How Symbolism Is Today’s National Idolatry
by Loren Adams, 13 September 2009
“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the
flag and carrying a cross,” wrote Sinclair Lewis in 1935.
When Hitler’s hordes stole Germany, they stormed town-halls
across the Fatherland carrying their sacred symbols of nationalism reinforced
by a form of Christianity that lent moral credence to mob rule. In fact, Nazism
could not have risen had it not been for German evangelicals and
fundamentalists embedded within the various religious sects and denominations.
German Christians were seduced by the allure of national pride, and in doing
so, the flag, eagle, and swastika became select idols of that time –
images so sacred anyone caught desecrating them were put to death.
The pageantry and massive torch-bearing ceremonies were
spectacular – even by today’s standards. Joseph Goebbels and Albert Speer
were the Fuhrer’s designers, serving as Minister of Propaganda and Adolf’s
Chief Architect, respectively. Commissioned by Hitler in 1934, TRIUMPH OF THE WILL,
the propaganda film of all time, displayed seductive pageantry and overt
symbolatry (idol worship of symbols). German evangelicals who succumbed to this
idolatry comprised the base of the right-wing movement, same as American
evangelicals are the base of the right-wing today in the U.S.
Yes, there are parallels between Nazi Germany and 21st
Century right-wing America which is currently on recess but determined more
than ever to recapture the government after managing to destroy the Obama
Administration and congressional Democrats. Let no one successfully persuade
otherwise: Fascism was never a left-wing movement, only a right, and America’s
right-wing is again on the march – using white evangelicals (seduced by
symbols and “Christian” idolatry) to do its bidding – advocating and
condoning violence, preaching the gospel of the “free market”
(corporatism/fascism), and promoting militaristic monarchial/theocratic rule.
Giant crosses are erected adjacent Interstates across
America, supposedly to lead lost souls to Jesus Christ, but on the other hand,
are testament to modern American “Christian” idolatry. In front of America’s
megachurches, giant U.S. flags flap in the wind, supposedly as an indication of
devotion to the country, but on the other hand, are testament to modern
American “Christian” idolatry. The symbols mean more than mandates Christ
issued to the Church: caring for the needy, feeding the hungry, and healing the
sick.
The Bible, also, has become an idolatrous image to many. The
phrase is often heard from fundamentalist pulpits and broadcasts, “The King
James Version of the Holy Bible is the inspired, infallible Word of God.” Then
they add, “The King James was good enough for Paul and Silas, so it’s good
enough for me,” without considering the King James Version wasn’t commissioned
by the King of England until 1,600 years after Paul and Silas were dead. The
disease of ignorance is as contagious as swine flu.
Worship of the cross and flag was evident as far back as the
Great Depression, as described by Sinclair Lewis in 1935, and this symbolatry
was at the forefront of the Nazi movement across the Atlantic. So, Lewis put
two and two together and foresaw the day fascism would come to America “wrapped
in the flag and carrying a cross.” Lewis observed that Hitler’s core followers
were uneducated, anti-intellectuals, and steeped in mythology and peripheral
religion. And he compared the European base to an American counterpart that
could potentially propel an American tyrant to power – for the same
element flourished on both continents.
Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930, Sinclair
Lewis was eye-witness to the Great Depression and the ascension of Adolf
Hitler’s Germany. He wrote of similar threat to America – where fascism
would come dressed in the flag, carrying a cross, and preaching Christianity
– the wolf in sheep’s clothing. He saw the parallels then as they are
now.
Sinclair
Lewis predicted such in 1935.
Of course, most tyrants in world history rise to power compliments
of a religious base. In fact, they couldn’t have arrived without a supportive
religious system. The antichrist can only come to power because of the
quasi-Christian Beast he rides, called the “Great Whore” in The Revelation. But
after he succeeds and arrives at his desired destination, he betrays his mode
of transport, the Beast, by destroying her.
I believe a significant portion of fundamentalists today
have become seduced by a form of symbol worship. “Idolatry” is defined as blind
and excessive devotion to a person or thing. If an individual or group of
individuals are caught up in a collective act of blindly venerating the same
object or person, this common bond is defined as a “cult.”
Twenty-first America is encumbered by a mass cult which is
stripping away the nation’s constitutional rights, civil liberties, and
potential greatness. Ironically, it is also threatening the very religious
freedom for which they claim to cherish dearly.
Symbols mean more than substance today. Little flag pins
arouse more adoration than real acts of valor. FOX’s America preferred to
investigate (and lie about) John Kerry’s medals than George Bush’s AWOL,
cocaine use, and draft-dodging. FOX’s America preferred to perpetrate the Obama
birth certificate myth than investigate torture and treason. Barack without a
tie in the Oval Office elicited more outrage than Blackwater’s murders. It is
symbolism the right-wing is after, not reality. Surface outweighs substance.
Not only the flag, but the cross and Bible are erected as
idols. And sadly, the national idolatry cult has racial overtones – like
the original fascist movement 80 years before. Nazis venerated the flag, the
swastika, Mein Kampf, and the eagle. The American right-wing venerates the
flag, the cross, the Bible and the eagle. The parallels can’t be more apparent. 