Sisyphus Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 Chris Hedges, the author of this book, a Christian and former seminary student from Harvard Divinity School, was just on Stephen Colbert. He was very articulate and impressive. Here's the blurb: Twenty-five years ago, when Pat Robertson and other radio and televangelists first spoke of the United States becoming a Christian nation that would build a global Christian empire, it was hard to take such hyperbolic rhetoric seriously. Today, such language no longer sounds like hyperbole but poses, instead, a very real threat to our freedom and our way of life. In American Fascists, Chris Hedges, veteran journalist and author of the National Book Award finalist War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, challenges the Christian Right's religious legitimacy and argues that at its core it is a mass movement fueled by unbridled nationalism and a hatred for the open society. Hedges, who grew up in rural parishes in upstate New York where his father was a Presbyterian pastor, attacks the movement as someone steeped in the Bible and Christian tradition. He points to the hundreds of senators and members of Congress who have earned between 80 and 100 percent approval ratings from the three most influential Christian Right advocacy groups as one of many signs that the movement is burrowing deep inside the American government to subvert it. The movement's call to dismantle the wall between church and state and the intolerance it preaches against all who do not conform to its warped vision of a Christian America are pumped into tens of millions of American homes through Christian television and radio stations, as well as reinforced through the curriculum in Christian schools. The movement's yearning for apocalyptic violence and its assault on dispassionate, intellectual inquiry are laying the foundation for a new, frightening America. American Fascists, which includes interviews and coverage of events such as pro-life rallies and weeklong classes on conversion techniques, examines the movement's origins, its driving motivations and its dark ideological underpinnings. Hedges argues that the movement currently resembles the young fascist movements in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and '30s, movements that often masked the full extent of their drive for totalitarianism and were willing to make concessions until they achieved unrivaled power. The Christian Right, like these early fascist movements, does not openly call for dictatorship, nor does it use physical violence to suppress opposition. In short, the movement is not yet revolutionary. But the ideological architecture of a Christian fascism is being cemented in place. The movement has roused its followers to a fever pitch of despair and fury. All it will take, Hedges writes, is one more national crisis on the order of September 11 for the Christian Right to make a concerted drive to destroy American democracy. The movement awaits a crisis. At that moment they will reveal themselves for what they truly are -- the American heirs to fascism. Hedges issues a potent, impassioned warning. We face an imminent threat. His book reminds us of the dangers liberal, democratic societies face when they tolerate the intolerant. His book is on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/American-Fascists-Christian-Right-America/dp/0743284437 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsburySkinsFan Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 I bet this gets bad quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slateman Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 I bet this gets bad quick. Yea, but your sig makes coming in here worth it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 I bet this gets bad quick. well i'm gonna make you rich! i find a lot of truth in this. aside from republicans not actually being fiscally conservative like their supposed to be, their unending support for these people who wish to control our lives has really been upsetting me. until the day the Reps stop spending money and stand up to the "american fascists", i'll keep my vote up with the libertarians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphus Posted February 9, 2007 Author Share Posted February 9, 2007 I bet this gets bad quick. Is this not a crucial debate within Christianity? That the 'militant Pauline Christianity' combined with the 'prosperity gospel' much beloved of the televangelists is a corruption of the teachings of Christ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 He sounds like whining ***** to me Wake me up when the fascist christians turn violent or advocate overthrowing the government. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 So what are the rights and priveleges that the Fascist Christian Right has taken away from the public over the past 40 years? .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost of Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 Chris Hedges is a loon and I can't believe anyone would actually take that nut seriously. Everyone is a fascist and religious fanatic...EXCEPT the religious fanatics that have us taking our shoes off before getting in airplanes and that cut off people's heads from the Philippines to the Sudan. The Left loves to talk about Christians but other than mavericks like Hitchens are nowhere to be found when it's any other group (well, maybe the Jews in Israel.) Odd that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 Is this not a crucial debate within Christianity? That the 'militant Pauline Christianity' combined with the 'prosperity gospel' much beloved of the televangelists is a corruption of the teachings of Christ. Evangelism and the "name it and claim it" BS is a totally different subject than the thread. What's your point???