{"id":340,"date":"2009-08-13T11:58:08","date_gmt":"2009-08-13T11:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apagansblog\/2009\/08\/paganism-fascism-and-america-part-2-of-2.html"},"modified":"2009-08-13T11:58:08","modified_gmt":"2009-08-13T11:58:08","slug":"paganism-fascism-and-america-part-2-of-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2009\/08\/paganism-fascism-and-america-part-2-of-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Paganism, Fascism, and America, Part 2 of 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

For most people the appeal of
\nfascism is first and foremost to feel powerful, particularly to dominate those
\nthey blame for their sense of themselves being exploited.  <\/span>But unlike many movements against
\noppression, fascist movements do not target those had exploited them, but those
\nwho have recently visibly improved their status.  <\/span>This paradox is a key to understanding fascism.
 <\/p>\n


\nFuture fascists had long accepted
\nbeing dominated by some so long as they did not feel they were at the bottom of
\nthe heap.  <\/span>Their acceptance of a
\nstatus quo that subordinated them required them to feel superior to those who
\nwere even worse off.  <\/span>This was as
\ntrue for German Nazis as for the folks who scream “Liar!” every time a
\nCongressman tries to answer a question and question President Obama’s birth
\ncertificate.<\/p>\n

The Fascist World<\/b>
Fascists view of the world as a
\nhostile universe arranged against a small virtuous population, usually ethnic,
\nthat strives manfully to survive. 
\n<\/span>This is a zero sum view of the universe, which is why the gains of the
\nformerly oppressed are seen as evidence that those who once were oppressing
\nthem are now oppressed.  <\/span>It is why
\nfascists love unilateral action as “manly” and regard cooperation as “weak.” It
\nis why Democratic leaders are stupid beyond words to emphasize bipartisanship
\nover their goal.  <\/span>The Republican
\nParty is not fascist, but it increasingly holds itself together by appealing to
\nand feeding the emotions of which fascism is a more complete expression.  <\/span>The fascist world is a place of eternal
\nstruggle and war.  <\/span>Those who
\nprevail do so by dominating the others, and those who do not become slaves or
\ngo extinct.<\/p>\n

This is why Power as Domination is
\nthe currency of the realm in fascist thought.<\/p>\n

Power<\/b>
Power comes in many forms, so many
\nthat a definition covering them all is deceptively simple: power is making a
\ndifference.  <\/span>Love is powerful.  <\/span>Sex is powerful.  <\/span>Ideas are powerful  <\/span>The same is true applied to a river, an
\nemotion, or an entity, physical or otherwise.  <\/span>As such, power is a component of everything that is
\nwonderful in our lives.<\/p>\n

But not all Power’s forms are
\nwonderful.  <\/span>Facsism is the service
\nto and worship of Power as Domination. It seeks to organize an entire society
\nalong this principle.  <\/span>It differs from
\ntraditional forms of domination in that it wants its rank and file members to
\nparticipate actively as dominators, even as they themselves are dominated.  <\/span>By comparison, traditional domination
\nwanted most people passively to accept their fate.  <\/span>Facsism wants them to embrace it, because by doing so they
\nget to participate in dominating others. 
\n<\/span>Even at the lowest social levels, where people are powerless, fascists
\nexperience the thrill of domination when their country, race, religion, or
\nethnic group – whatever symbols of resentment and power the leaders employ,
\ndominate other countries, races, religions or ethnic groups.  <\/span>Then the  <\/span>bulk of the people can feel a part of something bigger than
\nthey.  <\/span>In this sense fascism is a
\nproduct of a democratic age, even as it is completely anti-democratic and
\nappeals to religious needs, even as it is completely anti-religious.<\/p>\n

I move to the insights a Pagan
\napproach can bring to all this by quoting Malidoma Some<\/a> 
\non power.<\/p>\n

When power comes out of its hiddenness,
\nit shrinks the person who brought it into the open and turns that person into a
\nservant.  <\/span>The only way that overt
\npower can remain visible is by being fed, and he who knows how to make power
\nvisible ends up trapped into keeping that power visible. . . .<\/p>\n

[Western culture] gives names to
\ncorporations and treats these corporations like living beings. . . . Whoever
\ncreates that kind of visible power must then stay in the service to that which
\nhe creates. . . . To display power is to become servile to it in a way that is
\nextremely disempowering.  <\/span>This is
\nbecause the service is fueled by the terror of losing the fantasy of having
\npower. (62-3)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Domination as power<\/b>
If we look at the real views of a
\nHitler or a Mussolini or, I would suggest, the leaders of the religious right
\nand those like them, they are neither Christian nor Pagan.  <\/span>They are not religious or philosophical
\nat all in any normal sense.  <\/span>Rather
\nthey are a devotion to domination. <\/p>\n

And here is a twist.<\/p>\n

Power in the sense of domination is
\nultimately empty.  <\/span>The dominator is
\nas dependent on the dominated as a tapeworm is on the host it parasitizes.  <\/span>Power as Domination gives a sense of
\nvitality so long as it is being fed by the soul of the dominator and the pain
\nof the dominated.  <\/span>But when the domination
\nstops, the person is cut off from this energetic psychic drug and feels empty.<\/p>\n

