Saturday, July 20, 2019

Is the Fear of Fascism Ill-Founded?

Being an alarmist has never appealed to me, and I have usually taken a rather negative view toward those who seemed to be alarmists. There are highly reputable people, though, who now assert that we in the U.S. should be alarmed about the nation’s drift toward fascism. Is such fear of fascism ill-founded?
Warnings about Fascism
Two important books published last year stressed the looming danger of fascism in the U.S. In September 2018, Random House published Yale professor Jason Stanley’s small book How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them.
In his book Stanley (b. 1969) identifies three essential features of fascism: invoking a mythic past, sowing division, and attacking truth. Guess who he sees as blatantly doing that in the U.S. now? 
Stanley’s main points are summarized in a video you can see here. It is titled “If You’re Not Scared About Fascism in the U.S., You Should Be.” It's well worth five minutes of your time.
Earlier last year, Madeleine Albright’s book Fascism: A Warning was published. She, too, is highly critical of DJT. In the last chapter of her book she writes,
Trump is the first anti-democratic president in modern U.S. history. On too many days, beginning in the early hours, he flaunts his disdain for democratic institutions, the ideals of equality and social justice, civil discourse, civic virtues, and America itself (p. 246).
And things have only gotten worse in the year and more since Albright wrote her powerful bookjust consider DJT’s deplorable tweets about “the Squad” last week and what he said in North Carolina on Wednesday evening. 
Barmen 1934
Are there significant similarities between the U.S. as it is now and Germany as it was in 1934? Both Stanley and Albright seem to think so, although they realize there are many differences also.
In opposition to the rise of fascism in Germany under Hitler and the Nazis—and most German Christians who supported them—a group of perceptive Christians formed what was known as the Confessing Church.
Led by Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in May 1934 they and their colleagues produced what was titled (in English) The Theological Declaration of Barmen. (Barmen is the name of a city in Germany.) 
This Barmen Declaration was drawn up in opposition to the political situation in Germany under Hitler and the Nazi Party. But it was primarily a statement of opposition to the state church, which affirmed the actions and leadership of Nazi Germany in order to ensure its privileged place in society.
Certainly, one of the major failings of 20th century Christianity was the failure of most German Christians to stand against Hitler and the Nazisand to stand up for the Jewish people who were so hideously mistreated and killed.
Barmen Today
Just about a year ago, Richard Rohr as well as faculty and students of the Living School at the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, created a petition on Change.org. The petition’s title is “Barmen Today: A Contemporary Contemplative Declaration.” As of this morning, more than 19,200 people, including me, have signed it.  
After giving a brief introduction to the Barmen Declaration of 1934, the Barmen Today petition states,
In contemporary America, we face parallel threats and affirmations as prominent and privileged leaders of America’s Christian churches choose to closely and publicly support the policies and actions of our nation’s leadership – policies and actions irreconcilable with the pursuit of peace and justice. Many of these policies and actions demean people of color, support hate-filled speech from white supremacists, ostracize gender minorities, demonize refugees and immigrants, and ignore climate change realities.
One alarming similarity between the U.S. now and Germany in 1934 is the overwhelming support of the current President and his Administration by so many conservative evangelical Christians.
Will You Sign, Sign On?
Here is the link to where you can sign Barmen Today. I hope many of you will do that. Unfortunately, the fear of fascism in the U.S. certainly does not seem to be ill-founded.

23 comments:

  1. Here is the link (just darken and click) to a powerful article about DJT's fascism published by HuffPost two days ago:
    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fascist-trump-rally-greenville-ilhan-omar-send-her-back_n_5d30529fe4b0419fd328b270?ncid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__071919

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  2. The first comment received this morning was just before 6 a.m. It was a brief, but gratifying, comment from local Thinking Friend Bruce Morgan: "Thank you. I just signed the new Barmen declaration."

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    1. Bruce, I am impressed, and grateful, that so early this morning you not only read my blog article but also signed the Barmen Today document. Kudos!

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  3. A couple of hours later were these brief comments from Thinking Friend Greg Hadley, a Missouri boy who has lived in Japan for decades now.

    "I didn’t know of this. I will sign up. Thank you for your blog. It is an important ministry."

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    1. Many thanks, Greg, for your ongoing encouragement -- and for your willingness to sign the Barmen Today document.

