On a recent episode of the Alisa Childers podcast, Alisa
interviewed Rod Dreher, author of several books, including his latest, Live Not By Lies. Their discussion centered on totalitarianism, and how
immigrants from the former Soviet bloc point out that they see things happening
now in the United States that they witnessed 40-50 years ago in the countries
they fled, specifically the “increasing inability to say what you really think
without risking your job, without risking your personal reputation, or some
kind of terrible blowback.”
Dreher defines totalitarianism as “a system in which everything is politicized to where you cannot escape politics.”
Dreher says, “Rather than using pain and terror and fear to compel people
to comply, our totalitarians are using social pressure, and they’re using
people’s fear of losing status and losing access to middle class comforts to
get them to conform. It is a softer form of totalitarianism, but it is still
totalitarianism.”
Childers goes on to describe soft totalitarian culture
“where if you have a specific political opinion or you have a specific
religious opinion, and you feel like you can’t say it publicly, or even if you
feel you have to lower your voice, that can be a sign that some of these things
are beginning to be in place.”
While in the interview Childers and Dreher focus on leanings
toward totalitarianism on the left—whether by liberal politicians or
liberal-leaning tech magnates and cultural elites—there also exists a tendency
toward totalitarianism on the right (see Trevin Wax’s article).
I know people on the conservative Christian side of the
equation who admitted they had been afraid in the past to speak out about
racial injustice, because they were afraid it would offend their donors and
hurt their ministry budget. When George Floyd was killed in 2020, they realized
they could no longer stay silent just to protect their income.
No one can deny that former President Trump had an “all-or-nothing”
attitude when it came to demanding total loyalty, not to principles, but to him
on a personal level. Someone could agree with the President 98% of the time on
policy, but dare to call him out where he was wrong on something (or in the
attitude with which he approached people), and you risked being kicked to the
curb. Even if you weren’t in Trump’s personal/staff circles, or were so unknown
in the political realm that he personally never came after you, those in your
own network of friends, family, and associates would accuse you of being a
liberal sympathizer, or ask, “So I guess you would rather Hillary have won?”
I know a fellow minister in my own state who ardently advocated
for Trump and GOP candidates, speaking of the dangers to our freedoms if the
Democrats were to take control of the White House and both chambers of
Congress. After the GOP lost the two senate runoff races in Georgia in January
2021, my friend pointed out that Trump, by making his campaign rally in Georgia
the week of the runoff vote all about himself and how the presidential election
had been “stolen” from him, rather than focusing on the importance of the
Republican candidates winning those two Senate races. He basically stated what
many political analysts were saying: Trump’s insistence on proving he had been
wronged led to the GOP losing those seats, and thus the majority in the Senate.
Commenters on his Facebook post asked, “How was the Kool-aid?”
A mutual acquaintance then proceeded to denounce the two
ordained ministers in the discussion (my friend and myself), accusing my friend
of not offering hope to the masses by accepting that Trump lost the election,
and accusing me of “name calling” for just mentioning that former President
Trump had a narcissistic personality that kept him from putting the Senate
candidates’ (and broader Republican party’s) needs ahead of his own. “Shame on
both of you,” he commented.
There are many other examples that could be given of people
on the conservative, religious side using tactics of fear, intimidation, and
shaming in an attempt to keep fellow Christians “in line.” I’m sure if you’ve
been paying much attention on social media, you could provide many yourself.
UPDATE: This article came out before I wrote my post, but I had not yet read it. It gives a prime example of the totalitarian tendencies on the right that try to silence any dissent from the "accepted orthodoxy." Betraying Your Church—And Your Party
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