Christo-Fascism: The Dark Heir to Christian Tradition—and the Way Beyond It

Resisting the Spirit of Domination and Death, Part 1

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April 2013. I had just finished publishing my first book. I felt invigorated. A man on a mission.

I decided to take a stronger stand on my website against what I saw as a dangerous popular theology: Christian supremicism.

My assessment at the time was that this imperialistic posture was the ultimate core of conservative Evangelicalism. This posture seemed to me to be the very opposite of that to which the Gospel called us. Yet, this anti-way-of-Christ posture had entrenched itself in the hearts and minds of most American Christians.

I wanted the Evolving Christian Faith Network to become a strong voice for a Christian alternative. And part of doing that was calling out the problem. So, I added a manifesto to my website. I wanted others to see the danger that I saw and understand why I took the stand I took.

As time passed, it seemed America had gotten used to a black president. It seemed justice issues we're moving forward. It seemed Evangelical churches had started their decline and were not the threat I perceived them to be.

So I removed the manifesto from my website.

What just happened?

I thought things were getting better. I really did. (I suspect you did, too.)

I was recently surprised when suddenly we had representatives in our highest form of government self-identifying as Christian nationalists. In a country that upholds the separation of church and state, I couldn’t believe we had elected representatives wanting to turn America into a Christian (exclusively their kind) nation.

At first, I thought, “Surely, this isn’t going to fly.”

Then, I was shocked as I watched the Christian nationalist movement gain steam. Bibles were legislated into classrooms. “Project 2025” arrived on the scene as a playbook for instituting Christian dominion. Finally, we get Trump back into the Oval Office, this time alongside his running mate, President Musk.

Now, Americans live on the edge of transitioning into a Christo-fascist nation.

Christo-fascism

Go into most churches in America and you will probably find Old Glory at the front of the sanctuary. This practice had been around for quite a while, but it became much more prominent during World War I. The American flag in worship became a symbol of American unity and patriotism.

Ever since, it has claimed the hearts and minds of many Christians attending Sunday worship. Heaven help any pastor today who wants to remove it because the sanctuary should be a place where Christians worship God and God alone.

The pairing of the flag and font in the worship space epitomizes the heart of Christo-fascism. The movement is driven by an imperial theology/ideology that seeks political power to establish an authoritarian regime.

Let me be clear, though…

Not all congregations who fly flags in their sanctuary support Christo-fascism. That said, I bet you would be hard-pressed to find a Christo-fascist congregation without one.

Flag

Fascism is a strictly political movement. It’s all about the quest for power in order to establish control. When we think of fascism, Nazi Germany quickly comes to mind, or Mussolini’s Italy.

It’s important to realize that fascism as a political ideology can take a variety of forms. Still, those forms share certain similarities.

• Centralization around a strong man

• Authoritarianism

• Nationalist supremacy

• Expansionism

• Extreme propaganda

• Scapegoating to create unity through fear of the other

• Elimination of dissent

Font

Christo-fascists see themselves first and foremost as “Christian”. They believe Jesus is their Lord and Savior. They believe they will go to heaven as a result. They believe everyone else will burn in hell for all eternity.

Theirs is an extremely authoritarian form of Christianity. In their congregations, they often subjugate women to men. They marginalize the LGBTQAI+ community.

Bottom line: Christo-fascism is dangerous. And, here’s why it is more dangerous than run-of-the-mill fascism...

A dangerous union

Mark Jurgensmeyer, in his book Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, looks at religious terrorism (including right-wing Christian terrorism) to understand it. What he finds is that religion supercharges the quest for power and violence by adding a layer of ultimacy to the cause. It adds a Divine mandate to horrific behaviors by aligning them with the ultimate Source of Good. And, in some cases, it empowers people to even lay down their lives for their cause while taking the lives of others.

Think about 9/11 for a moment. This is probably our most prominent symbol of religious violence today. The terrorists obviously did not intend to make it out alive. They were giving the entirety of their lives over to God. They had emptied themselves of all sense of personal interest and purpose into a wider sense of Divine Interest and Purpose. God wanted death and destruction, and they willingly added their lives to the mix.

Notably, Jurgensmeyer’s study includes Christian extremism as well. An example would be the Christian Identity movement that blends white supremacy with a desire to impose biblical law upon America (at least their version of it). It appears that Timothy McVeigh of the Oklahoma City bombing was more than likely powerfully influenced by this theology.

Christo-fascists can come from a wide range of theologies. And, if they were asked, I suspect they would not see themselves as fascists at all. If they did, I doubt most would be willing to admit it (after all, Nazis).

What about the Christian nationalists, though? Are they Christo-fascists?

In theory, Christian nationalists also support a democratic approach to imposing their theology. At this point, however, I think it’s safe to say they have abandoned that option as they have openly and wholeheartedly embraced the blatantly fascist agenda.

So, let’s call Christian nationalism what it has become: The most pure manifestation of the spirit of Christo-fascism for our context.

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“But, It’s not Christian”

For those of us who take the person and work of Jesus Christ seriously, we can’t help but wonder how in the world Christians can mistake a power grab for the Call to Divine Love. What happened to the whole “love your neighbor as yourself” bit? And when did the Sermon on the Mount become “liberal talking points”?

I’ve often heard progressive Christians on social media decry Christo-fascism as “not Christian”. After all, when we look at the Gospel narratives, it's really (really, really) easy to see how Christo-fascism incarnates today’s version of the Way of Rome in the first century, a way that was portrayed by the Gospel writers as “anti-Christ”.

Yet, here we are. Christo-fascists do not see this at all. In fact, they see themselves as being the true believers in the Gospel, the only bearers of the one true faith.

Which brings us to the question…

Is Christo-fascism a legitimate form of Christianity?

In order to answer that, I think we should look at the relationship between Christianity and the exercise of power through history, and then seek to understand that relationship in light of where we are today.