Product Description

They disseminate their ideas on the alternative broadcast networks and through their own publishers and schools. Their intellectual leaders demand the complete dismantling of the secular state; their followers have been roused to a fever pitch of resentment and despair. Describing themselves as true patriots, they wrap themselves in the flag - but all it might take, writes veteran journalist (and Harvard Divinity School graduate) Chris Hedges, is one more national crisis of the order of September 11 for the Christian Right to seize power and reveal themselves for what they really are - the American heirs to Fascism. With a step-by-step breakdown of how they started and where they are, Chris Hedges, conducts brilliant on-the-ground reporting and produces a deeply compelling work of cultural and political anthropology and an impassioned, no-holds-barred polemic. "American Fascists" is sure to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #278478 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Scotland on Sunday, rev'd by David Stenhouse
`packed with descriptions to give a liberal sleepless nights'

Rod Liddle, Sunday Times
'full to the brim with quite exceptional reportage'

About the Author
Chris Hedges was a foreign correspondent for nearly two decades for the New York Times and other newspapers and is the author of War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, What Every Person Should Know About War, and Losing Moses on the Freeway. A senior fellow at the National Institute, he also teaches in the Program for American Studies at Princeton University. He lives in Stockton, New Jersey.

Customer Reviews

A fusilade against shearing Christian sheep
We might assume that the right-wing Christian nationalist dream is waning in America, but Chris Hedges does not. Touring around the country he finds an undimminished movement for a full-blown theocratic state. As he quotes James Kennedy,

"Our job is to reclaim America for Christ, whatever the cost. As vice-regents of God, we are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government, our literature and arts, our sports areanas, our entertainment media, our scientific endeavors -- in short, over every aspect and institution of human society." (p. 58)

Hedges travels widely to hear great speakers, attend seminars and visit with radical fundamentalists. He offers some understanding, or perhaps pity, towards these people's needs for order, direction, certitude and righteousness in a chaotic society. But his sympathy is limited by a conviction that these people are pushing his country towards totalitarian fascism. He notes that the Dominionist agenda calls for a restoration of harsh ancient laws from before the time of Jesus or of modern Judaism: the death penalty for adultery, homosexuality, blasphemy, incest, striking a parent, incorrigible juvenile delinquency, and, in the case of women, unchastity before marriage. Beyond this, Hedges sees a regressive agenda to make Christianity more supportive of powerful economic interests:

"... When it is faith alone that will determine your wellbeing, when faith alone cures illness, overcomes emotional distress, and ensures financial and physical security, there is no need for outside, secular institutions, for social service and regulatory agencies to exist. ... To put trust in secular institutions is to lack faith, to give up on God's magic and miracles. The message being preached is one that dovetails with the message of neoconservatives who want to gut and destroy federal programs, free themselves from government regulations and taxes and break the back of all organizations, such a labor unions, that seek to impede maximum profit." (p. 179)

Naturally, in attacking the intollerance of particular people Hedges seems to accuse all serious Christians of harboring fascist tendencies. But while sometimes scattering his shots widely, he usually tries to distinguish among different kinds of Christians, and he affirms those who respect religious freedom:

"While traditional fundamentalism shares many of the darker traits of the new movement -- such as blind obedience to a male heirarchy that often claims to speak for God, intollerance towards non-believers, and disdain for rational, intellectual inquiry -- it has never attempted to impose its' belief system on the rest of the nation. And it has not tried to transform government, as well as all other secular intitutions, into and extension of the church." (p.13)

Most interestingly, Hedges seems to dismiss liberal Christians as ineffectual in the fight to preseve freedom. He looks instead to Christians of a more traditional nature, such as evangelicals the likes of Billy Graham, who value compassion, mercy, and personal faith over self-righteous intollerance:

"The most potent opposition to the movement may come from within the evangelical tradition. The radical fundamentalist movement must fear these Christians, who have remained loyal to the core values of the Gospel, who delineate between right and wrong, who are willing to be villified and attacked in the name of a higher good and who have the courage to fight back. Most liberals, the movement has figured out, will stand complacently to be sheared like sheep, attempting to open dialogue and reaching out to those who spit venom in their faces." (p.34-35)

Interesting look at politics and religion
All in all, this book will especially appeal to three groups of reader: atheists who are in agreement with Dawkins that religion is dangerous, especially when it cross pollinates with politics. Secondly, this will appeal to "liberal" Christians, and finally, to those who are researching the relationship between politics and religion. A useful companion to this book is "Sacred Causes" by Michael Burleigh, which also explores the similarities between religion and political cults.

Hedges argues that certain aspects of the Christian Right movement in America shares psychological and tactical characteristics with fascism. For example, he argues that the Christian right claim that society is morally decaying is an echo of the Nazi claims about "decadent" art forms. He particularly focuses on the cult of masculinity, which he say appeals to a modern generation of men, who find post-modern gender role confusion frustrating, and seek to assert tradition as a means of coping.

The book is not without its weaknesses. Firstly, Hedges uses a very small sample group, namely, small and medium sized churches he visits during his research, and then bases conclusions of national significance on what he hears. Also, his claims that all members of the Christian right are Himmlers in waiting is rather uncharitable, and Hedges' writing style at times betrays a paranoia he accuses his opponents of exhibiting. Nevertheless, I found this book a very interesting read, and as an evangelical Christian on the political "right", still found myself absorbed in many of his ideas, although I respectfully disagree with some of them.

We should consider incitement to intolerance as criminal (K.R. Popper)
In this hard-hitting book, Chris Hedges attacks head-on the Christian Right and their ideology, dominionism, which calls for the church to take political and institutional power and install a theocracy in the US.
The movement has very wealthy backers for two main reasons, politically, the assault on democracy and economically, the promotion of unfettered capitalism.

Assault on democracy
The Christian Right calls for the destruction of an open and pluralist society with its civil-rights laws, trade unions and public schools teaching secular humanism.
Education and welfare should be handed over to the churches. `Tithes' should be paid by the population.
The movement is anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-liberal, anti-immigrants, anti-Hindu, anti-Muslim and for severe sexual repression.
Chris Hedges accuses one of its members as being the mastermind of vote counts manipulation in recent elections.

Unfettered capitalism (the gospel of prosperity)
Unfettered capitalism allows the exploitation of human workers by paying less than living wages, thereby generating billions of dollars of profits for the corporatocracy.

Political influence
The Christian Right controls a big part of the Republican Party. Its organizations received billions of dollars under the Bush II administrations.
It has representatives in the Supreme Court, in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
It can spread its message through its own TV channels, radio stations and newspapers.

Social influence
The Christian Right tries to create a political mass movement with people, who are, in fact, victims of this unfettered capitalism (see also, T. Frank: What's the Matter with Kansas.)
On the other hand, it is a money machine for its preachers (`Let me be very clear. I want your money. I deserve it.').

(Un)scientific influence
Its belief system and its handbook (the Bible) are the basis for understanding the world. Facts are treated as opinions (`Why condoms aren't safe').
It believes in and supports the anti-Darwinian gospel of creationism (Intelligent Design).

Chris Hedges's crystal clear book shows ominously the dangers of the Christian Right for democracy.
His book is a must read for all those who want to understand the world we live in.