The article is by Chris Hedges, a Nation Institute fellow and former
NPR and New York Times reporter; he is the author of a book on this
subject (American Fascists). He also takes the view that "the radical
Christian Right" should have its speech legally restricted. From the
book:
"This is the awful paradox of tolerance. There arise moments when
those who would destroy the tolerance that makes an open society
possible should no longer be tolerated. They must be held accountable by
institutions that maintain the free exchange of ideas and liberty.
"The radical Christian Right must be forced to include other points
of view to counter their hate talk in their own broadcasts, watched by
tens of millions of Americans. They must be denied the right to demonize
whole segments of American society, saying they are manipulated by Satan
and worthy only of conversion or eradication. They must be made to treat
their opponents with respect and acknowledge the right of a fair hearing
even as they exercise their own freedom to disagree with their
opponents.
"Passivity in the face of the rise of the Christian Right threatens
the democratic state. And the movement has targeted the last remaining
obstacles to its systems of indoctrination, mounting a fierce campaign
to defeat hate-crime legislation, fearing the courts could apply it to
them as they spew hate talk over the radio, television and Internet."
To clear up any ambiguity about whether he was calling for legal
suppression ("denied the right to demonize") or just social pressure,
here's an excerpt from an NPR interview with Hedges:
JIM (Caller): Yes. Yes, I am. I needed to ask the author -- I
mean, I myself am a Christian, but I wouldn't even somewhat agree with
Pat Roberts. But the author stating that you need to restrict someone's
free speech just for mere words, he's advocating -- I mean, what he's
advocating is fascism, is he (unintelligible)? ...
Mr. HEDGES: I think that, you know, in a democratic society,
people don't have a right to preach the extermination of others, which
has been a part of this movement of - certainly in terms of what should
be done with homosexuals. You know, Rushdoony and others have talked
about 18 moral crimes for which people should be executed, including
apostasy, blasphemy, sodomy, and all - in order for an open society to
function, it must function with a mutual respect, with a respect...
JIM: Sure.
Mr. HEDGES: ...for other ways to be and other ways to believe.
And I think that the fringes of this movement have denied people that
respect, which is why they fight so hard against hate crimes legislation
-- such as exist in Canada -- being made law in the United States.
[NEAL] CONAN: But Chris, to be fair, aren't you talking about
violating their right to free speech, their right to religion as laid
out in the First Amendment?
Mr. HEDGES: Well, I think that when you preach -- or when you
call for the physical extermination of other people within the society,
you know, you've crossed the bounds of free speech. I mean, we're not
going to turn a cable channel over to the Ku Klux Klan. Yet the kinds of
things that are allowed to be spewed out over much of Christian radio
and television essentially preaches sedition. It preaches civil war.
It's not a difference of opinion. With that kind of rhetoric, it becomes
a fight for survival....
Eugene
________________________________
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Gibbens, Daniel
G.
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 2:21 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ucla. edu
Subject: AlterNet website
On the recommendation of a friend, I just read an short article
on this website entitled "The Rise of Christian Fascism and Its Threat
to American Democracy" posted today. I'm curious about any views on the
credibility of this website, or for that matter, on this particular
article.
Dan Gibbens
University of Oklahoma College of Law
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