Sunday, April 17, 2005

Who are the Social Conservatives?

I have been reading on Fundamentalism and Dominionism, and trying to work out the form of their political movement in America. I wrote the following as a comment on Daily Kos, and it all seemed to come together. This is what I think is happening poltically in America now. I started with the way populism fits into Fascism, and began to realize that the fundamentalist political movement in America is a similar anti-modernist populist movement. So here it is.


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We seem to be facing a populist fundamentalist religion-based, very anti-modernism political movement. The key, as I see it, is that it is anti-modernist and a powerful poltical movement. Because of those two elements, it resembles Fascism.


I have been reading on 19th and 20th century "isms" recently (and I am looking for some good books on Populism in America and generally, preferably sociological studies or good histories.) But the distinction between Conservatism in an agrarian society and Fascism in an industrial society has struck me as interesting.


According to Roger Eatwell, Fascism has a strong level of populism in it, but is a rejection of liberalism. It is a middle class rejection of the uncertainties in an industrial society, but it is also a rejection of Marxism and Socialism. Fascists normally gain power by attaching themselves to older type conservatives who already have power in government. The older-type conservatives use the fascists as shock troops against Socialists and Marxists. But Fascists, Socialist and Marxists are all middle-class movements in a modern market-based industrial society, and all have a major populist element.


Conservatism is found in a more agricultural society and is the reaction of the older powers-that-be to the rise of the middle class itself. Older type conservatives tend to be aristocrats, military officers and Catholic religious leaders.


Franco was an older type conservative, while Mussolini and Hitler were Fascists.


One thing that intrigues me about this discussion is that until recently in America, religion has been either conservative in the old sense or simply not included in modern politics. Modernism has meant separating church and state.


But the history of religion in the US has been the displacement of the older religions by evangelical religions, particularly Baptist and Methodist in the 19th century. This hasn't been politically important in the US because of the broad acceptance of the separation of church and state as a bedrock principle of being modern. Until recently.


It seems to me that evangelical religion and fundamentalist religion both have strong elements of populism built in. Fundamentalism has in addition a strong belief that everything must be subordinate to God and religion, and radio and TV fundamentalist evangelists have been quietly building their outreach programs since the 1930's. The fundamentalists also totally reject modernism. They began to spread into politics with Pat Robertson, Jerry Fallwell, Nixon's guy (Coulter?), etc. probably in the 70's.


With Bush 43, they feel they have elected one of their own. Tom DeLay is another fundamentalist, and their are seven top Republican Senators with 100% Christian Coalition ratings - Bill Frist, TN, Mitch McConnell, KY, Rick Santorum, PA, Bob Bennet, UT, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, TX, Jon Kyl, AZ, and George Allen, VA.


If I am correct, what we are facing is a populist, anti-modernist, fundamentalist religious based political movement. And this is the answer to Thomas Frank's question, "What's the Matter with Kansas."

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The religous fundamentalists are not true christians. They are evil doing herectics who are the enemies of everything that Jesus
Christ taught, and stood for.
They are also the enemys of the american republic, and everything
it stands for. The fundamentalist,
and the politicians who are on their side are facists, just like
the nazis, and the radical islamists. They are the enemys, of
wisdom,justice, science, reason, peace,democracy,freedom and all human rights.

Anonymous said...

Democracy destroys itself by degenerating into ochlocracy
which is the tyranny, of the majoritys, against the minoritys
in society.American democracy is trying to become ochlochracy right
now.

The religous fundamentalists
,and the politicians who are on
the side of the religous fundamentalists extremists in
our society are trying to create
this ochlocracy right now.

Currently our constitutional system of checks, and balances is
trying very hard to stop these dangerous extremists, and to totaly defeat them.

For the checks, and balances to work the supreme court, and preferably the entire American judiciary must be dominated and controled by moderate centrists,
who represent the mainstream of
american constitutional law,
and jurisprudence.

Our extreme far right right politicians, and the religous
fundamentalists are trying to destroy our constitutional checks, and balances, and they
are trying keep them from
working by engaging in
politicaly, and idealogicaly motivated extreme far right
court packing.

That is why it is in the best interests of all americans that 100 % of George Bush junior's, supreme court nominees need to
be totaly blocked, and defeated by the U. S. Senate.
All americans must aggressively fight against the extreme far right religous fundamentalists (facsists), and the plutocrats who are using them in the republican party in all american elections, at all political levels immediately.

If they fail do this then the American republic, democracy, and human rights et el are doomed to distruction.This matter is of the most extreme urgency. ***

Anonymous said...

If our constitional checks and
balances fail then the american republic has already fallen,
and it will be replaced by foul and evil tyranny,injustice and by
medieval religous superstition,
theocracy, religous intolerance totalitarianism ignorance, and barbarism. If this occurrs all americans who oppose the evils
mentioned above must rise up in armed rebellion, and over throw
by force of arms the kind of tyranny , barbarism and injustice mentioned above in a second american revolution, and cival war. They must follow the example of their forefathers who rebelled against King George 3 from 1776
t0 1781 .

Anonymous said...

We who are true christians , who truly believe in our american and christian republican priciples, and ideals must strongly oppose , and fight against all the puritans, wanna be theocrats, and the fundamentalist HERECTICS * within our churches,
and religous denominations in america.

Anonymous said...

We all hope that our checks and balances will work, and will totaly destroy, and totaly defeat the religio - facsist extreme far
right everywhere in america by peaceful and democratic methods.
We hope a second american, and second american cival war will not be necessary to defeat these dangerous extremists.

Anonymous said...

the apathy, and ignorance of up to
50% of the electorate in our democracy is what has made our republic,our human rights, and our democracy vunerable to dangerous
far right religous extremists, and the corrupt, and evil plutocrats,
and giant big businesses who are
usimg them in the republican party to serve the cause of unlimited
greed, and selfishness.
All americans must fight to destroy, and punish the
evil doers who are exploiting
the vunerabilitys that have created by voter apathy, and ignorance in our elections .*