American Fascists

The Christian Right and the War on America

By: Chris Hedges, Eunice Wong

Narrated by: Chris Hedges, Eunice Wong

Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Critic reviews

"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)

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.

More relevant today than ever

I first read this when it came out in 2007. After the 2018 Midterms, like many Americans, I have been completely stunned by the unwavering support for the current administration by the Christian Right. I have struggled to understand why their version of Christianity is so dark and contrary to the teachings of Christ, such as the Beatitudes. Why they hate immigration, social programs, deny Climate issues, look to squash human rights, and openly support violence against the media, Palestinians, immigrants...the list goes on.
The why is answered in this book, and it is terrifying. We, Americans (and the world by association) have a much bigger problem than we think. I have lived several years in the Middle East. Substitute Islam for Christianity and Muhammad for Jesus, and you have the same rhetoric, authoritarian ideas and hatred within the Christian Right as ISIS and other groups. It is truly chilling.
If you’re a scholar, someone who seeks answers and understanding, this book will give you those answers. It will also open your eyes to the very serious problem we have in Trumptopia. The first step in dealing with an issue is to understand it. This book allows you to understand it.

Amazing but Rough Read

CW: religious extremism, gaslighting, homophobia, transphobia, emotional and physical abuse, Islamophobia, misogyny

panic attack inducing

Passionate, articulate, insightful

Hedges is the real deal. An excellent thinker, a journalist who goes into the real world and finds out for himself. Read this, be frightened, be inspired.

Just OK

I thought this was an OK book. It’s a subject I’m interested in so I have read about the Christian Right before. This book didn’t seem to produce any revelatory information I hadn’t heard before.

The majority of the book is somewhat repetitive of the same points previously brought up. The narrative seemed driven, but not focused.

I really enjoyed the first and final chapters, but that was about it for me.

Americans should be required to read

Hedges predicts with incredible accuracy, the place we are now, in a rotten American culture.

every thinking person should read this book

It is now 2021 - so much has changed since 2006. This information is more important than ever.

Important piece of literature.

I think every citizen of the United States of America, needs to read this book, especially all of those 40 and under and especially those who identify as the Christian Left.