Customer Reviews

Modern Fascism: The Threat to the Judeo-Christian Worldview (Concordia Scholarship Today)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Dr. Veith wrote this well researched book to explain why fascism as best personified by Nazi Germany in the 1930's and 40's can be seen in today's culture. Veith uses an amazing amount of source material to craft an intricate series of arguments that expose the philosophical underpinnings of fascism, as well as arguing how that philosophy has been adopted by intellectuals today.

Fascism, and especially Nazism, have been made out to be the ultimate evil, due to its actions in Europe during the early part of the twentieth century. What few people seem to know is that fascism is an ideology, one that has a philosophy. Veith makes a good point that concentration camps and war were effects of fascism. These effects sprang from the ideas of fascism.

I was especially interested in how Veith showed that Communism and National Socialism are really two sides of the same coin. The difference is in their outlook. Communism has an international outlook, while National Socialism deals with a localized outlook (the nation). While there are flaws in this argument, Veith does a pretty good job of supporting himself with evidence.

Much of the book is spent discussing these philosophical ideas. There is much discussion of the ideas of Martin Heidegger and Frederich Nietzsche, and how they were the leading theorists of fascist thought. Many of today's intellectuals are vigorously trying to clean up Heidegger's writings to try and hide his obvious affinity for fascism. They just can't understand how he could embrace this mode of thought. Veith shows how his writings that are so loved by intellectuals today are outgrowths of fascist thought. He also shows that by adopting Heidegger's tenets, intellectuals are inadvertantly adopting fascist principles. Veith also spends time discussing how Christianity responded to fascism, especially in Nazi Germany where the church was viewed with great suspicion by the Nazis. Why? Because Christianity is an outgrowth of Judaism. Christianity started out as a Jewish sect, and all of its early theologians were Jews. Go look at your Bible. The only non-Jew in the New Testament is Luke (I've seen arguments for John as well).

A rare book that makes the reader look at things in a different way. I gave it four stars due to a few errors in the book. The first one was in the first paragraph, when Veith says that David Duke was a member of the American Nazi Party. Duke was never a member of the ANP. He was a member of the KKK. Also, using Nietzsche as a theorist of fascism might be a bit misleading. Nietzsche's sister edited his works after his descent into madness, and it from these versions that fascism borrowed some of their ideas. This seems to be the prevailing view today, anyway. I may concede the point to Veith, though, because this may be an attempt by leftist intellectuals to cleanse Nietzsche of what they perceive to be fascist thought. Also, I wish that Veith would have spent more time looking at how fascist thought has permeated our society today. There is only one chapter devoted to this, and it is the last one in the book.

I'd highly recommend this book. It'll make you question some of the ridiculous behavior that is going on in our country today.

Prof. Gene Edward Veith, a Lutheran professor of English at Concordia Univ. in Wisconsin, if anything else, has taken a word which has come to be used as a contentless, empty and generalized "catch-all" insult, and has attempted to remind a historically ignorant generation of what "fascism" was really all about in the 1930's and 1940's and from whom, whence, and what sources this terrible political and philosophical system was derived, the form it took then, and the form it takes today.

First of all, Veith has a smiling Ezra Pound on the cover giving the fascist salute in 1958. This picture is not meant to cleverly provoke, but to show, as is detailed in the chapter, "The Beautiful Ideas Which Kill", that in his allegiance to fascism, Pound and some of his artistic and intellectual allies, Imagist poet T.E. Hulme, George Bernard Shaw, and the pre-war Wyndham Lewis, found the political vehicle of fascism (to them at least) a very logical outgrowth of their theories and views of art and life. The celebration of "the primitive", the concrete over the abstract, and overall contempt for the "bourgeois, moderate, classical..."(quoting from Thomas Mann), in favor of the Nietzchean and Dionysean unrestraint represent not any kind of a current "conformity" to classical and historical traditions but at the time, the very "avant-garde" throwing off of all such shackle.

