American Fascists: The Christian Right and War in America

"Hedges is a journalist and a little bit problematic lately, but his book is a very good one for the lay reader who wants to understand how evangelical Christianity has moved American politics inexorably toward the right. The United States centre of political gravity is way over to the right compared to most other democratic countries. Bernie Sanders would be slightly left-of-center if he were a German politician. Here he’s like Eugene Debs. What Hedges goes into is that a lot of American evangelicals are either openly supportive of, or at least not critical of Christian nationalism—a kind of belief that the United States once was, stopped being, and needs again to be, a theocracy. These people argue that the United States was founded specifically as a Christian nation. They deliberately misread the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to claim that the intention was to create a Christian nation for Christians only. They argue that somehow America lost its way and needs to find its way back. They point to the rise of Billy Graham, becoming a politically influential figure in his own right, as part of this. Reagan openly courted the religious right, and this continued through to George W. Bush and Trump and, to a lesser extent, even Barack Obama or Joe Biden. Even Democratic politicians have to find ways to try to sound like they understand this aspect of American religious culture and are not actively opposed to it. There are some evangelical Christians who are absolutely aching to see a theocratic America that would establish their particular variety as the state religion. Clinton did not confront that directly, he just did not say anything. If you’re a Christian nationalist that comes across as no opposition, whereas with Reagan, you heard active support. With Bush or Trump, you hear support. Barack Obama, like Clinton, doesn’t challenge it. Yes. Yes. They want religious tests for public office. One of the things that evangelicals love to talk about is the onslaught of secular humanism and atheism. But if you know your history of Christianity, Christian ministers and clergy have been complaining about that from almost the very beginning. It’s always something that they’re openly and publicly worried about. It’s a good rallying cry. Hedges talks about these groups, their Christian nationalism, and how they’re especially prevalent in rural America and in places where poverty is very high. He explains that this is what makes it so very dangerous. When you have people who are desperate, they’ll vote out of desperation. What needs to happen is a political realignment that is much more socialistic. He argues that’s truly Christian, which is to say more communalistic. Where people have been pushed out on the margins of society, they are brought back and included. He argues we have to find ways to eliminate poverty and a sense of hopelessness about their personal or collective situations. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . The worst thing that can happen to a country is if a large proportion of people feel that they have nothing to lose and are desperate. That’s where fascism can really find an appeal. Hedges brings that up. As someone said, when fascism comes to America, it’s not going to come in a swastika, it’s going to come wrapped in an American flag and carrying a cross. He argues that we need to keep an eye on this because these are not marginal people, or just on the fringes of society or the culture. They’re right at its heart and go all the way to the top. The last time I looked, a little over 50% of Americans consider themselves Christian in some way, shape or form. Of that group, we’re looking at over a third that identify as evangelical Protestant. Hedges’s point is that they are the most politically active Christians. If you’re looking for high levels of political engagement in religious groups, you’re not going to see anything nearly this high among Jews or Catholics or Episcopalians."