Christianity and Fascism right here in Grand Haven

Below is today's column in the Grand Haven Tribune.

One of the unfortunate difficulties of the past couple of years is that language has become increasingly polarized and manipulated, with people claiming certain words and concepts mean things that are absolutely divorced from reality. It’s like Humpty Dumpty talking to Alice in Wonderland. “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.”

One of those words that has been increasingly misunderstood is the concept of fascism. And fascism is increasingly a problem in our own time. So, let’s talk about it. 

Fascism comes from the far-right of the traditional political spectrum and is characterized by authoritarian ultranationalism, a preference for dictatorial power, and a forceful and often violent suppression of any opposition. Fascists want the nation to be entirely self-sufficient and so are often protectionist in policy. Many forms of fascism also include some form of white nationalism or other discrimination based on race, gender, sexuality, or religion—anything that will enable the fascist to scapegoat the problems of society and place the fault upon the other. 

Many of the actions of former President Donald Trump resembled fascist leaders from the twentieth century. He was clearly prone to dictatorial and authoritarian tendencies, regularly having to be told by his own administration that things he wanted to do were not legal. His support of violence against non-violent opposition, his protectionist economic policies, and his continued scapegoating of minorities all were indicators of fascism. 

Interestingly enough, after the insurrection and attacks on the United States Capitol on January 6, several conservative historians and legal scholars who had earlier resisted using the word fascism to describe Trump changed their mind and affirmed that he clearly had fascist tendencies, if not describing him as a fascist. These conservative scholars include Michael Gerson and Steven Calabresi, along with a historian of fascism, Robert Paxton. 

Right here in Grand Haven, we have our own home-grown fascist tendencies increasingly taking root. We have parents who continue to rail against the school board, trying to get them to ban any books that include LGBTQIA+ kids. They insist that they know better than trained librarians as to what sort of literature is appropriate in a library and, most unsettling, they think their own homophobic and transphobic views should determine what sort of literature is available to kids in our community. To be clear, they already can control what their own kids check out, but that is not enough for them. They want to control everyone else’s kids. That, my friends, is authoritarianism.  

These parents are also resisting any sort of curricula that teaches our children the ugly history and current reality of race relations in our country. Using the boogey-man phrase of “Critical Race Theory,” what they oppose is actually any curriculum that might make white students uncomfortable. In a time when we can clearly see that there are still profound issues with race in our country, they believe they should be able to dictate a white-washed curriculum for all kids in our schools. 

Ironically enough, they have also harassed government officials regarding public health measures like wearing masks in public in the middle of a pandemic, claiming mask mandates are authoritarianism. The fact that we have gotten to a point that laws with regard to public safety are claimed to be authoritarian over-reach shows just how far fascists have gone in changing the very meaning of words. If these fascists who oppose mask mandates were correct, then seat-belt law, rules against sending your kid to school with chicken-pox, and requirements that kitchens don’t serve food that could kill you would all be authoritarian. 

There is a difference between authoritarianism and reasonable laws and policies that protect public health, even the if the fascists refused to see it that way. But the fascist is only concerned with forcing those in power to obey his own views. 

So, what is a Christian to do in the midst of these threats? 

I believe Christians must resist these growing fascist tendencies in our country and our local communities. We must repudiate political movements that, under the guise of Christianity, move in authoritarian directions. We have been failing at this for years, currently allowing corporations to control their employees’ reproductive health, for instance. We must turn from this and once more embrace the tenets of liberty and the dignity of each person on which America was truly founded, not the fascist false narrative.

Christians also, believing in the dignity of every human being, must repudiate the ways in which these groups deal with race along with sexual and gender identity. The fascists want to scapegoat these people, calling Black Lives Matter protestors thugs and trying to pull books about queer kids from libraries. Christians must turn from those fascist tendencies and stand up on the side of minorities who are created in God’s image, just as much as anyone else. 

It's kind of a scary time in America right now. We must wake up to the threat posed by these growing fascist ideologies and join together, conservative and liberal, religious and non-religious, and resist these attempts to remake our country in the image of far-right fascism. In particular, as Christians, we must stand up and be advocates, otherwise those who have too small of a voice today may have no voice tomorrow.    

The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at www.sjegh.com.