There are many such illustrations of the sort, which Veith uses not for purpose of mere "high-brow" name-dropping or ad hominem indictment, but for the deeper meaning of the book itself: Fascism has always been on the cutting edge, and the people who first loved and propagandized it were not bourgeois businessmen in suits, but the writers, artists, poets, and philosophers. It is important to realize that one reason that the Jewish people were singled out for castigation was that they represented a transcendent intellectual order, anti-paganism and moralism. Although it has become a matter of cliche, Frederich Nietzche really did popularize many of these ideas in works such as "The Will to Power", where Judaism and Christianity were systems of weakness and artificial supports for weaknesses in their hindrance of man's primordial will and drive to power and action.

"Modern Fascism" covers eugenics, abortion, political ideology, and religion in addition to the artistic and philosophical aspects of fascism, marking his obvious subject: the National Socialist state of Hitler's Germany. Veith offers disparate examples of how history has been revised and ignored to the absurd point that "fascism" is now considered somehow "conservative", and the opposite of the Left. Actually, the extreme Right and the extreme Left are two competing sides of the same fascistic coin (i.e. National Socialism (Nazism) and International Socialism (Marxism). Veith also debunks (as have numerous others) the pernacious myth that Nazism was somehow Christian. The truth is that Hitler perverted and used "God-words" for his own end, and eventually dropped them altogether once complete power was gained. The German Protestant Church had become so weakened by liberalism and humanistic thought, that it was powerless to resist. True Christians such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer were executed.

Finally, one of the most interesting and frightening sections is the end where Veith links much of modern 1990's culture in America with the very same fascism it falsely purports to hate. The very modern return to paganism and Gnostic/New Age type religions (in a friendly face) and the celebration of the violent, arrogant, and unrestrained raw sexuality in film, television, literature, and music is indeed very close to the old fascism in truth no matter how many "anti-Fascist messages" are attempted. The popular culture and modern media which was used by the Nazis (Leni Reifenstahl's use of cinema, the mass rally, etc.) to pound home their message also sounds current. Veith also reminds us that the Nazis were supreme environmentalists, criticizing the mercantile and urban Jews for creating "alienation" between man and nature.

There is a very real problem with skinheads and white racist and anti-Semitic groups of hooligans in both the U.S. and Europe. But there is also a much more subtle and less overt form of it in the academic community where political correctness is enforced and books are not burned, but "deconstructed." At the very least, the modern academic community which immerses itself in this nonsense will have no ground nor the tools to fight fascism if it ever comes here politically, with power to be enforced. At the worst, they are collaborators with it. Professor Veith is sure to be criticized by those who are convinced that Fascism consists solely of either grainy, black & white newsreels of goose-stepping German officers or all people who want to "impose their morality" on others, but I believe he is prescient and absolutely correct in his general thesis that modern Fascism is ultimately paganism in modern dress. Veith's final sentence encapsulates the book: "Fascism is the modern world's nostalgia for paganism. It is a sophisticated culture's revolt against God."

Wish I'd known about this book years ago, instead of discovering it a couple weeks ago.

It's a given that Nazi's are the perennial bad guys of movies and history, with Hitler usually a stand-in for Satan. It's normally overlooked that they had a specific philosophy, that most of their support and leadership came from university intellectuals.

What did Nazis believe and why? Why did they want to kill Jews? Most people actually don't know (some European counties even ban Hitler's book "Mein Kampf") and that, to some degree, is by intent, though it flies in the face of "... if you don't know your history, you are condemned to repeat it...."

In the 1920's and 1930's fascism was popular among intellectuals in the US and abroad. It wasn't until after the war, when the results became clear that many repudiated it.

This book shows the ideas actually lived on, tracing them through specific people and events into the "kinder, gentler" faces we now call New Age and "PC" and "Post-modernism".

Whereas the Judeo-Christian heritage focused on a transcendent God and moral law, fascism rejected that for what is tangible and in nature. Nature and community assume a mystical role.

Essentially, these things are the pre-Christian European paganism of antiquity, coupled with modern media and armies. As part of this, Goering sought to re-establish the ancient "sacred" sites of Germany ... in many ways, Nazism was the revival of the cult of Woten, reborn in the philosophies of Darwin, Nietschze and Romantiscm.

These beliefs were the unquestioned underlying assumptions of the intellectual elites in the 1930's and they remain so today.

