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May 07, 2008

Jami rated it:

So, Ellis and I just finished reading this as Book #1 in our newly-founded 2-person book group, and while it wouldn't have been my first pick, I actually really enjoyed reading it, and it was an excellent book for discussion.

Chris Hedges describes the idealogy of the extreme Christian Right group based here in America, and frankly, I found it to be pretty scary. The idea behind creating an entirely Christian nation (as the Christian Right would like to do) is not only un-democratic, More...

21 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jun 02, 2008

Laura Jean rated it:

More thoughtful than the title suggests, Chris Hedges lays out an informed analysis of the dominionist movement in the United States and how it has used the sympathies of the Christian Right to further anti-free speech and anti-freedom of religion/freedom from fear/freedom of expression agendas.

While every person's religious belief is protected by the Constitution, a totalitarian agenda is not. What has increasingly happened since the late sixties is a movement within the Christi More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Oct 04, 2008

Will rated it:

This is a very alarming portrait of some of the darkest forces at work in America, or anywhere for that matter. Hedges argues that the extreme wing of the contemporary Christian movement in the US shares much with the actions and worldview of other historical fascist movements, movements that often masked the full extent of their drive for totalitarianism and their willingness to make concessions only until they achieved unrivaled power. There is little in here that I was not aware of, as far as More...

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Mar 09, 2007

Jason rated it:

I initially saw author Chris Hedges speak on BookTV about this book, and was enchanted by the fiery invective and seething passion he had for his subject matter. It was a powerful sermon aimed at the "dominionist" movement in fundamental Christianity, led by people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. On the surface, his argument is obvious at points, as this group is already much maligned by mainstream media and the liberal elite. But his perspective is refreshing, as he not only More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 22, 2007

Douglas rated it:

The danger of the "Christian" right wing to our freedom and right to live as we desire is vastly underrated, and Hedges does a brilliant job of exposing this danger. By defining what is right and wrong, by viewing history and even prehistory through the prism of a literal interpretation of the Bible, they seek to impose their worldview on all and to hell - literally - with those who refuse to accept their way. Hedges has solid credentials as a "person of faith", but sees cl More...

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Mar 13, 2009

Claire added it

My Dad's Mom was actually cut from cloth very similar to this, except she might not have been quite as much about world domination (she lived in Wisconsin). But her and others I've known give me real life experience - although I'm sure much less scary than the real real extremists shown here.

This part from Will's review:
P 21
Dominionists wait only for a fiscal, social or political crisis, a moment of upheaval in the form of an economic meltdown or another terrorist strike on More...

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Mar 04, 2009

Bruce rated it:

American Fascists should be read by people willing to think. Those with closed minds should buy at least three copies, and pass it around their friends [Maybe one of them will start thinking.:] The very beginning of this book is an abstract of an essay by Umberto Eco entitled “Eternal Fascism: Fourteen Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt.” It is an annotated list of traits found in all forms of authoritarianism (Fascism). By itself this short essay goes a long way toward describing the so-called Chr More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 16, 2012

Sam rated it:

Starts with quote from Blaise Pascal: Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it for religious conviction. Forward: Eternal Fascism by Umberto Eco 14 characteristics; Ch 1 Faith: "The dominionist movement is the response of people trapped in a deformed, fragmented and disoriented culture that has become callous and unforgiving, a culture that has too often failed to provide the belonging, care and purpose that make life bearable, a culture that, as many in the move More...

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Jun 24, 2011

Jorge rated it:

American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America by Chris Hedges

"American Fascists" is a hard-hitting book that exposes the religious right's fascist agenda. Award-winning journalist Chris Hedges has written a fascinating book on how the Christian right is politicizing faith into an American theocracy. This 274-page book is composed of the following ten chapters: 1. Faith, 2. The Culture of Despair, 3. Conversion, 4. The Cult of Masculinity, 5. Persecution, 6. More...

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Mar 02, 2011

Ken rated it:

This is an amazing book that will anger you as it enlightens you. I've known, but not is such detail, that the Christian right gave up long ago preaching the love and peace of Jesus as it moved toward interfering in politics and craving power. Like lemmings, the followers send money to the preachers who live incredibly lavish lives while exhorting viewers to "send in $1,000 even if you can't afford it", promising that God will repay them many fold. Their successful incursions into poli More...

