Perhaps the most militant of these prophets of an encroaching theocracy is Chris Hedges, author of American Fascist: The Christian Right and the War on America. In his book Hedges labors to position those who oppose hate crime legislation as despots who “keep their followers locked” in a “closed information system”—a trait typical of fascist groups: 

Passivity in the face of the rise of the Christian Right threatens the democratic state. And the movement has targeted the last remaining obstacles to its systems of indoctrination, mounting a fierce campaign to defeat hate crimes legislation, fearing the courts could apply it to them as they spew hate talk over the radio, television and Internet. Despotic movements harness the power of modern communications to keep their followers locked in closed systems. If this long, steady poisoning of civil discourse within these closed information systems is not challenged, if this movement continues to teach neighbor to hate neighbor, if its followers remain convinced that cataclysmic violence offers a solution to their own ills and the ills of the world, civil society in America will collapse.

Hedges goes on to warn that “religious utopians” are “slowly dismantling democratic institutions to establish a religious tyranny, the springboard to an American fascism.” There is an irony here that should not be missed on newcomers to the hate crimes debate: It is the sympathizers of expanded hate crime legislation who ostensibly fear these “closed information systems” and prize free speech who are quite comfortable passing laws that will attempt to discern motives and scrutinize speech in ways that will fundamentally alter the exercise of First Amendment freedoms in our country.  It is a Democrat-controlled Congress and key institutions of the left like Human Rights Campaign and the ACLU who are pushing through legislation that would dramatically expand the power of the federal government to police speech. Inevitably, early scrutiny would go to the feared “religious utopians”—in their pulpits and through their media outlets across the country.

Thankfully, this president has indicated a willingness to veto hate crime legislation that comes across his desk. But with George W. Bush’s days in office winding down, genuine First Amendment advocates should be prepared for the battles over hate crime legislation yet ahead.  With the primary opposition coming from those with concerns based on freedom of speech and religious liberty, it seems fair to ask: Who is it, really, that is willing to tamper with the First Amendment and use the federal government to advance its agenda in a manner that could, legitimately, be feared as a “springboard to an American fascism”?

Mike Pohlman is an editor for National News and Public Affairs at Salem Communications. Contact Mike at: mike.pohlman@salem.cc.