It has been well-documented that the Third Reich not only co-opted the majority in the German church - both Roman Catholic and Reformed - but used their buildings, clergy, and liturgies as props for their propaganda. Between 1933 and 1945, Christian leaders cooperated with the Nazis: they preached Nazi hatred and antisemitism on Sunday mornings, abandoned their theological independence for a Nazification of Christianity, and became instruments of hatred rather than compassion and justice. The clergy of the Reich encouraged the wider population to turn a blind eye to genocide, euthanasia, mass incarceration, and the desecration of the Gospel. This took place in both the Roman Catholic and Reformed branches of the Christian Church. (see the US Holocaust Museum for more background @ https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-german-churches-and-the-nazi-state)
In 1935, Sinclair Lewis wrote his satirical political novel, It Can't Happen Here, a story of a populist demagogue who becomes president. It has been suggested that Louisiana's governor, Huey "Kingfish" Long, was the historic inspiration for Lewis characterization. (NOTE: Long was assassinated in 1935 just prior to the book's publication.) In 2016, The New Yorker ran a piece by Alexander Nazarayn, "Getting Close to Facicism," describing a new stage interpretation of Lewis' novel as critique of the presidential primaries. In 2017, The New York Times published Beverley Gage's, "Reading the Classic Novel that Predicted Trump," which stated:
“It Can’t Happen Here” is a work of dystopian fantasy, one man’s effort in the 1930s to imagine what it might look like if fascism came to America. At the time, the obvious specter was Adolf Hitler, whose rise to power in Germany provoked fears that men like the Louisiana senator Huey Long or the radio priest Charles Coughlin might accomplish a similar feat in the United States. Today, Lewis’s novel is making a comeback as an analogy for the Age of Trump. Within a week of the 2016 election, the book was reportedly sold out on Amazon.com. At a moment when instability seems to be the only constant in American politics, “It Can’t Happen Here” offers an alluring (if terrifying) certainty: It can happen here, and what comes next will be even ghastlier than you expect. Yet the graphic horrors of Lewis’s vision also limit the book’s usefulness as a guide to our own political moment. In 1935, Lewis was trying to prevent the unthinkable: the election of a pseudo-fascist candidate to the presidency of the United States. Today’s readers, by contrast, are playing catch-up, scrambling to think through the implications of an electoral fait accompli. If Lewis’s postelection vision is what awaits us, there will be little cause for hope, or even civic engagement, in the months ahead. The only viable options will be to get out of the country — or to join an armed underground resistance.
In 2020, it HAS happened here and yesterday's photo op at St. John's Episcopal Church in the nation's capitol closes the circle opened by Hitler, embellished for the USA by Lewis, and now embodied by Donald J. Trump and his advisors. It appears that Hope Hicks, PR adviser to 45, suggested that now would be a good time to link the rhetoric of repression with religion. Without consultation or permission, the regime used the National Guard and tear gas to clear the area of protesters, trotted across the street from the White House for a short photo shoot with 45 hoisting a Bible as evidence of his holy mandate before returning to the bunker. Thanks be to God that both the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Rev. Michael B. Curry, and the Bishop of Washington, DC, the Rev. Mariann Budde, have denounced this cynical manipulation of our symbols. Budde told reporters: "He did not pray. He did not mention George Floyd, he did not mention the agony of people who have been subjected to this kind of horrific expression of racism and white supremacy for hundreds of years." Rather, he held up a Bible as a prop, a book he is thoroughly unfamiliar with, as a dog whistle to his evangelical supporters. Curry was equally outraged saying:
This evening, the President of the United States stood in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, lifted up a bible, and had pictures of himself taken. In so doing, he used a church building and the Holy Bible for partisan political purposes. This was done in a time of deep hurt and pain in our country, and his action did nothing to help us or to heal us. (for more please see: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/us/politics/trump-st-johns-church-bible.html)
For the time being freedom of the press remains in the United States. Freedom of religion and from religion, too. People of good will, integrity, and compassion must clearly denounce this regime's cynical manipulation of our sacred symbols. The whole entourage is morally bankrupt to say nothing of shameless and cruel. The uprising in our streets, Dr. King used to say, is the language of the unheard. No more "whitesplaining" about patience. This uprising IS about law and order - especially for black, brown and vulnerable people in the USA. I am grateful that the leadership of the Episcopal Church chose not to be silent over this offense. Others have added their voices, too. May we find ways to stand in solidarity with the uprising in pursuit of a more perfect union. Dr. King also used to say that moments such as these must be seized and utilized lest we miss our chance to change to the course of history. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
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