Marxism and fascism, far from being polar opposites have much in common. Nazism = socialism + nationalism, while Marxism = socialism + internationalism. Difference is mostly method and in the early part of the century, intellectuals would switch back and forth from being marxists to fascists.

This book draws extensively on original sources to document the purpose and intent of 20th century fascism to eliminate the Judeo-Christian heritage. It documents Hitler's orders to Goebbels and Goering to maintain leadership roles in the church, to maintain credibility, against their will and how in his own words "... after difficult inner struggles I had freed myself of my remaining childhood religious conceptions...".

Hitler wrote how, having solved the more manageable Jewish problem, it would be necessary to address the "church problem": "The point that must be reached is to have the pulpits filled with none but boobs, and the congregations with none but old women. The healthy young people are with us."

And from a Hitler Youth camp song: "We are the happy Hitler youth, we have no need for Christian virtue for Adolph Hitler is our intercessor, and our Redeemer ..."

The book then traces the philosophy of fascism from it's origins into the modern institutions of today. Not perfect, but an awesome book in implication.

This highly readable book shows how fascism is creeping into our culture. Under the label New Age, we are moving away from morality which places value on the individual to morality which makes the individual serve the needs of the community. Just like Nazi morality, this morality has ties with paganism and the occult and is in direct opposition to Judaism and Christianity. Prof. Veith shows how this change started with fascism in the academic community. If you value freedom, read this book.

The parallels between the philosophies that led directly to the Third Reich, and those currently in vogue among today's intellectual elite are stunning and undeniable. Postmodernism and its offspring, political correctness, represent nothing more nor less than fascism with (for the moment) a smiling face. Veith has done his homework well; his exceptionally well-documented book exposes the moral vacuum into which today's young people are being sucked.

Most people are only exposed to two historical aspects of Nazi Germany - WWII military campaigns and the Holocast. This book eloquently and thoroughly presents the most important aspect of the rise of Fascism in Germany, which is in fact the development of the philosophy and world-view of progressive, anti-Judeo-Christian European high-culture.

Hitler and the Nazis should not be dismissed as insane lunatics. The terror they unleashed was perfectly rational within their world-view which was based on Atheism (paganism), Socialism, and Darwinism. With Atheism, there is no absolute right and wrong & the ends justify the means. With Socialism, the greater good is more important than the rights of the individual. With Darwinism, man is just a highly advanced animal evolving by tooth and claw - survival of the fittest! What transpired in Europe was inevitable given the prevailing philosophies.

I think that Hitler and his leutenants absolutely believed they were creating a Utopia - within the framework of their worldview.

The Nazi leaders and their actions were put on trial at Nuremberg, but the philosophers, and especially the ideas that made the rise of Nazism possible, escaped serious scrutiny. The ideas are alive and well in modern progressive circles. History is ripe to repeat itself. (ie. Hatred of Christianity, expanding socialism, and promotion of evolution in public edu-indoctrination.)

"Modern Fascism" explores many developments that seem to herald a unwanted repeat of historical periods. It expostulates an obvious message that too often in postmodernism, politically correct indoctrination-or whatever catch phrase you like--is not merely overlooked but falsely denied.

During the recent Florida vote recount farce, roly-poly, leftwing Congressman Jerry Nadler said that the "whiff of fascism" was in the air. He is just one of many modern day so-called liberals who regularly employ such terminology to derogate those on the right. Yet as Gene Edward Veith extensively displays, it is precisely those who are so willing to condemn their "fascist" opponents who are embracing true fascism. Fascist movements have always flourished among the illuminati. Universities, mass communication industries, and the artistic community have repeatedly been the breeding ground for oppressive movements. These elitist factions are once again in the foreground of efforts to disparage Judeo-Christian morals and replace them with a personal ethic that lacks uniformity or a devotion to the common good. One of the book's chapters opens with a chilling quote from Hitler, "Nothing makes me more certain of the victory of our ideas than our success in the universities."