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  4. Then I was happy to receive these comments from Thinking Friend Glenn Hinson in Kentucky:

    "I have signed it, Leroy. We need to be anxious about what DJT is doing and the support he gets from 'Evangelicals.'"

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  5. Here is the totality of an email received in the last hour from Thinking Friend Eric Dollard in Chicago:

    "Thanks, Leroy, for your comments about the fascist threat.

    "Fascism, unfortunately, is the political devil that refuses to die. That is because the elements of fascism are to some extent embedded within each one of us. We have an ingrained fear of strangers and of those who are different. When these fears are not tempered by more rational impulses, they lead to nativism and racism.

    "Mr. Trump definitely has fascist tendencies, although I do not believe that he will be able to resurrect Jim Crow laws, despite some success by Republicans in trying to suppress minority voting rights. I am more troubled by Trump's disastrous foreign policies and his general disdain for Western political values. His policies are neither in America's interests nor in the interests of those committed to Western democracy.

    "Peace--and no war with Iran,

    "Eric"

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    1. Thanks, as always, for your cogent comments, Eric -- and thanks for your closing call for "no war with Iran." I am a bit afraid that DJT will see the situation there as a way for him to divert attention to his despicable attack on "the Squad" -- but he hasn't Tweeted anything about Iran today, so maybe not.

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  6. You know, Leroy, that I've worked for the last three years in a very Roman Catholic environment, an institution run by a missionary society whose mission is to serve the poor of the world, which is commendable and primarily why I was able to work in that institution. However, I also watched Catholicism's ongoing exercise of an ethos of we-and-the-other (non-Catholics) which excludes from their central liturgical sacraments and practices non-Catholics and those Catholics who have violated canon law. I remember, too, how conservative Protestantism also has an ethos of we-and-the-other (non-saved, non-evangelical) which also views the Other as outside the realm of God's grace. Also remembering, as you remind us, how weak the Christian churches of Germany were in their response to fascism, I'm beginning to suspect that authoritarian religions are especially vulnerable to the seduction by nationalist authoritarianism, in part, because there's an elective affinity and, in part, because they themselves don't have a distrust of hierarchical and authoritarian institutions.

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    1. Thanks for your cogent comments, Anton. I think what you suspect (in your last sentence) is likely true--which makes it all the more perplexing as to why so many (Southern) Baptists are supporters of DJT and the drift toward fascism, for Baptists have always been distrustful of hierarchical and authoritarian institutions.

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  7. Thinking Friend Andrew Bolton, who is now living again in his native England, makes these significant comments:

    "Thank you for tackling a very important topic in today’s blog. About six weeks ago I went with my college friend to Lviv, Ukraine on a human rights pilgrimage. In 1941 there were 110,000 Jews in a city of 350,000. About 800 survived the war. Philipp Sands, a British international law lawyer writes the story in ‘East West Street’ and how two graduates of Lviv Law Faculty subsequently helped create the international law framework used at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-6 and afterwards. The road to Genocide takes just 10 steps according to Stanton of Genocide Watch. We are already into the process.



    I will gladly sign Barmen Today. The rise of the Far Right in Europe and Britain is very worrying also. I heard someone ask this week what do you get if you send a Donald Trump to Eton School? [Eton is a famous private school that has produced over a third of British Prime Ministers.] The answer is Boris Johnson – who is likely to be announced as Britain’s new prime minister on Tuesday this coming week."

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    1. Thanks, Andrew, for your helpful perspective from across the Atlantic Ocean. It is important for us in the U.S. to realize that the composite of populism, xenophobia, and the political power of the Far Right is not just a USAmerican phenomenon.

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  8. Indeed, to the extent that our government “promotes factionalism, racism, fascism, unequal treatment in law enforcement, gender bias, or harm to the … disadvantaged … and the environment, we must non-violently resist. Signed.

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    1. Thanks, Fred. I much appreciate you reading my blog article--and then reading and signing the Barmen Today statement.

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  9. Well, I had to read it more than once to convince myself that the phrase "all beings" really meant "all human beings" (sorry mosquitos), but once satisfied on this, I signed. I would have written a broader document, including economic and environmental factors that are as big of problems as fascism, but since fascism is today's subject, I am happy to reject it.

