Campaign to Fight Fascism in America

[Liberty Belle]

All-

It is time to fight fire with fire.
The religious right has shown the power of mobilization congregations. Now we must do the same.

Below are links to churches and Jewish groups in the U.S. It is only a partial list; please add to this resource.

I propose an e-mail campaign to warn the leaders of these churches, synagogues and Jewish organizations about the dangers of fascism in America. Ask them to follow the example of the Austin pastor who delivered a sermon on this topic to his congregation.

Keep kicking this topic if you like the idea, and nominate for homepage.

Here are links to include in your letters:


Warning From a Student of Democracy's Collapse

FRITZ STERN, a refugee from Hitler's Germany and a leading scholar of European history, startled several of his listeners when he warned in a speech about the danger posed in this country by the rise of the Christian right. In his address in November, just after he received a prize presented by the German foreign minister, he told his audience that Hitler saw himself as "the instrument of providence" and fused his "racial dogma with a Germanic Christianity."

"Some people recognized the moral perils of mixing religion and politics," he said of prewar Germany, "but many more were seduced by it. It was the pseudo-religious transfiguration of politics that largely ensured his success, notably in Protestant areas."

Dr. Stern's speech, given during a ceremony at which he got the prize from the Leo Baeck Institute, a center focused on German Jewish history, was certainly provocative. The fascism of Nazi Germany belongs to a world so horrendous it often seems to defy the possibility of repetition or analogy. But Dr. Stern, 78, the author of books like "The Politics of Cultural Despair: A Study in the Rise of the Germanic Ideology" and university professor emeritus at Columbia University, has devoted a lifetime to analyzing how the Nazi barbarity became possible. He stops short of calling the Christian right fascist but his decision to draw parallels, especially in the uses of propaganda, was controversial.

"When I saw the speech my eyes lit up," said John R. MacArthur, whose book "Second Front" examines wartime propaganda. "The comparison between the propagandistic manipulation and uses of Christianity, then and now, is hidden in plain sight. No one will talk about it. No one wants to look at it."

More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/06/nyregion/06profile.html



A CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST & EX-MORAL MAJORITY LEADER DENOUNCES RELIGIOUS RIGHT’S EFFORTS TO DESTROY FREEDOM

Chuck Baldwin, a Baptist pastor and past executive director of Florida’s Moral Majority who once rallied his parishioners to build a monument to aborted babies, makes this startling confession: “No one can honestly question my commitment to pro-life, pro-family conservative causes. That being said, the Religious Right, as it now exists, scares me.”

The Religious Right has become a propaganda machine for George W. Bush and the Republican Party, Baldwin observes, “The Religious Right is actively assisting those who would destroy our freedoms.”

Baldwin faults religious leaders for failing to resist passage of the Patriot Act, creation of the Homeland Security department, and appointment of a National Intelligence Director. “Neither did the Religious Right offer even a whimper of protest as President Bush and Republicans in Congress created a first-ever national ID card in the new intelligence bill, which eerily has more in common with early Twentieth Century German and Russian intelligence institutions than anything envisioned by America’s Founding Fathers.”

Further, he recognizes the danger of wedding Church and State while demonizing opposing political interests. He warns that the Christian Right views the war in Iraq as a holy crusade and Bush as a religious leader. “America is fast taking on the shape of the old Holy Roman Empire and President Bush is quickly morphing into a modern day Caesar,” he says, then speculates on whether America is heading for a modern-day religious inquisition led by the Religious Right.

“I used to believe that liberals were paranoid for being fearful of conservative Christians gaining political power,” concludes the fundamentalist leader, who is also a card-carrying member of the National Rifle Association. “Now, I share their trepidation.”

