What Progressives Get Wrong About Theocratic Fascism
Contrary to popular belief, theocratic fascists aren't interested in white, wealthy, male power for power's sake. They're interested in it for God's sake.
*This piece was mostly complete before the official overturning of Roe V. Wade, so while it may not explicitly mention in below, it should be understood that the repeal of abortion rights in the United States is a key plank of theocratic fascism.*
Reddit brought to my attention the atrociously horrific proposals enshrined as policy by the Texas Republican Party at their convention a couple of weekends ago. Much of the document was standard-fare Christian Nationalism, a sort-of subset of theocratic fascism, rooted not only in the historically false notion that the United States was based on Christian principles, but also that any nation ought to have, as its ultimate authority, a very specific conception of the Christian God. Unfortunately, I saw a lot of comments like these, which suggest a widespread belief among progressives that theocratic fascists like the Texas GOP specifically <want> to keep people marginalized in order to maintain and further benefit the power of the white, wealthy, male, status quo:
They don't want an educated population at all. They want an uneducated (mostly) population to put them to work for low wages. They want to provide a voucher system which would benefit only the wealthy. Vouchers only pay a small percentage of private school tuition, so only people wealthy enough to already afford private school would benefit from them.
This reading obscures the more sinister reality - genuine and firmly held theocratic fascism is grounded in the unquestioned ultimate authority of the relevant deities. In this case, a specific interpretation of the Christian God provides a pseudo-intellectual veneer for public policy proposals that both systematically & systemically dehumanize marginalized communities, often taking aim at people who are visible in their differences, often LGBTQ+ folks or racialized communities.
To illustrate, let’s take a brief look at a movement popular among conservative reformed Christians known as Christian Reconstructionism, currently having a moment under the name of Theonomy. It’s theological grandfather, R.J. Rushdoony, also known as the father of the Christian Homeschool Movement, in 1973 wrote the magnum opus for the movement, The Institutes of Biblical Law, fashioned after John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, in which he made the overarching claim that God’s Laws, as handed down in the Old Testament of the Protestant Christian Bible, were applicable, in their entirety, here in the contemporary age. Moreover, they are applicable not only to Christians, but also to everyone who is not a Christian - that is, God’s OT Laws, based primarily on the 10 Commandments, ought to have the force of secular law behind them. As a consequence, secular law is to submit itself wholly unto God’s Law.
What is important to note, here, is that the basis for Theonomy is found in their conception of God and the laws that he has given for all of humanity; their task is, first and foremost, a religious task. For Theonomists, every sphere of life (they speak frequently of Family, The Church, and Civil Government) is subject to and responsible for keeping the laws of God.
For the Theonomist, for the Theocratic Fascist, for today’s Christian Nationalists, the Religious is Political.1
Now, let’s go back and have a look at the proposals from the Texas Republican Party, starting with the Preamble, which will tell you the source of authority for their policy demands
We can see pretty clearly where the Texas Republicans are basing their ideas - on belief in God. It nay seem at first glance that they are merely repeating the first line of the Declaration of Independence, but they’re not. That reads very differently: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. For the Texas GOP in 2022, the affirmation of belief in God comes before any mention of equality of humanity, while in the Declaration the Creator is only summoned after the claim to the equality of humanity.
Immediately after the Preamble comes the Principles of the Texas Republican Party:
It’s pretty clear that the Texas GOP believes that their principles have been directly given to them, as if through divine revelation, by a very particular conception of God. Their entire project is based on that conception of God, regardless of whether it is shared by any other Christian denomination or sect. As Roe v. Wade falls, we can see that right below the declaration of God’s law, comes their view of reproductive justice, in which they claim the sanctity of life, justified with an appeal to the Image of God, from fertilization until natural death.
Coming back, then, to respond to the assertion made by the Reddit commenter, maintaining the power of the white, wealthy, & male status quo matters only insofar as it is ordained by God. But that's exactly why it matters, because on that conception of God, it is ordained, not just commanded. It is anticipated, it will become reality, and its followers are duty-bound to try and make it happen.
This is to say that while it is important to maintain that white, wealthy, male status quo, it is important to do so precisely because that’s what they genuinely and firmly believe that God, whose authority, in their view, extends to everyone, Christian or not, commands and ordains. To do otherwise would be to disobey their deity; to do otherwise would be to require them to sin, which, based on their beliefs, would send them to hell.
This is where the similarities with ISIS and the Taliban are most noticeable. It's not in the policy proposals, per se, it's in the appeal to an unassailable external authority that demands unquestioned allegiance. When you genuinely believe that a deity requires a certain way of life, not only from its followers but also from every one else in society, and you also genuinely believe that this requirement cannot be legitimately questioned, you'll be especially motivated to treat those in in the Out Group in dehumanizing ways.
After all, God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It!
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There is a LOT more to say here - I spent 7 hours down the rabbit hole reading about theonomy in preparation for this post - but I don’t want to get too far into the weeds before I make my point.