    One of the things Trump has taught us is how fragile rational thought is. Jesus warns us to get the beam out of our own eye before we try to get a mote out of our neighbor's eye, I just did not quite realize how often we have to look for a beam! Conservatives may not believe in global warming, but some liberals do not believe in life-saving vaccines. Drug companies see no problem with a "just ship" attitude towards powerful opioids. Tobacco companies did an end run around cigarette limits by inventing "vaping" with all sorts of child-attractive smoke flavors. Corporate raiders seize healthy companies, strip-mine their assets, and leave shattered hulks on the edge of bankruptcy. I just saw on the news about an investor who has done that to over 100 nursing homes! Now states are closing down failing nursing homes and patients are having to be moved to remaining homes. The investor denied to reporters that he had done any harm. Pesticide companies are pushing honey bees to the edge of extinction, but what do they care? Tunnel vision everywhere. Who can see the big picture? So many do not even seem to be interested in the big picture. "I've got mine" seems to be the mantra of the age. Then there are the preachers who surely know the Son of Man had no place to rest his head except on a rock, yet comfortably proclaim the prosperity gospel. Or even give a cheer for the flagrant sexual misconduct of Trump (because abortion). We like sheep are all gone astray. Fascism is bad, but it is only part of our problem.

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    1. Thanks, Craig, for your much appreciated comments. Since the Barmen Declaration of 1934 was mostly about fascism and its support by most German Christians, Barmen Today was focused on the problem of fascism today and its support (perhaps largely unwittingly) by conservative evangelical Christians.

      The matters you mention in your long second paragraph are also "real and present dangers"--and you may be interested to know/recall that when I wrote about the Barmen Declaration five years ago on its 80th anniversary, the fascism that I opposed then was that linked to large corporations--and the ruling of "Citizens United." (See https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2014/05/fascism-then-and-now.html)

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  10. Here are comments received Saturday evening from Thinking Friend Truett Baker in Arizona:

    "I support this effort to expose and destroy fascism in our country. I have seen this coming on as many others have done. I can't understand what our congresspeople are thinking. My gut feeling is that they are concerned about any action that might impede their re-election. Is there any character or fortitude left in congress? How sad. Where are all the John McCains?"

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    1. Thanks for reading and responding again to my blog article Truett. -- What worries me as much as the fascist-leaning man in the White House is the compliance of almost all of the Republican Senators and Representatives--and that there is such a numerous base of "rabid" supporters. -- Leroy

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  11. Also brief comments late Saturday evening from local Thinking Friend Ken Grenz:

    "Thanks. I’ve read the Albright book. An alarming number of Fascist characteristics run amok these days."

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  12. And then about an hour ago I received these pertinent comments from local Thinking Friend Bill Ryan:

    "About two weeks ago I pulled out my copy of the Barmen Confession, which is one of the confessions in the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Book of Confessions. It reminded me of the detailed account of the Confessing Church's efforts explained in Arthur Cochrane's 'The Church's Confession Under Hitler' (Westminster, 1967).

    "I also re-read Marilynne Robinson's essay on Bonhoeffer (an essay in 'The Death of Adam'). Although it's unfortunate that the Confessing Church had little effect on ending the Nazi corruption of Germany, at least we have a precedent for Christians today.

    "And, after reviewing Lincoln's very profound & prophetic 'Gettysburg Address,' I'm hopeful that the ballot box will help us pass the test of whether or not this nation 'conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all . . . are created equal' can long endure."

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    1. Thanks for your helpful comments, Bill.

      I did not know (and a bit surprised since the Confessing Church was mainly Lutherans) that the Barmen Confession is in the PCUSA Book of Confessions.

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  13. Hmmmm. 2 emails and an attempted comment seem to have been censored out at some level.

    I wrote Rep Cleaver a note commending him for abandoning the Chair due to incivility by all sides in the House of Representatives.

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  14. I know who this is and have written him about the matter. (Nothing was censored as far as I know.)

    Concerning Rep. Cleaver, I have looked at the video of him abandoning the Chair (a link to that is given below). I, too, appreciate Rep. Cleaver's appeal to civil discourse--and I appreciate this Thinking Friend writing Rep. Cleaver a note in support--but that certainly does not mean there is no place for calling attention to what seems to be a real treat of fascism in our country.

    Link to video of Rep. Cleaver abandoning the chair: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4807729/house-presiding-speaker-representative-emanuel-cleaver-abandons-chair

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