Read the full text of this astounding story, first published in The Covenant News, at:
http://dailykos.com/story/2004/12/18/4283/8852

LIVING UNDER FASCISM

A Sermon delivered by Minister Davidson Loehr, November 7, 2004
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, Texas

“I mean to persuade you that the style of governing into which America has slid is most accurately described as fascism, and that the necessary implications of this fact are rightly regarded as terrifying,” Rev. Loehr told his congregation. After reviewing chilling similarities between the current Bush administration and past fascist regimes, Loehr offered these predictions:

“The actions of fascists and the social and political effects of fascism and fundamentalism are clear and sobering. Here is some of what's coming, what will be happening in our country in the next few years…

In addition, he warns of "efforts to remove the tax-exempt status of churches like this one, and to characterize them as anti-American...In the near future, it will be illegal or at least dangerous to say the things I have said here this morning."
http://www.yuricareport.com/PoliticalAnalysis/LivingUnderFascism.html

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE FASCISM
In "Fascism Anyone?," Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, identifies 14 characteristics common to fascist regimes. His comparisons of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto, and Pinochet yielded this list of 14 "identifying characteristics of fascism." (If your parishioners want to help spread the word of these dangers in America, this site has a downloadable flyer that they can hand out to others).

http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm



Here are lists of some religious organizations, for starters. Send to the organization, and to as many individual churches, synagogues, and Jewish groups as you can find. Please add to my list, too.

United Jewish Communities
http://www.ujc.org/section_display.html?id=5

Association of Unity Churches
www.unity.org

National Council of Churches
http://www.ncccusa.org/

Repeat: If you think this is an important effort, kick the topic and nominate for homepage.

[EVDebs]

1. You may want to get the word out about USMC Gen Smedley D. Butler

who back in the 1930's singlehandedly stopped the last Bush-family-connected fascist attempted coup d'etat against FDR.

See Jules Archer's "The Plot to Seize the White House" or the movie "The Plot to Overthrow FDR"
http://www.ihffilm.com/r547.html

[Liberty Belle]

3. Wow. Thanks. I didn't know about that.

[EVDebs]

6. Thanks. Yeah, the media doesn't want this dirty little secret to get out

since it includes Bush's family tree.

[hilster]

2. Increasingly Fascist America

Scary, isn't it? I've been thinking this for months.

[Eloriel]

4. Some excellent sources -- here are a few more

in case anyone is interested:

"fas-cism (fbsh'iz'em) n. A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism."
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0316-08.htm


Keywords: Fascism
(with list of characteristics)
http://keywords.oxus.net/archives/000026.html

Fascism Anyone? by Laurence W. Britt
http://secularhumanism.org/library/fi/britt_23_2.htm

Friendly Fascism (Excerpts etc from Bertram Gross's book)
http://a4a.mahost.org/gross.html

What Is Fascism
(This one is quite good and incl. two-tiered legal system as well as many other hallmarks, and Dr. Lawrence Britt's list, and additional links)
http://www.couplescompany.com/FEATURES/Politics/Structure3.htm

Superpower Democracy (another must read)
http://www.greaterdemocracy.org/2003_07_01_gd.html#105880160504381723


IS AMERICA BECOMING FASCIST?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2159330
This article: IS AMERICA BECOMING FASCIST? http://www.crisispapers.org/topics/fascism.htm


Mussolini in his own words.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2413173

1944 article: American fascism (April 1944 article in NYTimes -- also see 1940s section for the complete article)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=212387

The F Scale
(Measures one's authoritarian personality profile, which makes one receptive to fascism, based on research done after WW2)
http://www.anesi.com/fscale.htm
link posted here: He's Acting Like Nixon in the Final DaysHas Bush Gone Over the Edge? (has some good links re fascist personality, etc.)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1725171

Bethune Institute Anti-Fascist Studies
http://bethuneinstitute.org/index2.html

The Spectre of Friendly Fascism by Bertrand Gross
(book excerpt)
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Fascism/Specter_FriendlyFascism_FF.html

Eternal Fascism: Fourteen Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt
By Umberto Eco
http://www.themodernword.com/eco/eco_blackshirt.html