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphus Posted February 9, 2007 Author Share Posted February 9, 2007 Wake me up when the fascist christians turn violent or advocate overthrowing the government. But then it will be too late And which governments did the fascists overthrow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamingwolf Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 I really wish the far left wasnt so obsessed with defeating christianity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphus Posted February 9, 2007 Author Share Posted February 9, 2007 I really wish the far left wasnt so obsessed with defeating christianity. You think liberal Christians like Chris Hedges are obsessed with defeating Christianity? :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsburySkinsFan Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 Is this not a crucial debate within Christianity? That the 'militant Pauline Christianity' combined with the 'prosperity gospel' much beloved of the televangelists is a corruption of the teachings of Christ. Well first I would have to challenge using Paul's name with any form of "militant Christianity", but yeah this is the big debate right now in the Protestant church. The thing is that its not a new debate at all, its simply the new American Zionism. The danger of it is that it plays well on multiple levels; 1) Nationalistic, 2) Spiritualistic, and 3) Temporal. On the Nationalistic level it gives people the ability to misappropriate their nationality which allows them ways to do and say things as a result of that nationalistic pride and loyalty that might not otherwise be possible without that nationalism. 2) On the Spiritualistic level it allows people to cover their nationalism with their spiritualism creating the illusion that the two are one, which allows them to wrap their nationalist actions in spiritual language. 3) The temporal aspect plays upon the wants and needs people; safety, wealth, happiness, etc. The end result is a combination of all three where the first two are used to bring about the 3rd, and once you can wrap the nationalistic ideal in religious language in order to protect the temporal "American" way of life. Well, you have in that moment a disaster waiting to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamingwolf Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 ok you've convinced me with your smartness, kill all christians and make everyone vote democrat. You guys are cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphus Posted February 9, 2007 Author Share Posted February 9, 2007 Chapter 1 is here: http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=520179&agid=2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsburySkinsFan Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 ok you've convinced me with your smartness, kill all christians and make everyone vote democrat. You guys are cool. Surely, you aren't aiming that at me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphus Posted February 9, 2007 Author Share Posted February 9, 2007 ok you've convinced me with your smartness, kill all christians and make everyone vote democrat. You guys are cool. A pathetic straw man ... even by your own low standards.:laugh: Who is advocating killing any Christians? A Pullitzer-prize winning, seminary-trained Christian is arguing that the Christian right is a threat to the well-being of American society. And your response is "kill all Christians.":doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 Is this not a crucial debate within Christianity? That the 'militant Pauline Christianity' combined with the 'prosperity gospel' much beloved of the televangelists is a corruption of the teachings of Christ. It is. This thread will be over run with people claiming liberals hate Christians, or other knee jerk reactions but frankly Christians should have a problem with this so called "Christian Right" movement. They sell nationalism and call it religion. They sell greed and call it God's reward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 A pathetic straw man ... even by your own low standards.:laugh:Who is advocating killing any Christians? A Pullitzer-prize winning, seminary-trained Christian is arguing that the Christian right is a threat to the well-being of American society. And your response is "kill all Christians.":doh: Surely, you aren't aiming that at me. Don't feed the troll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsburySkinsFan Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 but frankly Christians should have a problem with this so called "Christian Right" movement. They sell nationalism and call it religion. They sell greed and call it God's reward. BINGO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 It is. This thread will be over run with people claiming liberals hate Christians, or other knee jerk reactions but frankly Christians should have a problem with this so called "Christian Right" movement. They sell nationalism and call it religion. They sell greed and call it God's reward. Actually some of us do,but the tripe this guy is peddling is of no use to anyone. Or do you only condemn fear mongering from the right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebornempowered Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 Personally, I don't think you need to worry about the prosperity gospel folks taking over. That movement is so self absorbed I don't think they could figure anything out beyond calling 800 numbers for their free prayer cloths and miracle spring water. The leaders might have different ideas but I don't think they have too many dreams beyond fast cars and big houses either. As a conservative Christian that whole infomercial type of faith drives me up a wall!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 The Christian Right is a disease that is destroying America. Look how the Bush administration has put the United States in an unfavorable place by sending us to war and claiming that "god" told him to . 3,000+ dead American soldiers for what? Fortunately, the Christian Right is also a dying breed. Real conservatives are tired of this ****. But you still have a few brainwashed pansies that will listen to anything a president with a Texas accent and a claim to faith will say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost of Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 The Christian Right is a disease that is destroying America. Look how the Bush administration has put the United States in an unfavorable place by sending us to war and claiming that "god" told him to . 3,000+ dead American soldiers for what? Wait, is it the Project for a New American Century, oil or God that led us into Iraq? You people can't get your theories straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamingwolf Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 A pathetic straw man ... even by your own low standards.:laugh:Who is advocating killing any Christians? A Pullitzer-prize winning, seminary-trained Christian is arguing that the Christian right is a threat to the well-being of American society. And your response is "kill all Christians.":doh: would you be upset if all christians ceased to be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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