Threat to American Democracy
TimeWatch Editorial
May 29, 2016
This will certainly not be the first time we have taken note of Chris Hedges in our editorial, and I am sure it will certainly not be the last. As indicated in our April 24, 2016 editorial entitled: Voice of the Dragon, Christopher Lynn "Chris" Hedges was born September 18, 1956. He is an American journalist, activist, author, and Presbyterian minister. Hedges is also known as the best-selling author of several books including, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle (2009), Death of the Liberal Class (2010), the New York Times best seller, Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt (2012), and his most recent Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt (2015).
The article that has attracted our attention this time was published on the AlterNet Website on February 8, 2007. The date, in this particular case is incredibly important. The topic of the article is “The Rise of Christian Fascism and Its Threat to American Democracy.” Again allow me to emphasis the fact that this was a published article back on February 8, 2007. Many writers have used the same sort of terminology in recent times, without the stipulation “Christian” before it, but Mr Hedges seems to have seen something “rising” almost a decade ago. He informed us in his first paragraph that one of his professors at Harvard Divinity School, Dr. James Luther Adams, had warned concerning the fact that soon; they would all be fighting “Christian Fascists.” In his second paragraph, he begins to warn concerning the situation as he sees it.
“The warning, given 25 years ago, came at the moment Pat Robertson and other radio and television evangelists began speaking about a new political religion that would direct its efforts toward 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. This call for fundamentalists and evangelicals to take political power was a radical and ominous mutation of traditional Christianity. 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.” Chris Hedges, “The Rise of Christian Fascism and Its Threat to American Democracy.”
What really caught my attention was the end of Dr. Adams warning concerning the “blindness caused by intellectual snobbery.” In other words, there are those who, because of their academic and social advancement, would find it difficult “to take such fantastic rhetoric seriously, especially given the buffoonish quality of those who expounded it.” But regardless of how “buffoonish” these individuals might appear, they must be taken seriously. Dr. Adams continues to warn that these Nazis will not “return with swastikas and brown shirts.” Dr. Adams warns that these fascists had found “a mask for fascism in the pages of the Bible.”
It is worth reminding you that Dr. James Luther Adams was the ethics professor of Chris Hedges at Harvard Divinity School. It is also important that you remember that Chris Hedges is a Presbyterian Minister. They however yet recognize the obvious abuse of the Scriptures by these fascists. But there was more. Listen as Chris Hedges continues his article:
“Adams understood that totalitarian movements are built out of deep personal and economic despair. He warned that the flight of manufacturing jobs, the impoverishment of the American working class, the physical obliteration of communities in the vast, soulless exurbs and decaying Rust Belt, were swiftly deforming our society. The current assault on the middle class, which now lives in a world in which anything that can be put on software can be outsourced, would have terrified him. These Christian utopians promise to replace this internal and external emptiness with a mythical world where time stops and all problems are solved.” Chris Hedges, “The Rise of Christian Fascism and Its Threat to American Democracy.”
Let me repeat again the fact that this article was written and published February 8, 2007. It is truly amazing however that there are so many similarities between these descriptions and the speeches and promises of today. The ability to motivate today is based upon the same arguments of the past. Listen to this:
“The mounting despair rippling across the United States I witnessed repeatedly as I traveled the country, remains unaddressed by the Democratic Party, which has abandoned the working class, like its Republican counterpart, for massive corporate funding. The Christian right has lured tens of millions of Americans, who rightly feel abandoned and betrayed by the political system, from the reality-based world to one of magic -- to fantastic visions of angels and miracles, to a childlike belief that God has a plan for them and Jesus will guide and protect them.” Chris Hedges, “The Rise of Christian Fascism and Its Threat to American Democracy.”
It is clear then that the attitudes expressed today are not new. Many, who pretend to be shocked by what is being said, really are not. Finally, they have found someone to express the way they really feel.
Cameron A. Bowen