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Feb 14, 2011

Donna rated it:

It was meeting a few everyday German people when I was a child that instilled in me a morbid fascination with the history of Nazi Germany. Learning about the horrors that occurred in their country for many years, I wondered how people who seemed so ordinary—so much like us—could have ignored (much less been complicit in) such unimaginable cruelty.

The answer, of course, is that over a period of years, skillful propaganda and cultural manipulation had sold “Aryan” Germans a world view ab More...

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Oct 15, 2010

Mike (the Paladin) rated it:

I held off on reviewing this book. Anyone who has read many of my reviews and has actually read this book will know I'll disagree with it's conclusions. I got involved in a discussion of it in the comments section of someone else's review that got rather...heated. But I decide I was now "committed", so to speak. So, despite the fact that some may like to have me "committed" I take keyboard in hand so to speak and brave the waves of electrons.

In this case, I not on More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 30, 2010

Colleen rated it:

I found this to be a passionate and well-researched analysis.

He is scrupulous in pointing out that narrow, judgmental, and violent views are not characteristic of Christians; nor are they an aspect of evangelical Christianity, per se. The groups that advocate theocracy are a very particular strain of "Christian." He makes a fascinating point about the dangers of exclusivity in religion by stating, rather poetically, that mystery is one of the key facets of faith. And uncer More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 08, 2010

Jenny rated it:

As with another Chris Hedges book I read a few years ago, this book is well researched and the author is right-on in his thinking, but his style is very flat. The introduction and conclusion are wonderful and basically contain all the ideas that he reiterates throughout the rest of the book, which makes one wonder why the rest of it is there. While I think the rest of the book is worth reading for the interviews with people in and out of the fundamentalist movement and the anecdotes about fund More...

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Jan 14, 2010

Gary rated it:

At first, I was a little (or maybe a lot?) turned off by the title. After reading the book, I still am. Nevertheless, I understand why he uses this terminology.

Hedges wrote a couple of other books, which I couldn’t get into. Losing Moses on the Freeway about how the Ten Commandments are part of our culture. The other book I tried to read, War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning was about the culture of war in this country. However, this book kept me reading asking for more.

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Aug 17, 2009

Nancy rated it:

The word "brilliant" is not one I often use on a non-fiction book, but it is the exactly correct word for this book. Chris Hedges is a former New York Times journalist, award-winning, who now devotes his talents to investigating current conditions in the world and sharing his analysis with those among us who are concerned for the survival of our democracy.

Hedges' analysis of the Christian Right's rise to power in the U.S. is frightening. It both mirrors the Nazis' rise More...

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Aug 09, 2010

Leslie rated it:

This book reminds me of how sad I feel around the very committed Christians of whom make up most of my world. I long for them to be progressive, tolerant in the best sense, or at the very least stop demonizing the people who don’t believe the exact brand of belief they adhere to. Figures like Rushdoony and Schaeffer (though not so much the “buffoons” of the TBN empire) influence their theology as much as the Bible. The organized effort to dominate, as Hedges shows, pervades their “worldview,” More...

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Nov 10, 2009

Angela rated it:

In this book Hedges attempts to show that the Radical Christian Right is a powerful and dangerous movement, the goals of which are to take over the American gov't and turn it into a theocracy. I think he overstates the evidence somewhat in trying to make a strong case, and I came away thinking that the RCR is probably not quite as powerful or dangerous as he believes. Nevertheless, this is an important book. In researching for it, Hedges went "undercover" inside the Christian Right, a More...

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Nov 04, 2009

May-Ling rated it:

this book is well-written, interesting and inciteful. chris hedges approaches the topic (the extreme Christian right) as a journalist and it reads like an ethnography. he explores the change of focus from personal salvation towards consolidating political power. most interesting to me was his detail on paul crouch and the appeal/influence of the trinity broadcasting network and also the detailed "trainings" on conversion that happen at church conventions.

his conclusion? th More...

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Sep 27, 2009

Bob rated it:

A fantastic book I recommend to my friends. Though I'd like to say that what Chris Hedges rightly perceives happening on the "far-right" is also occurring on the "far-left," just implemented in a different manner replacing religious indoctrination with a glorification of all that is scientific, particularly psychology and the convergence of the mental health profession with government programs. But that's beyond the scope of this book. This is specifically about the Christian More...

