Goose Stepping Towards Fascism:
Roy Moore and the Advance of Christian Theocracy
November 27, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
The basic idea: The campaign of Roy Moore for a U.S. Senate seat from Alabama has galvanized a fascist social base, and gained the effective support of Donald Trump. Win or lose, the controversy around Moore has advanced the cause of Christian fascism nationally. The need to drive the fascist Trump/Pence regime from power is more urgent than ever.
“I pledged that, in a Trump administration, our nation’s religious heritage would be cherished, protected, and defended like you have never seen before. That's what’s happening. That's what’s happening. You see it every day. …
“And above all else, we know this: In America, we don't worship government—we worship God. (Applause.) Inspired by that conviction, we are returning moral clarity to our view of the world and the many grave challenges we face.”
From Donald Trump’s speech to the “Value Voters Summit,” October 13, 2017
Trump was the first sitting president to address the “Value Voters Summit”—an annual gathering for people who advocate abolition of public schools, who think all non-heterosexual relations should be outlawed, who think women are inferior and must be subordinate to men, who intend to criminalize all abortions, who want to abolish Medicaid and Medicare, who think the Earth was created in seven days 6,000 years ago, who think every word of the Christian Bible is literally true and should be the basis of all law and morality.
It was a lovefest.
Paula White, Trump’s “spiritual advisor” and a prominent, influential leader of Christian fascism, said “Whether people like him or not, (Trump) has been raised up by God, because God says that He raises up and places all people in places of authority. It is God that raises up a king, it is God that sets one down and so when you fight against the plan of God, you’re fighting against the hand of God.”
Trump’s Endorsement of Roy Moore
Trump’s appearance and speech at the Value Voters Summit significantly emboldened and advanced their cause. Now the candidacy of Roy Moore, who has effectively been endorsed by Trump, is a new, major and deadly serious offensive by Christian fascists. Not just to win a Senate seat from Alabama, but to make a significant move towards establishing a theocratic—Christian fascist—U.S. government.
Roy Moore, who has said that “God is the only source of law, liberty and government,” became notorious when, as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, he commissioned construction of a two and a half ton monument to the Ten Commandments in front of the state’s judicial building and then refused to obey the order of a federal court to remove it. He was forced out of his position in 2003. He portrayed himself as a Christian martyr and self-righteously made a proclamation aimed at galvanizing other fundamentalist fascists: “I cannot forsake my conscience. I will not neglect my duty. And I will never, never deny the God upon whom our laws and our country depend.”
Moore was again elected as Alabama Chief Justice in 2013—and was again suspended, this time when he directed judges to enforce a state ban on same sex marriages, in defiance of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. His hateful, biblically based venom for LGBTQ people is central to his world view and to his appeal to many Christian fundamentalists. In his words, "Homosexual conduct is, and has been, considered abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature."
Moore insists that biblical law trumps U.S. constitutional law. He claims that the First Amendment applies only to Christians—more specifically, only to fundamentalist Christians who accept every word of the Bible as literally true. “They didn’t bring the Koran over on the pilgrim ship, the Mayflower” he told a group of anti-abortionists in Jackson, Mississippi. “Let’s get real. Let’s learn our history. Let’s stop playing games … Buddha didn’t create us. Mohammed didn’t create us. It’s the God of the Holy Scriptures.”
Now, with Moore making a run for the U.S. Senate, allegations have come out that he is a sexual predator with a history of sexually harassing teenagers. In “ordinary” times—before Trump’s boasts about “pussy grabbing” became widely known and he still sailed on to the presidency with the backing of powerful capitalists, the vocal support of influential Christian theocrats, and the votes of over 60 million people—this was the kind of thing that would shame and disqualify someone from public office. Far from being dismayed by the accusations that Moore is an alleged serial child abuser and sexual predator, far from abandoning his candidacy, his supporters are belligerently doubling down in their support for him.
Christian Fascism Moves to Center Stage
Moore’s backers cherish him as a modern-day “martyr” for Christianity and a fighter for their cause. They view him as the “tip of the spear” (as a prominent “Value Voter” described him) of an aggressive fundamentalist fascism. They actually think that they are carrying out a “mission from God” in their support for Trump and Moore. A group of prominent Christian fundamentalists who met with Moore after the allegations against him became public issued a public letter stating their support for Moore. They view him as a “man of integrity who has never wavered from his valiant defense of the unborn, the Ten Commandments, and the Constitution.”
Whatever happens in the Alabama election, Moore is now much more prominently positioned in U.S. politics. Testimony backing the allegations against him be damned—he is back on the offensive. Even more, his abominable, hateful world outlook and views are being injected into the political and cultural discourse. Powerful forces have coalesced around him. He, and they, are on the offensive.
Now it is quite possible that the full-bore Christian fascist lunacy of Roy Moore will be in the U.S. Senate, with Trump’s effective support, promoting and fighting for the development of a theocratic government.
The Trump/Pence regime is already packed with Christian fascists. Pence, the vice president and next in line to the presidency, has been a prominent figure in the Christian fascist movement, described by the Los Angeles Times as someone who “might be the most piously anti-gay politician in America.” The Attorney General thinks people who don’t believe in God are incapable of telling the truth… the Environmental Protection Agency chief denies the reality of climate change… the head of the CIA opposes all abortion, including in the case of rape… the president’s attorney went to the Supreme Court to defend school prayer… the spiritual advisor thinks Trump has been “elevated to leadership against all odds in order to do God’s will” and compares Trump to the Biblical Esther, who, as the story goes, coalesced an army responsible for the slaughter of over 75,000 of her opponents.
But Moore outdoes them in his unabashed advocacy of theocracy. Moore doesn’t bother to put a thin veil of political purpose over his program and doctrine.
This is the virulent ignorance and hate that the Trump/Pence fascist regime is bringing forward and empowering. It is moving, through conflict and turmoil, towards entrenching itself and imposing its will on the country, and the world.
Christian fascists have been working for decades to build their strength and influence. They have participation and backing from powerful sections of the U.S. rulers. They outright control or dominate many state governments, especially in Southern and Plains states. They have established and developed universities, think tanks, TV networks and other forms of mass communication. They raise enormous amounts of money. They have successfully fought to have their anti-scientific ignorance drilled into the heads of school children. They have trained legions of lawyers who think U.S. law should be based on biblical law. They occupy seats on the U.S. Supreme Court, scores of judgeships on state and federal levels, positions of leadership in the U.S. military, and in the Trump/Pence cabinet. They are positioning themselves to impose their theocracy on all of the U.S. as the “law of the land.”
They can’t be reasoned with. They don’t do compromise. Lance Wallnau, a leading figure among Christian “dominionists” (people advocating and fighting for a government based on Biblical law) declared his support for Trump by saying “God has given this man an anointing for the mantle of government in the United States and he will prosper!”
These people aren’t going to just talk about Biblical law forever. They are deadly serious about imposing it on all of society. They are advancing that effort through their unqualified support for Roy Moore.
They must be stopped, and there isn’t time to waste. The possible ascension of a theocrat like Roy Moore to a position of national power and influence, with the effective support of Trump, is deeply ominous. This must not be “normalized.” The stakes in this political battle couldn’t be higher. The need to drive the fascist Trump/Pence regime from power is more urgent than ever.
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