America, Fascism, and God

"Davidson Loehr stands in the tradition of the prophets. An equal opportunity critic of both liberal and fundamentalist religion, his strong language may offend some. But his critique can help us break out of habits of thought that bind us and blind us. And he is first and foremost a pastor, calling us to avoid self-serving deceptions and reclaim an America which is for all of 'We the People.'"

—Rev. William Sinkford, Unitarian Universalist Association president

Religion and politics have always been a potent mix. History is littered with times when that combination caused sweeping death and destruction, when it fueled aggression and oppression—and when it gave fascism a religious and diplomatic face.

Reverend Davidson Loehr is afraid that we may be living in such a time in America today. On the Sunday following the election on November 2, 2004, Loehr, a liberal minister in Texas, delivered a sermon titled "Living Under Fascism"—a sermon that spread like wildfire through the Internet. "I mean to persuade you that the style of governing into which America has slid is most accurately described as fascism, and that the necessary implications of this fact are rightly regarded as terrifying," the preacher told his congregation. ". . . and even if I don't persuade you, I hope to raise the level of your thinking about who and where we are now."

In this series of incisive and inspired sermons, Loehr takes aim at the unholy alliance of corporate money, political power, and religious fundamentalism that is threatening both our political and our economic democracy. But Loehr's words provide little comfort to liberals and progressives who have stubbornly clung to a radical individualism and an amoral secularism.

America, Fascism, and God is a call—first to understand that religion has been hijacked and debased. And then to take it back.

About the Author

Davidson Loehr

Davidson Loehr has always been a heretic. When he was six, his Sunday School teacher told the class a new story. It was called, as he heard it, "Trinadee." He didn't mind the God in the sky—Superman and Captain Marvel were up there, so there could be room for gods, too. And the god had a son—well, this is fine, too. Especially since they had a poster of this blue-eyed, brown-haired son right on their Sunday School wall, with a lot of little kids gathered around him.

But then the teacher said there was this ghost. The only image of a ...

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