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Nov 12, 2009

Denise rated it:

Note: the author is a Christian...bear that in mind when you read this.
Dr. James Luther Adams, my ethics professor at Harvard Divinity School, told us that when we were his age-(he was then close to 80)-we would all be fighting the "Christian fascists." The warning, given to me nearly 25 years ago, came at the moment Pat Robertson and other radio and televangelists began speaking about a new political religion that would direct its efforts at taking control of all institutions, More...

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Feb 03, 2011

Leif Erickson rated it:

If you're expecting an anti-Christian screed, you'll be disappointed. Hedges offers a well-documented, frightening look at the people and organizations that want to make their own moral codes into laws and punish everyone who has a deviant opinion. He calls on people of faith who do _not_ have a Dominionist bent to stand up to those who do before it's too late. It is also free of a whacky conspiratorial tone, which I feared it might have (he acknowedged that the portion of Christian Fascists is More...

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Mar 17, 2009

Sharon rated it:

I swear, I am no conspiracy theorist. However, watching the political climate over the past decade has demonstrated to me that Chris Hedges is absolutely correct - the fundamentalist Christian movement in this country is determined to dismantle the Establishment Clause and establish a theocracy in this country.

In this book, Hedges makes the case that the fundamentalist movement is actually a fascist movement, providing evidence of plans by the movement's leadership to take over the More...

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Oct 31, 2009

Robert rated it:

Chris Hedges identifies in American dominionism and its gospel of wealth a potential fascism. The book certainly held my attention, though it felt a bit alarmist. A friend of mine put it well: Hedges overstates his case at times. He indulges in dramatics to emphasize his point, though I believe he does so honestly. There's a certain irony to that since he critiques fundamentalist charasmatics at least in part for their anti-intellectualism, and here he's engaging in some quasi-hysterics himself. More...

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Jun 26, 2009

Alex rated it:

Are right-wing Christians in America developing a potentially fascist movement that would discard democracy for the sake of security and conservative values? This is answered affirmatively by Chris Hedges, author of War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, in his newest book.

We all know the worst of the evangelical movement, which Hedges calls the "dominionists": they're militantly anti-abortion and promote abstinence-only education, they hate queer and trans people, they don More...

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Mar 21, 2011

Rena rated it:

This book is one of the scariest books I have read in a long time. I've always been concerned about how crazy fundamentalist Christian values seem to be, but never dreamed that they might be this well-organized or powerful. This is a book that should be required reading in senior high school classes and college courses.

The vast difference between fundamentalist Christianity and the Bible and teaching of Jesus are frightening. And the seductive way fundamentalists use just enough scr More...

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Dec 09, 2008

David rated it:

Sorry, I didn't get this book. It seems to me like the there is a lot of bickering regarding the leadership within Christian organizations. The discussion regarding why this sect believed and supported one thing an not another seemed to be overshadowed with what the world is going through. It seemed to be there was a lot of stone casting in this book - and most of the recipients were Christian. Didn't like it. Wouldn't recommend it unless you get into such arguments.

I read it be More...

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Feb 22, 2012

Cyanemi rated it:

Another 200 page book from Chris Hedges. I really wish he would run for president. The book is quite scary especially the parts where he reports that they endorse violence against homosexuals and abortion Doctors. The fact that people really buy into this is incredible but desperation and displacement do strange things to people. I still have my job, we just don't get much overtime anymore so things for me have not changed all that much as far as the economy goes. He blames the collapse of the e More...

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Nov 22, 2011

Tom rated it:

Journalist Chris Hedges has another bugbear to keep me up at night: Christian dominionists lurking in the Christian Right yearning for apocalyptic violence and for an assault on freethinkers like me. Hopefully this coming persecution will be held off until after my days. If that is so, it won't be any credit to me because as the author observes, "Tolerance is a virtue, but tolerance coupled with passivity is a vice."

Very interesting behind-the-scenes glimpses into mega-church More...

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Nov 22, 2011

Tom rated it:

Journalist Chris Hedges has another bugbear to keep me up at night: Christian dominionists lurking in the Christian Right yearning for apocalyptic violence and for an assault on freethinkers like me. Hopefully this coming persecution will be held off until after my days. If that is so, it won't be any credit to me because as the author observes, "Tolerance is a virtue, but tolerance coupled with passivity is a vice."

Very interesting behind-the-scenes glimpses into mega-church More...

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