Freedom to Fascism -- -- A Bumpy Ride
http://207.44.245.159/article7054.htm

Germany In 1933: The Easy Slide Into Fascism
Bernard Weiner, June 9, 2003
http://www.crisispapers.org/Editorials/germany-1933.htm

The Brownshirting of America
http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts75.html

Several articles here: http://www.rationalrevolution.net/articles.htm


Living Under Fascism
Davidson Loehr
7 November 2004
First UU Church of Austin
http://www.uua.org/news/2004/voting/sermon_loehr.html
-------------------------------------------------------
Some Book Recommendations:
barb1622000 (1000+ posts) Sun Sep-19-04 01:32 AM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2367949&mesg_id=2369563&page=
29. there are several books
and I don't know if they are still in print but they are probably at university libraries

1. International Relations Between the Two World Wars 1919-1939 by E. H. Carr, Harper & Row, 1947
2. The Crisis of German Ideology by George Mosse
3. The German Catastrophe by Friedrich Meinecke
4. Varieties of Fascism by Eugen Weber

I think the world was quite stunned when Hitler became more powerful and then finally became Chancellor in the mid 1930s. They simply didn't know what to do about it. National socialism was going on in several countries at the same time, including the USA during the time and check the fourth book for an outstanding exposition of the various forms by country.
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ORWELL'S VISION IS STILL ALIVE IN 2003
http://www.orwelltoday.com/orwellvision.shtml


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TahitiNut (1000+ posts) Wed Oct-20-04 01:49 PM
12. You mean China, Inc.?
"Fascism" isn't an ideology ... it doesn't engage in intellectually honest discussion regarding the "features" or "advantages" of fascism. This is predominnatly due to one of the core beliefs of fascists: the people are an almost mindless herd. THere is, therefore, no interest in honest public discourse. It's an "ideology" of narrow power and privelege - where 'the people' are merely a labor resource or cannon fodder. It's an attitude of "the public are the servants."
China is there. Any semblance of 'communism' in China is mere facade or window dressing.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2516368#2517408


jpg of poster: Same Shit, Different Asshole (incl graphics of Bush and Hitler)


WAKE UP! - Strauss / Neocons and Terror PLUS dire warnings
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1780890#


They Thought They Were Free
http://www.thirdreich.net/Thought_They_Were_Free.html

Fascism Anyone? by Laurence W. Britt
http://secularhumanism.org/library/fi/britt_23_2.htm

Wake Up and Smell the Fascism
(examples of Britt's 14 points)
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm

March 16, 2003 by CommonDreams.org
When Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History by Thom Hartmann
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0316-08.htm

When Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History
by Thom Hartmann
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0316-08.htm

The NASCAR Nazi
Bush is creating an un-American America
http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/04/38/lost-washburn.php

Nazification of America Phase 3
http://www.hermes-press.com/nazification_step3.htm

The Reichstag Fire and 9/11; Pretexts for Dictatorship and the Fourth Reich
Includes: Parallels between the Third Reich and the Bush Regime; 9/11 and the Reichstag Fire; What was the Reichstag Fire; Nazis in America; Poland 1939, Iraq 2003 http://www.oilempire.us/reichstag-fire.html

The Rise of the Fourth Reich
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/reich.html

Bush's 9/11 Reichstag Fire by Harvey Wasserman
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0913-03.htm

20 Comparisons by Barrie Zwicker
http://www.deceptiondollar.com/news/BloorRemarks911-03.htm

The Bush Plan for America: The Rise of an American National Security State
By Jennifer Van Bergen, 14 December 2003 http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/12/3232.shtml

America, We Have a Problem
http://www.moderateindependent.com/v2i4dodd.htm

Fascism and America Today
by Aldo Vidali
http://www.apj.us/20010312fascism.html

Roads to Fascism: Sixty Years Later
by Roderick T. Long
http://www.lewrockwell.com/long/long7.html

