Fascism and Religion - Christianity in The United States

Christianity in The United States

See also: The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, Neo-Nazi groups of the United States, Ku Klux Klan, Christian Identity, Christian Reconstructionism, Dominionism, and Dominion theology

The linking of Christianity with fascism or neo-fascism has generated debate among scholars and in the media; and some consider it offensive to Christians. Stanley Kurtz called comparisons of the Christian Right with fascism an ill-advised attack on conservative Christians:

The most disturbing part of the Harper’s cover story (the one by Chris Hedges) was the attempt to link Christian conservatives with Hitler and fascism. Once we acknowledge the similarity between conservative Christians and fascists, Hedges appears to suggest, we can confront Christian evil by setting aside "the old polite rules of democracy."

Some Christian organizations believe that the Christian Right has become fascist. Rich Lang of the Trinity United Methodist Church of Seattle gave a sermon titled "George Bush and the Rise of Christian Fascism", in which he said, "I want to flesh out the ideology of the Christian Fascism that Mr. Bush articulates. It is a form of Christianity that is the mirror opposite of what Jesus embodied."

Some leftists and libertarians use the term Christian fascism or Christofascism to describe what some see as an emerging proto-fascism and possible theocracy in the United States. Advocates of this view include Carl Davidson, who has written an essay, "Globalization, Theocracy and the New Fascism: Taking the Right's Rise to Power Seriously."

More extreme than the Christian Right are two movements where there is more scholarly support for charges of neo-fascism: Christian Identity and Christian Reconstructionism. There are versions of the Christian Identity movement that adopt openly neo-Nazi ideologies. Some scholars consider Christian Reconstructionism to be a quasi-fascist movement because it is explicitly opposed to religious liberty and human rights. Berlet and Lyons have written that the movement is a "new form of clerical fascist politics." Author Karen Armstrong sees a potential for fascism in Christian Reconstructionism, and claims that the system of dominion envisaged by Christian Reconstructionist theologians R. J. Rushdoony and Gary North is totalitarian: "There is no room for any other view or policy, no democratic tolerance for rival parties, no individual freedom."