chris hiosis - Arz-e-Pak

16 AMERICAN FASCISTS
the Spirit ofthe Lord is infused into a society (through its people,
Jaws and institutions) is the degree to which that society will experietu:e
liberty in every realm (civil, religious. economic, ttc.).'·
The Global Recordings Network, a missionary group striving to
bring "the Name of Jesus" to "every tribe and tongue and nap
tion," 17 gives dose attention to the meaning of "liberty" in their
teachings. A tape of a missionary lesson plays: "I want to make
you understand this word 'liberty: It is written in God's book:
'Where the Spirit ofthe Lord is, there is liberty.' Some say there is
not enough liberty in this land. but jf that is true, it is because
there is not enough ofthe Spirit of the Lord. What do you think
yourselves? Do people do as God commands them? Do they love
each other? Do they help each other? Do they speak the truth? Do
they flee from fornication and adultery? You know there are those
who steal, who lie, who kill, and who worship things that are not
God. These things are not ofthe Spirit ofGod, but ofthe spirit of
Satan. Then how can there be true liberty?" 16
The "infusion" of"the Spirit of the Lord" into society includes
its infusion into society's legal system. Uberty is defined as the
extent to which America obeys Christian law, When America is a
Christian nation, liberty becomes, in this view, liberation from
Satan, This slow, gradual and often imperceptible strangulation of
thought-the corruption of democratic concepts and ideasinfects
the society until the new, totalitarian vision is articulated
by the old vocabulary. This cannibalization of language occurs
subdy and stealthily. The ghoulish process leaves those leading
the movement mouthing platitudes little different from the bro·
mides spoken by those who sincerely champion the open, demo­
cratic state.
These tactics, familiar and effective, have often been used by
movements that assault democracies. This seemingly innocent
hijacking of language mollifies opponents, the mainstream and
supponers within the movement who fail to grasp the radical