American Fascists

The Christian Right and the War on America

De: Chris Hedges, Eunice Wong

Narrado por: Chris Hedges, Eunice Wong

Twenty-five years ago, when Pat Robertson and other televangelists first spoke of the United States being a Christian nation that would build a global Christian empire, it was hard to take such hyperbolic rhetoric seriously. Today, such language no longer sounds like hyperbole but poses, instead, a very real threat to our freedoms and our way of life. In American Fascists, the Christian Right's religious legitimacy is challenged, and Hedges argues that, at its core, it is a mass movement fueled by unbridled nationalism and a hatred for the open society.

Hedges, who grew up in rural parishes in upstate New York, where his father was a Presbyterian pastor, attacks the movement as someone steeped in the Bible and Christian tradition. He points to the hundreds of senators and members of Congress who have earned between 80 and 100 percent approval ratings from the three most influential Christian Right advocacy groups as one of many signs that the movement is burrowing deep inside the American government in order to subvert it.

The movement's call to dismantle the wall between church and state, and the intolerance it preaches against all who do not conform to its warped vision of a Christian America, are pumped into tens of millions of American homes through Christian television and radio stations, and are reinforced through the curriculum of Christian schools. The movement's yearning for apocalyptic violence and its assault on dispassionate, intellectual inquiry are laying the foundation for a new, frightening America.

©2007 Chris Hedges and Eunice Wong (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"This urgent book forcefully illuminates what many across the political spectrum will recognize as a serious and growing threat to the very concept and practice of an open society." ( Publishers Weekly)

Scariest book i ever read.

This book is frightening and I will tell you why. I'm listening to this 2006 book in 2024, and it's was literally a prophecy of everything that's occurring today. It was the warning we ignored, and now we're here. Fantastic and I can't find anymore words to say. If I'd read this 18yrs ago, I would've laughed and said this dude might be delusional. Nah, more like prophetic

Good not great, but worth a read

Decent book. A bit heavy on quotations and perhaps over stated, but fundamentally necessary in understanding how the radical evangelical right intersects with fascism.

Epic and frightful

Yes, yes, this truth needs to be brought out, illuminated, and acted upon. The task is epic and frightful, but giving up is not an option. End the ignorance of and tolerance for this most unChristian of social systems...share this book!

Mind blowing

The information was as I anticipated, but the depth and breadth of the insanity that people buy into made me want to vomit. That anyone, let alone thousands of people, believe the mental gymnastics needed to think that the Christian Bible has anything whatsoever to say about science. People and dinosaurs at the same time? Just insane. This is what happens when crazy people are allowed to make things up, and no one stops them. Just like Hitler's fake Christianity. How can this happen here? Thank you Chris Hedges for researching these horrific developments in the U.S.

Timely and Crucial Reading

I just finished this astonishing audiobook. I found it simultaneously learned and erudite, accessible and populist. The text is exceedingly well-written and entertaining, and the readers do a great job of pacing and intonation.
When I picked it up, I thought the title was probably typically an exaggeration--but nothing doing. Chris Hedges makes his case, and makes it well, that we are facing an imminent danger of losing our open society and plunging into a fascist state. Do yourself a favor and read or listen to this book. I think you'll be outraged, informed and moved to action. I know I was.

A thoughtful analysis

I believe this book is a thoughtful analysis of one of the greatest threats to our democracy.

I recently asked a holocaust survivor if he saw any similarities between what is going on in America today compared to Fascist Europe of the late 1930s. He said there is NO difference.

Listen to first & last chapters, skip the rest.

I'm impressed at 15 years later and this analogy is still spot-on. the emotional bladder was painful and annoying to endure. And did not bring much context to the final summary. disappears to be a good primer however and further reading it should be done, naturally.

prophecy?

It's like looking into the past and seeing that Hedges was right. really fascinating look at a machine that it took me forever to get out of.

Knowledge is strength

Listen to the first chapter. If the definition of fascism resonates with you I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Better than I expected

This book tells part of the story of that group of Americans who would trash democracy for an ISIS style Christian theocracy. Absent political power, this group of zealots is a bunch of cooks on the outside raging against the machine. After Trump used this groups' organizational structure as the foundation for his government, this bunch of cooks is now a real threat to the survival of American democracy. Go to an evangelical fundamentalist mega church in a town near you and listen to the message. Then ask yourself if that's the country you want to live in. This bunch needs to be understood, countered and defeated. They crave power and the opportunity to enact their end times ideology. If you think you're safe behind the protections of the constitution, think again.
This book was more engaging and enlightening thatn I expected. It told a familiar story in an interesting way and I learned more than I thought I would. The message to liberals to stop tolerating the intolerable seems spot on. Tolerating those who yearn for the destruction of your world is a fools errand. If a thousand dedicated Germans had stood up to the new Nazi party in the 1920's, history could have been different...