From “Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies” by David P. Gushee
In his subtle and profound work A Brief History of Fascist Lies (2020), historian Frederico Finchelstein situates lying at the very center of fascism: “Lying is a feature of fascism in a way that is not true of … other political traditions … Fascists consider their lies to be at the service of simple absolute truths, which are in fact bigger lies.” Threading this analysis of systemic mendacity through his discussion of fascism, Finchelstein ends up with a treatment of fascism that looks in some ways similar to what Stanley offers, but goes deeper into its irrationality.
For Finchelstein, fascism makes knowledge a matter of faith, beginning with faith in the myth of the leader. Fascism is rooted in anti-Enlightenment irrationalism, a modern counterrevolutionary movement against liberalism, democracy, and Marxism, which we will often encounter in these pages. In fascism, the leader is the embodiment of the nation and of truth. Enemies of the leader are defined as enemies of truth, and of the nation, who must be destroyed by violence. The leader is always right and owns the truth, a truth beyond reality, inquiry, and history. Truth is attained through revelation from the leader, who incarnates the soul of the people. Dictatorship is redefined as “true” democracy because the leader embodies the people. Political violence and the desire for a kind of redemptive destruction come to characterize fascism, as fascist policies attempt to create new realities to correspond with their mythologies. For example, anti-Jewish fascists have dreamt of a world without Jews and then at times have enacted horrific policies to turn this dream into reality.