This is the Fight of Our Lives by Bill Moyers
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0616-09.htm

Published on Monday, July 19, 2004 by CommonDreams.org
The Ghost of Vice President Wallace Warns: "It Can Happen Here"
by Thom Hartmann
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0719-15.htm

E-book - It Can't Happen Here b y Sinclair Lewis
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/l/lewis/sinclair/happen/
Also read: The Iron Heel by Jack London and
"Der Fuhrer" by Konrad Heiden and "The Plague" by Camus
discussed here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2344349#2344364

"Now and Then"- Part 1
by W. David Jenkins and Sara DeHart June 6, 2002
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/dave300019.htm
"Now and Then"- Part 2: The Propaganda Machine
by W. David Jenkins and Sara DeHart June 14, 2002
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/dave300020.htm
"Now and Then"- Part 3
Hitler's Playbook: Bush and the Abuse of Power
by W. David Jenkins III and Sara DeHart July 4, 2002
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/dave300021.htm



===================================================
SYMBOLISM:
You know why Operation "Iron Hammer" sounds Nazi like?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=709776#710186

[Liberty Belle]

5. Here are a bunch more church listings.

I found this in another thread:

RevCheesehead (1000+ posts) Fri Jan-07-05 12:01 PM
Original message
I'm compiling a helpful list of abbreviations for churches..


Please add to the list. Also, if you have a website link, that would be great! After the list is compiled, I will re-post, and perhaps submit to Demopedia.

National Organizations

WCC World Council of Churches http://www.wcc-coe.org /
NCC National Council of Churches http://www.ncccusa.org /

Denominations
AB Alliance of Baptists http://www.allianceofbaptists.org /
ABC American Baptist Church http://www.abc-usa.org /
AC Armenian Church http://www.armenianchurch.org /
AME African Methodist Episcopal http://www.ame-church.com /
AMEZ African Methodist Church, Zion
AOC Antiochian Orthodox Christian http://www.antiochian.org /

CB Church of the Brethren http://www.brethren.org /
CC/DOC Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) http://www.disciples.org /
CME Christian Methodist Church http://www.c-m-e.org /
COCNA Coptic Orthodox Church of North America (site under construction)

EC/ECUSA The Episcopal Church http://www.ecusa.anglican.org /
ELCA Evangelical Lutheran Church in America http://www.elca.org /

FUM Friends United Meeting http://www.fum.org /

GO/GOAA Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America http://www.goarch.org /

LCMS Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod http://www.lcms.org /

MCC Metropolitan Community Church http://www.mccchurch.org /
MCNA Moravian Church in North America http://www.moravian.org /
MTC Mar Thoma Church http://www.marthomachurch.com /

NBC National Baptist Convention http://www.nationalbaptist.com/NM
NBCA National Baptist Church of America http://www.nbcamerica.net /
NMBCA National Missionary Baptist Convention of America http://www.nmbca.com /

OCA Orthodox Church in America http://www.oca.org /

PCUSA Presbyterian Church (USA) http://www.pcusa.org /
PNBC Progressive National Baptist Church http://www.pnbc.org /
PNCC Polish National Catholic Church http://www.pncc.org /

RC Roman Catholic http://www.catholic.net /
RCA Reformed Church in America http://www.rca.org /
ROC Russian Orthodox Church http://www.russianchurchusa.org /

SBC Southern Baptist Convention http://www.sbc.net /
SCNA Swedenborgian Church of North America http://www.swedenborg.org /
SOC Serbian Orthodox Church
SOCA Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch

UCC United Church of Christ http://www.ucc.org /
UOC Ukranian Orthodox Church http://www.uocofusa.org /
UMC United Methodist Church http://www.ucc.org /
UU Unitarian Universalist http://www.uua.org /

WELS Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod http://www.wels.net/

Worse than the Grinch - a stolen election
:kick: