When his book American Fascists appeared, Chris Hedges appeared on the television show The Colbert Report. Hedges, the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize as a New York Times writer, was also nominated for a National Book Award for his book War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. Steven Colbert began his interview by saying, 'Now Chris Hedges, you claim that the Christian Right is seeking to establish a fascist state in America. We don't have fascism here - our trains don't run on time.'

Chris' book had its origins in conversations with our Harvard divinity School teacher Professor James Luther Adams. Adams was the pre-eminent Unitarian Universalist ethicist and theologian of the last century. He had seen fascists close up, having been involved in the church resistance to the Nazis while doing post-doctoral work in Germany in the 1930's. At one point he was interrogated by the Gestapo for his work; the fortuitous intervention of the mayor of Marburg, a closeted anti-Nazi, saved him. In the late 1970's, when Adams was nearly eighty years old, he warned us that when we were his age, we would be fighting "Christian fascists."

In American Fascists: the Christian Right and the War on America, Chris Hedges shows that Adams' prophesy came true sooner that he had predicted. The Dominionist movement among evangelical and fundamentalist Christians looks to Genesis 1:26, where God promises humans "dominion" over all things. Dominionist leaders use 16th century John Calvin's Institutes for a model for a Christian society. Students of Unitarian history will remember that Calvin had non-Trinitarian Michael Servetus burned for heresy.

About 25% of people in the United States consider themselves Evangelical Christians, and certainly not all of them are conservative. I recently spoke to a white evangelical who planned on voting for Barack Obama in the primary because of the message it would send about America to the rest of the world. Democratic candidate Hilary Clinton has met with Evangelical leader Rick Warren, author of the hugely successful book The Purpose Driven Life.

Polls show that 7-12% are of Americans are Dominionists. Theirs is a self-contained, closed world of believers and enemies. The Christian Right's Gospel of prosperity strongly embraces the world of corporate capitalism. Wal-Mart and Tyson Food give large amounts of money to the movement; Tyson pays for fundamentalist chaplains at their food processing plants.

Hedges draws parallels between the Christian Dominionists and Islamic Fundamentalists. Both see women in a subservient role. Other Christian Right enemies are gays and lesbians (groups also singled out early on by the Nazis), Blacks, unions, scientists ('Hitler was an avid evolutionist'), "secular humanists," and liberal Christians (who are considered non-believers).

The Dominionists pray for the End Time, when eventually, only Christians will survive and rule under God. First comes the Rapture. One scholar describes the Rapture in this way, 'I'm sitting in my office, and I see my neighbors rising up to Heaven, and I say, "Well I'll be damned!' Hedges argues that in the event of a social meltdown such as a major terrorist attack or catastrophic ecological crisis, the well funded and highly disciplined Dominionists could impose their utopian totalitarian Christian vision. America would become a "Christian" nation.

Chris speaks of the despair among American workers, fertile ground for the extremist groups. In 1988, 39% of American jobs were in manufacturing, usually providing a good livelihood. By 2004, the figure was only 9%, the lowest percentage since the Industrial Revolution. Hedges writes how that in Ohio, where manufacturing jobs have hemorrhaged, membership in Aryan white supremacist organizations has sharply spiked.

James Luther Adams told us the story of being on the streets of Marburg, Germany while a Nazi rally was going on. He started to get into an argument with a Nazi supporter when a huge man lifted him up from behind in a full-nelson hold. Much as Adams struggled, the man carried him away, leading him to a deserted back alley. Then he set Adams down and said, "You fool! Today there is a Nazi rally going on. You don't get into arguments with Nazis unless you want your head broken open. Now, I am an unemployed worker. You will come home with me and see what an unemployed German worker's Sunday dinner is like." Adams joined the man's family for dinner, which consisted only of potatoes.

Hedges is critical of the great majority of evangelicals who, while not supporting the Dominionists, do not vocally defend the separation of church and state and the ideal of a pluralistic society. However, he is also critical of liberal religious groups like ours who, with a relativistic point of view, tolerate those who would destroy them. Adams told us how the German Unitarians tried to work with the Nazis, only to all end up in the concentration camps. Hedges challenges liberal Christians to preach against the apocalyptic "terror texts" of the Bible used to consign non-believers to Hell, to speak out against those who would twist Christian ideas and terminology in the name of Christian Dominion.

As a UU Christian, I would be one of the "non-believers" sent to the Dominionist's Hell. What do they have to do with the Bible? I am appalled by their "cherry-picking" of Biblical passages from that confusing, contradictory and wonderful text. What do they have to do with Jesus? Jesus preached the Kingdom of God, which involves our deepening relationship with God, forgiveness, and God's love and justice in community. I don't believe Jesus saw that Kingdom in terms of a totalitarian state with a warrior ethos fighting against all enemies. Jesus wasn't a guerilla leader against the Roman Empire or the religious establishment - he even forgave his killers.

Fifteen years ago, comedian Bill Hicks died, a ""comic's comic" who Monty Python's John Cleese described as "brilliant, savage, and deeply intelligent." Also, REALLY dirty. As a comic, Hicks was a kind of preacher against things like fundamentalism, consumerism, and corporate rock. In one of his sets he says:

"Now, fundamentalists say to take the Bible literally. "Be fruitful and multiply." What better way to do that then…….pornography? Your Bible….could have a centerfold. Miss Deuteronomy…dislikes plagues, floods, and smokers.

I did that bit in a club in Alabama, and three guys were waiting for me in the parking lot. They said, "Come 'eer!" (flinging out an arm). "Come 'eer Mr. Comedy Man! "(flinging out an arm). Clearly they didn't understand the basic laws of physics. "We're Christians, and we didn't like your show." "Well, if you're Christians… forgive me." Hicks would also hold out his two fists out and say, "Fear and love. Fear and love. Every moment we can choose between fear and love."

In the name of love, we need to engage, not tolerate the Dominionist Christian Right. Chris praises the gay rights group Soul Force for confronting Christian colleges around the country. He urges us to remember the advice of James Luther Adams' friend, the German theologian Paul Tillich who said to "take time seriously." Tillich, who resigned his German professorship in protest of the Nazis, felt the churches had to be involved in the political issues of the day.

Adams was also noted for living his teachings on "voluntarism," stressing the importance of voluntary associations for a democratic and open society. My colleague Victor Carpenter, who served the Unitarian church in Cape Town, South Africa in the 1960's, once preached on the importance of such associations. Victor echoed Adams when he explained that while speech was free in South Africa, and there was an active press, people were banned from forming organizations against Apartheid.

Some of those important associations are religious congregations like ours. We are connected to other Unitarian Universalists through the Unitarian Universalist Association. We are members of the Mass. Council of Churches, which associates us with liberal and mainline Christian groups. We need to develop ties with Jewish and Muslim leaders, immigrants (a target of the Christian Right) and unions (my friend Rabbi Reinstein is involved in the SEIU Local 1199 organizing effort with the hospital workers). I'm reminded of the famous quote from Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemuller, a friend of Adams' in the church resistance: "First they came for the Communists, but I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, but I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, but I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up."

Our church's Jamaica Plain Forum provides us with a wonderful opportunity to connect with a wide spectrum of groups. Likewise, our involvement in the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization connects us with Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist congregations, and especially importantly, with conservative Christian religious leaders of color.

James Luther Adams was also the first person to speak to me about the importance of being in spiritual direction. Adams had a Catholic priest in Paris as his spiritual director while doing his resistance work in Germany. Another important lesson from Professor Adams : the responsibility to deepen one's spiritual life in order to do the work.

The Christian Dominionist Right believes that, as Unitarian Universalists, we shouldn't be allowed to do what we do religiously, or be allowed to support the causes we do, like equal marriage. Chris Hedges challenges us to confront those enemies of an open, democratic society, rather than simply tolerating them.

Fear and love - we need to speak up to those who would lead our country in paths of fear, in the name of love.