American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America Paperback – January 8, 2008

This is doubtless one of the most frightening but truest, most thought-provoking, most important books I have read this year, right alongside Al Gore's The Assault on Reason The Assault on Reason. It confirmed, with extensive citation and quotes from the very ones propagating this dangerous agenda, what I was already aware of, but try my best to assume more benevolence of. I have long been conscious of the intolerance of the Christian right of those who are different from themselves, who have differing beliefs or customs or backgrounds or desires. I had no idea how much political influence they had until the 2004 election; I was so sure that Kerry had it in the bag, when I heard how many people had gone out to vote, until I learned that the bulk of those unexpected voters were evangelists who cared more about making sure homosexuals were denied equal rights and eradicating the right to choice than protecting their own rights as workers and as citizens, protecting their own financial interests, ending a senseless and costly war. That election sent shivers down my spine, and indeed I left the country for a year and a half after that--for unrelated reasons, but it made me glad to leave.Now I am back; a new election is underway, and I see the Christian Right's influence more and more every day. They are the largest special interest group in the country, and they seek to destroy American democracy and the Constitution in its very name. I am terrified that if McCain and his right-wing VP pick win, we will be making still more concessions to this group whose ultimate goal is the repression and eventual eradication of all people who are not among their ranks. Hedges does nothing to assuage my fears--indeed, he stokes them. I am more afraid than I have ever been. Reading the way Christian textbooks have rewritten history and science to make it agree with their narrow beliefs, the way they promote intolerance towards other countries and other religions--there could not be a more appropriate title for the book than the one it has. His comparison of the dominionists to other totalitarian movements, including Islamic fundamentalist movements, communism, Nazism, Mussolini-fascism, ring extremely true. The parallels are clear, and he supports his claims with quotes from the mouths and the literature of those in charge of these movements, as well as including plenty of insight into the minds of those following blindly in these movements that seek to subjugate them and remove their rights. They fight avidly for their own repression. It's incredible, yet true.An excellent book. I highly recommend it to anyone. The fact that Hedges comes from a religious background himself--having completed Harvard Divinity seminary--makes it all the more credible; one cannot dismiss it as a mere attack on religion by an atheist fundamentalist. I myself am an atheist, but I have always respected the rights of others to practice their own religions, whether or not I feel they actually benefit society in any meaningful way when compared to their destructive force. Then again, equally repressive regimes have been built in opposition to religion, so I suppose it is human nature ultimately that makes man strive for his own subjugation and destruction.A must-read...especially in these crucial times, when yet another President is about to be elected. I only wish it would be read more widely before November than it probably will be.

I found this book to quite frightening because while being a christian myself I have often found the hard line views of the christian right to be not only repugnant but a violation of democratic ideals.They propose returning to what they call is a christian nation and yet fail to misunderstand that the founding fathers of America put a barrier between church and state for the very protection of the nation itself for hat I believe was to ensure that all human being irregardless of their race or religion would be treated equally and if one religion organisation was running of the country it would automatically see those a not of their own religion as a threat to there authority just like the catholic church saw the Cathars and the idea of living in a world run by these christian fundamentalists is quite scary considering what some of them propose.The book begins with the author stating out by talking about his early life and about how his father was a priest who supported the civil-rights movement which was highly unpopular in his rural area and who then worked a gay-rights activist and who found out when his son's college had no gay and lesbian organization he got his son (the author of this book) to setup a gay and lesbian organization even though he wasn't gay himself.In the same chapter it also talks about faith and how there are many violent passages in the bible and how these passages are used by bigots to justify their bigotry and how until the Church's of the world step in to the debate that these passage will be used evil people to promote evil things.The book then moves on to how the Christian right helped to get George W Bush elected and the power and political influence that it has within the republican party and how they promote a culture of despair that prey on the disillusioned and troubled people of society but offering them the solutions to their problems if only they listen to their pastor or donate money to the tv pastors who themselves are rich and take money of these poor people give in the hope that God will help them.It talks about how this new culture of dominionist are attempting to destroy democracy from within (hence the title America fascist) and replace it with a totalitarian one in which the male pastors are seen as the leader of society and represent gods authority and as such we are supposed to do what they say.Dominionism is a ideology that proposes that all Christians should work towards either a nation governed by Christians or one governed by conservative christian understanding of Biblical law and considering the things I have heard conservative christians say like for instance the Westboro Baptist Church I shudder to think what it would be like to live in society dictated by these people.It also talks about how the reason that gay and lesbians are hated within the christian right is because they violate their idea of what a man and woman should be and sign a man is supposed to masculine the idea of a gay man is repugnant to them.One of the most explosive truths present in this book is the christian right relationship to white supremacist groups including individual such as Jerry Falwell who was a racist who in his sermon attacked not only the civil rights movement but also promoted racism against African Americans who in the 90's conveniently changed his tune.The crescendo of this book is the leadup to apocalyptic violence that this group proposes and what it will lead to. These dominionists promote a violent end of times war and that the whole non-christian world is against them creating an ideology to the followers that they are under attack by the whole world and how someone cannot be a liberal and a christian at the same time which is very similar to the belief that the wahhabi extremist terrorist groups (such as al qaeda) and there followers propose.The books then ends with by with a letter by Mr Hedges ethics teacher who in a letter about WW2 pointed that American who had resisted the Nazi Regime but who were racist against african american and Jews hada very similar if not the same racial ideologies of racial superiority and thus if it was so what was the point in them having fought against the Nazis if not to topple their government based on racial superiority.The reason the above letter is so important is because the christian right has often promoted intolerance towards homosexual, Muslims, Jews and used this idea of values just like the Nazi's used in Germany to undermine the civil rights of the people in order to promote their view of how a government should be and pass marshall law.These right wing dominionists are a threat to America's democracy and are trying to undermine it at every turn and they use the ideology of values to do just like the nazi's did to promote their violently intolerant views on issues and call for exclusion, intolerance and cruelty all in the name of God.All in all this was a great book and essential to understanding how dangerous and pervasive this ideology really is.