Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell Should Face Jail for Preaching

By Rick Pearcey

War against Christmas? How about a war on America, not by secularists but by fascist Christians?

That, at least, is the subject of American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, a "call to arms against what [author Chris] Hedges sees as the efforts of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and the operators of Trinity Broadcasting Network, among others," writes UC Irvine history professor Jon Wiener in a January 7 book review published in the Los Angeles Times.

And what are the "efforts" that so worry Hedges? The attempt of Pat and Jerry and other Christian brownshirts "to turn the United States into a Christian nation." American Fascists is currently ranked No. 71 on Amazon.

"Hedges is not your average secular humanist," notes Wiener. "He knows his Bible. He's the son of a Presbyterian minister and a graduate of Harvard Divinity School. He's also a Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent for the New York Times who has reported from more than 50 countries over the last 20 years."

According to Wiener, Hedges argues that the "Christian right 'should no longer be tolerated,' because it 'would destroy the tolerance that makes an open society possible.'

Hedges wants teeth in his "No Toleration" solution. According to Wiener, Hedges "endorses the view that 'any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law,' and therefore we should treat 'incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal.' Thus he rejects the 1st Amendment protections for freedom of speech and religion."

Independent-minded individuals who think Hedge's enforced toleration has a 1930s Germanic ring to it may want to consider the analysis set forth in Modern Fascism: Liquidating the Judeo-Christian Worldview, by Gene Edward Veith.

Jon Wiener's review of American Fascists is here.

Related article:
Fascism Is Back, by Rick Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.