The Counterfactual Narrative of Growing Christian Persecution and Expanding Marxism in America

For some reason, religious conservatives in America insist on viewing themselves as a persecuted minority.

Gene Veith complains regularly about the persecution of American Christians at Patheos. His most recent post in this vein is entitled “Dehumanizing Christians.”

Though he thankfully, and quite necessarily, exhorts Christians never to dehumanize anyone, the focus of his piece centers nonetheless on a supposed increase in the dehumanization of traditional Christians in this era of expanding “neo-Marxist” politics.

Veith’s arguments depend largely on a related piece by Alfred Kentigern Siewers at The American Conservative entitled “What Christians Face in a Neo-Marxist World.”

There is MUCH to be explored here, but I will limit myself to only two brief  points:

First, my current bedtime reading consists of Professor Jason Stanley’s book How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them (Random House, 2018). It’s a good book, not hard to read, and I highly recommend it.  Professor Stanley offers a boatload of historical material, both old and new, to illustrate his description of fascist politics and its affects throughout modern, western history.

Last night’s reading consisted of Stanley’s many examples of right-wing, fascist political parties expanding throughout Europe today.  An attentive reader can’t help but notice close similarities to the current atmosphere in American politics during this era of Trump’s presidency.

Stanley’s is not the first book I’ve read in the past few years discussing the history and characteristics of fascism — think of guys like Hitler, Mussolini and Franco.

I confess that I had a difficult time falling asleep as I contemplated, with a very downcast frame of mind, the many features of American public life that make this country overly ripe for our own slide into fascist territory.  In fact, some would say we have been there for some time.

So, here is a BULLETIN for Veith, Siewers, and similar conservative fear-mongers: the world is not threatened by the spread of neo-Marxism at this moment in history, neither are American Christians a primary target of extremist violence.

To begin with, there is no Marxist movement of any sort, whether neo, paleo, crypto, or psycho, in America today. Period.

In fact, the United States does not have a genuine leftist, left-wing, authentically liberal political party any more, despite the faux warnings of people like Laura Ingram, Shawn Hannity and Tucker Carlson.

Leftist strains of American politics died as viable political options long ago, with the demise of leaders like Frances Perkins (FDR’s Secretary of Labor), Dorothy Day, (Founder of the Catholic Workers Movement), Eugene Debs (5

times presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America), and Henry A. Wallace (vice-president for FDR).

However, we DO face the very real and very dangerous threat of fascism. But conservative pundits will rarely, if ever, recognize the dangers posed by this problem because of their own authoritarian  instincts. (One of the great failings of the American church, in my view, is its strong preference for authoritarianism and social control over freedom and liberty, but I digress.)

The fascist threat has already expanded throughout central and eastern Europe, and it could easily emerge vestigially in this country too, like the creepy, embryonic crab creature that latches onto your innocent face and then bursts your bowels in the Alien movie franchise.

Don’t be too skeptical. Large sectors of the American public have thrown their arms around fascism more than once in our history. Recall Sinclair Lewis’ famous (purported) statement, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

The right’s fraudulent neo-Marxist label is merely the favorite boogeyman

conjured up by conservative pundits in order first, to scare their followers and second, to smear whomever they wish to attack at the moment.

Notice, for instance, how the neo-Marxist “threat” is also the favorite whipping boy for another current conservative phenom, Jordan Peterson. (Personally, I can’t understand his popularity, especially in the church.)

Second, as numerous studies have documented, the greatest rise in domestic terrorism and politically motivated violence in America has come from the right wing, not the left.

In 2009, the Republican-controlled congress suppressed and eventually pressured the Department of Homeland Security to repudiate its own report warning about the growing dangers of extreme right-wing violence in American. (see here, here and here).

You can read the full DHS report here; it’s entitled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.”

Well, folks. What they predicted in 2009 is coming true in 2019.

I clearly remember the times when candidate Trump encouraged and even praised public violence at his campaign rallies.

Trump applauded those who punched his critics and pledged to pay their legal expenses.  I watched the coverage at the time. He stoked his followers’ anger at the news media, calling out specific journalists covering his campaign, and “blessed” anyone who would teach them aside in order to teach them a thing or two.

In 2018, the Anti-Defamation League published a report entitled “Murder and Extremism in the United States” documenting the sharp rise in politically motivated, violent crimes in this country. The report’s executive summary begins with this sentence:

“2018 was a particularly active year for right-wing extremist murders: every single extremist killing — from Pittsburgh to Parkland — had a link to right-wing extremism.” (emphasis mine)

 I urge you to read the report for yourself. You will never hear about the dramatic increase of this problem from conservative pundits or cable news.

God’s people are called to deal in truth, which requires investigating the facts, all the facts. It means being honest; doing our best to critique our own biased tendencies; remembering that our primary allegiance is to God’s kingdom, not a political party, an ideology, or secular movement of any stripe.

We can never deal in fear-mongering or false accusations. The truth of the gospel is our standard of communication.

So, here are the simple facts:

First, neither Christians nor political conservatives are the primary, or the expanding, targets of politically or religiously motivated violence in America. To say otherwise is to perpetuate a myth.

The prize for being targeted by political violence goes to American Muslims, African-Americans, other people of color, and immigrants — including legal immigrants.

The bottom line is, white Christians need to stop their whining and abandon their self-pitying victim mentality. It is more than unbecoming. It is ungodly.

Second, you and I are about as likely to be harmed (whether physically, emotionally, psychically or rhetorically) by a rabid “neo-Marxist” as we are to be hit by an asteroid.  In fact, we are more likely to be struck by lightning.

If any of us (God forbid) is ever injured in an incident of domestic terrorism, the perpetrator, in all likelihood, will be a right-wing, ultra-conservative conspiracy theorist (who will probably imagine that he has been victimized by various and sundry neo-Marxist assailants.)

I firmly believe that Christian social and political engagement is important. But we need to understand what is actually going on in the world.  We dare no live in a dream world.

Such understanding requires stepping outside of the Christian media mis-information bubble, reading widely, studying broadly, and keeping our eyes focused on the kingdom of God.

Our only hope is in Jesus, and he never asks us to mislead others or to misrepresent the facts.