 I think this is why fascists
\npersist in blaming people more victimized than they who are now themselves
\nbecoming freer from domination. 
\n<\/span>The white racist or anti-Semite or religious bigot can no longer simply
\nenjoy a sense of superiority over another who now rejects it.  <\/span>Worse from a fascist point of view, the
\nformer underlings receives social support for their rejection, especially from
\nliberals and “The Left.”  <\/span>The
\ndominator’s source of personal fulfillment is cut off, even as they continue to
\nbe oppressed by dominators above them. 
\n<\/span>They feel powerless, and resent their powerlessness.  <\/span>But they still honor and lust for power
\nover others themselves.  <\/span>I think
\nthis explains their utter irrationality.<\/p>\n

This means that the seeds of
\nfascism are with us in any society where people accept being dominated so long
\nas they themselves can dominate someone else.  <\/span>Traditionally such societies were not fascist, but when
\ngrowing freedom enables those at the bottom to begin to change their position,
\nthe layers above lose their pay off for accepting the status quo.  <\/span>Instead of acting to change that status
\nquo to one of greater well-being for all, they turn their resentment towards
\nthose they can no longer themselves dominate.  <\/span>In this sense a Rush Limbaugh may not himself be a fascist, (he
\nhas not endorsed physical attacks on others or preventing other points of view
\nfrom being heard) but he gives eloquent word to their frustrations,
\nlegitimating and empowering them.<\/p>\n

Domination as a Power
<\/b>Many Pagans know that constantly
\nfocusing on an idea, combined with strong emotional energy, can create a
\nthought form or quality of psychic energy.  <\/span>Domination, and the rush of vitality and aliveness it can
\nprovide, is a major thought form in human life.<\/p>\n

As a Power, Domination can be fed
\nby dominating, and by resentment at being dominated and so wanting to dominate
\nin return.  <\/span>But once the
\nopportunity to dominate another stops, as Malidoma Some observed, the person of
\npower is faced with how truly small he or she is, because at a certain level
\nthey lived off others’ energy in a zero sum relationship.  <\/span>They were strong because others were
\nweak.<\/p>\n

They get their domination fix the
\nsame way rabid soccer fans get theirs – when their team prevails.  <\/span>Their team won, so they feel
\npowerful.  <\/span>In the fascist context,
\ntheir ethnic\/national\/religious\/racial team beat another, so they feel that in
\na sense, they did it.  <\/span>For the
\npowerless seeking power without challenging those above them, it can be the
\nonly game in town.  <\/span>And so the
\n“little people” applauded aggressive war, torture, putting those brown Islamic
\ndifferent people in their place. 
\n<\/span>Or they can dominate those they regard as inferior, such as liberals,
\nBlacks, Hispanics, the wrong types of women, (the right types accept their
\ndomination, as do the right kinds of Blacks, Mexicans, and Indians), and so
\non.  <\/span>This in itself is not fascism,
\nbut when frustration reaches a point where it overrides respect or fear of the
\nlaw, and the rules of civilized disagreement, you are at its front door.  <\/span>All that is then needed is organization
\nand a leader.<\/p>\n

Fascist rallies and rituals are
\nacts of worship<\/b><\/span>
The charisma of a fascist leader is
\nthe means by which Power as Domination most completely completes the loop of
\nenergy, feeding back to even the most insignificant fascist a sense of power
\nand greatness.  <\/span>Other than beating
\nup the weak and despised, it provides the most personal feedback from top to
\nbottom, as the bottom feeds the top. 
\n<\/span>Hitler fed off his crowd, and his crowd felt fed in return.<\/p>\n

This is a magickal relationship,
\nbut it is not a good one.  <\/span>Happily
\nwe do not (yet?) have such a leader. 
\n<\/span>So America’s fascist rumblings are still at the level of mob action.<\/p>\n

And so I think this is the key to
\nunderstanding why any genuine religious tradition has to oppose the rise of
\nAmerican Fascism.  <\/span>It is the
\nopposite of all genuine religious traditions, which without exception place
\nhuman beings in contexts or meaning bigger than they are, contexts requiring
\nnot domination, but respect, care, compassion, love, and similar values.  <\/span>Fascism places people in contexts of
\nutter meaninglessness and nihilism, against which the violence of domination
\nand the thrill it gives is the only response.<\/p>\n

Paganism and Fascism<\/b>
I hope this mini essay has given some pointers on how a Pagan world view can shed light on some of the most paradoxical and frustrating elements in fascism and in contemporary trends in the American right.  <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For most people the appeal of fascism is first and foremost to feel powerful, particularly to dominate those they blame for their sense of themselves being exploited.  But unlike many movements against oppression, fascist movements do not target those had exploited them, but those who have recently visibly improved their status.  This paradox is a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,9,108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-social-and-political-theory","category-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nPaganism, Fascism, and America, Part 2 of 2 - A Pagan's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2009\/08\/paganism-fascism-and-america-part-2-of-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Paganism, Fascism, and America, Part 2 of 2 - 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