect of Hedges, who earned a master of divinity at Harvard and who is the son of a Presbyterian minister.
The link to fascism truly becomes clear in the last chapter, when Hedges describes what he learned in ethics class at Harvard from Dr. James Luther Adams, who was in Germany in 1935 and 1936, and who worked with the anti-Nazi church with dissidents such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Speaking of Adams, Hedges writes:
“He saw in the Christian Right, long before we did, disturbing similarities with the German Christian Church and the Nazi Party, similarities, he said that would, in the event of prolonged social instability, catastrophe or national crisis, see American fascists, under the guise of Christianity, rise to dismantle the open society.” (P. 198.)
As the value of the dollar plummets, gasoline and oil prices hit new records, a recession deepens, tens of thousands of Americans face home foreclosure and Democrats appear poised to nominate the first black major party presidential nominee, one wonders whether that “prolonged social instability, catastrophe or national crisis” is here.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think Obama’s nomination would be a bad thing. I just fear that if something untoward should happen during this presidential election, it might be the tipping point.
Responses to “‘American Fascists’ at the tipping point”
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:17 pm
I found the book informative about the minds that are trying to force our our nation into the mold of a Christian nation as they see the biblical ideal, rejecting pluralism, evolution and the things they perceive as waging the culture wars. These wars are seem to be an artifact of the dominionists and are used as straw people that can be attacked in biblical righteousness.
It is always good to know who the opposition is, and Chris Hedges lays out some of the terrain for us. Some preaching to the choir is a good idea if it is as informative as this book.
Local Christian radio features dominionists like D. James Kennedy and the Coral Ridge Ministry which promotes the notions of the late Dr. Kennedy. Facism of religion is among us here in West Tennessee, and it can be as dangerous to our democracy as the political facism we already see in our government with its hubris and self-righteous ways.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Since this reporter-critic made a special effort to alert local academicians of his review, I think it is fair to assume that he too seeks to “preach to the choir,” while looking for affirmation of what he believes to be a deep-thinking, poignant analysis of the real, impending threat posed by conservative Christians in America. But after reading this missive I am left wondering: why is it acceptable for those who view themselves as open-minded, thoughtful observers of the human condition to condemn right-leaning Christians for their supposed irrational prejudices, portraying them as pathetic Muslim-hating, homosexual-fearing, Nazi-in-waiting cretins, worthy not only of our fear, but our pity? This is not the product of a “sophisticated attitude.” It is fear mongering from the left.
After reading this review, I can only conclude that America teeters on the edge of revolution as the unwashed hoards of reactionary Christians, seething in discontent over rising prices, an economic recession, and the possibility of a black president craft a Crystal Cathedral putsch seeking Armageddon and the second coming.
Really, who is being irrational?
April 24th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Historically it’s taken much less than that to get Christians to burn people or even hang them in the south. I don’t think the writer goes far enough in sounding an alarm against the Christian hoards that attempt to overtake this country every day.
The religious right is to be feared. The people of this great nation should stand strong for the seperation of church and state. We can’t let Christrian fascists have our country for the sake of our chidren and the well-being of our planet.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
A shill who shills for a shill…
I found this very ludicrous book review posted on the Shelf Life blog of the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, of a new book by New York Times propagandist Chris Hedges called “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America”. And from what…
April 24th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
First, I’d like to thank Mark for making me aware that this was out there.
I’m impressed with Mark’s analysis of the book. You saved me fourteen bucks. I really don’t need yet another book that preaches to the choir. I’ve got a shelf full already. That the Rapture Right has been making greater and greater attempts to erode the separation between church and state is information that is recognizable by all sentient life forms, and likely more than a few amoebas.
Religious fundamentalism is a hideous thing, whether its proponents wear turbans or suits.
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I’m delighted by the responses, but I do object to being called a shill, which of course is somebody who gets paid to bring people to a crooked gambling event. The way elections have been going in the United States, I guess anyone who urges people to vote could be legitimately called a shill, but I still object. And, of course, that’s an ad-hominem argument that doesn’t really address the issues raised either in Hedges’ book or in my review of it. It’s true that “fascist” is a pejorative term, one that Hedges ascribes to the Christian Right. But let us try to use this forum to reason together about what fascism is and has been, and whether it’s a fair description, rather than accuse those who raise the questions of bad faith (can’t help it — I love puns).
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