Posted on 11/13/2007 9:45:52 AM PST by mojito
....Hedges’s thesis is simple: religious conservatives in the United States are incubating a form of fascism that could eventually destroy America’s political and intellectual traditions, exposing the nation and the world to a terrifying form of theocracy. He’s not the first to indulge in reductio ad Hitlerum as he bears witness to what’s going on in the megachurches: viewers of Richard Dawkins’s documentary The Root of All Evil? might remember his opening salvo against a pre-scandal Ted Haggard, in which Dawkins said that a New Life Church service reminded him of the Nuremberg rallies. (Haggard eventually chased Dawkins out of the church parking lot.) Hedges has a more sophisticated way of dealing with religious Nazis; he reprints a brief essay by Umberto Eco on ‘Eternal Fascism’ and, like other critics of the religious right, seizes on Sinclair Lewis’s line from the years of the Great Depression: ‘When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.’
According to Hedges, an evangelical movement in the United States is trying to establish a government based on scripture rather than the constitution. This movement, he argues, is not interested in dialogue or rational thought. It will distort, suppress or otherwise crush the opinions of its opponents. ‘It is not mollified because John Kerry prays,’ Hedges notes, ‘or Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday school.’ By the end of the book, Hedges is pleading with liberal readers to give up ‘naive attempts to reach out to the movement’. This is a call to arms: it’s time for liberals to meet intolerance with intolerance. After all, ‘this movement is bent on our destruction.’
(Excerpt) Read more at lrb.co.uk ...
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
But radical Islam?? No problem, we’ll just talk to them.
Besides, that’s “diversity”.
Hilarious quote, considering that Lewis loved fascism as long as it came carrying a hammer and sickle.
“religious conservatives in the United States are incubating a form of fascism that could eventually destroy America’s political and intellectual traditions,”
One could make the argument, with more than a little supporting data, that America’s political and intellectual traditions are theologically based. /sarc off Apparently this author just fell off the turnip truck.
Let’s make sure Blackwater is available when the Pope is here. I’d keep an eye on Mr. Hedges.
“religious conservatives in the United States are incubating a form of fascism that could eventually destroy America’s political and intellectual traditions,”
All one has to do is examine the founding charters of MOST Ivy League colleges to discover that it was CHRISTIANITY (Christians) that founded them....this propagandist of the left does NOT do his homework (or he ignores facts as most left wingers do)....
Such trip is old-school and old-news. No heart or soul to catch the youngster’s emotions...
BTTT
BTTT 2
The left dances with international socialism and suppresses freedom of expression whilst courting their islamofascist murders. Whew. Now we know who put the dys into dysfunctional.
http://www.orwell.ru/library/articles/As_I_Please/english/efasc
George Orwell
What is Fascism?
TRIBUNE
1944
...It will be seen that, as used, the word ‘Fascism’ is almost entirely meaningless. In conversation, of course, it is used even more wildly than in print. I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting, bull-fighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestley’s broadcasts, Youth Hostels, astrology, women, dogs and I do not know what else....
Which means, of course, that the exact opposite is true.
It is always an advantage to project your own intentions onto your opponent and let them try to 'prove a negative', so to speak. This gets the attention off of you and your opponent usually ends up looking guilty by trying to rebut your claims. Typically, once the opponent has engaged the argument, the standard of proof is slowly raised by 'disinterested' third-parties and the opponent appears increasingly guilty as they ratchet up their defense.
The Clintoons used this technique regularly during their reign. It's no accident that it is a favorite tactic of the left.
I, for one, thing this Hedges guy should be promoted to DNC Chairman or Campaign Manager of Hillary 08.
This guy wants to lead the Dems right into a permanent oblivion where only judges can save them. And if we get to keep the White House, eventualy we’ll get rid of those judges whose robes hide the evil intentions of the fascists wearing birkenstocks and Darwin t-shirts.
The US has had about 230 years in which to create a theocracy. For most of those 230 years, religion played a much greater role in public life than it does now.
If it hasn’t happened by now, it ain’t gonna.
Is it just me, or is “fascist” a word that’s often tossed around like a bomb by people who have no real concept of what it means? It’s just a petty attack word these days...
Hedges is promoting the “Queer” agenda. Christians oppose his agenda. His “kind” has passed a bill in the House of Rep. that would protect him from any criticism. Say something bad about “queers” you are accused of a hate crime.
Hedges has a more sophisticated way of dealing with religious Nazis; he reprints a brief essay by Umberto Eco on ‘Eternal Fascism’ and, like other critics of the religious right, seizes on Sinclair Lewis’s line from the years of the Great Depression: ‘When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.’
Sinclair Lewis, so what.
Now could that be the same Sinclair Lewis who wrote a couple of (cough) noteworthy books and the Nobel Prize then 'spent his last years traveling throughout Europe, unable to find publishers for his work and poignantly aware that his place in American literature was far less significant than his early admirers had led him to believe.'The same Lewis whose 'unique place in American literary history is perhaps best expressed by Mark Schorer: "He was one of the worst writers in modern American literature..."
So yes, by all means let's believe what this overrated moonbat said about Christians and this about America .."I love America, but I don't like it."
Screw Sinclair Lewis.
What this idiot fails to appreciate is although most Freepers hate liberalism they would not tolerate a system which exterminates opposing ideas and thoughts. The Christians here, especially, uphold the Republic as something instituted by Christian men to fullfill God’s purpose for the Nation of the USA. It is not the religious right (on the whole) who seek to undermine the constitution. It is those who seek to add to the constitution through the judiciary until it is unrecognisable from the original!
Mel
Man I have learnt a lot about the USA over the few years I have been reading here.
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