This scholarly tome shines the spotlight on the disturbing irony of fascism. Today many left-wing radicals regularly summon the designation "nazi" to condemn those with whom they disagree. Either those who espouse this slander are unaware or maybe they're just unwilling to admit that they have far more in common with the nazis than those they so vehemently disdain. Organized religion so despised by totalitarian regimes is again under fire from much of intelligentsia. Veith suggests that "the ultimate goal of the nazis was to eliminate not only the Jews but the Judeo-Christian tradition." Today Hollywood treats blasphemy as a noble art form. Much of the education establishment from kindergarten through college belittles traditional religion at every possible opportunity, and Eugene Oregon's ridiculous ukase outlawing public Christmas trees is a good example of the religious hostility demonstrated by government's at all levels.

While the goals may arguably be different, the widespread diversity fads that devalue individuality and pit groups against each other are unsettlingly reminiscent of fascist racial superiority notions. Such emphasis on cultural groups also diminishes the importance of human lives and as Veith says "fascist ideology is today being echoed by apologists for abortion who argue, for example that a child does not have a right to live until it is wanted by its mother and accepted by the human community." Veith warns, "multiculturalism encourages the view that identity is a matter of ethnicity and culture rather than individual personality."

Fascist regimes generally employ a devotion to nature not unlike what is now call environmentalism. A belief that society is corrupt and debauched leads to a reverential victim status for nature, and Veith discusses some of Hitler's programs supporting conservation and wilderness protection to emphasis the analogy.

While Veith intelligently lays out his case certain chapters could probably have been strengthened by the inclusion of a few more anecdotal parallels. The work soars when his probing theoretic arguments are enforced with real world incidents. One amazing passage discusses the mutually admirable correspondence between Hitler and Margaret Sanger until he became convinced that she was too extreme!!

The enticing and debatably well-intentioned tenets of what too often spirals into fascist fanaticism are potently propounded by his caveat that "Hitler did not come to power by promoting terror, world war, and holocaust; these were the effects of his ideas...His promotion of cultural identity, environmentalism, and economic justice were very persuasive."

This was a well done exposition of the links between postmodern thought and facism. It describes how some of the ideas of facists supporting the Nazis (such as Ezra Pound and Martin Heidegger) are now eminating from the university in postmodernism, and how these ideas lead to totalitarianism. It confronts the anti-transcendant, inherently irrational, and relative utilitarian ethical foundations of such lines of thought as postmodernism, existentialism, deconstrution and the avante guarde, and details the inevitable and disasterous consequences when these academic speculations are put in to practice in the real world. A short pithy read for anyone interested in postmodernism and its place in history. I really should have given it 5 stars, but now I can't change it. Veith is an excellent writer and social analyst whose books are generally short, dense and thought provoking.

Veith's "Modern Fascism" is essentially a primer on the philosophy of fascism. He shows the ideas that converge to form the ideological basis for fascism are still alive today in academia, especially in postmodernism. In this respect it is brilliant. In fact, his discussion of the philosophy of fascism is so moving that it is hard to keep from felling some affinity towards this philosophy. Veith also does little to tell us why these ideas are bad, other than they were used by fascists to do bad things. He argues for a return to Judeao-Christianity, but ignores the fact that this philosophy has been put to bad uses as well. This is why I give him 4 stars only. As a primer on the philosophy of fascism, the book is genius, and very powerful. As a revolt against these ideas in modern thought, the book is subpar. I still recommend it to everyone in social science. If nothing else you can use it to point out the fascist tendencies in people's thought, and see the shock on their face. Good fun, and useful.

Veith consistently produces excellent books, essays, and articles but this is near the top of all he's written. In examining the Fascist mind-set, he builds a case that much of modern "liberalism" is actually repackaged Fascism. Doubtless many will be upset or offended by his claims, but they are difficult to refute.

In addition to tracing the history of Fascism and demonstrating many of its excesses, Veith also shows means of combatting its intrusion into modern thought and life. In so doing, he also establishes Fascist links to Postmodernism. For those interested in the historical aspects of Fascism, especially the alleged Martin Luther connection to Hitler and Nazi thought, I also recommend Uwe Siemon-Netto's The Fabricated Luther : The Rise and Fall of the Shirer Myth.