This past May I attended the Philadelphia Bap- tist Association’s (PBA’s) Missiological Conversation at the American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) Leadership and Mission Building in King of Prussia. A missiological conversation is a time of re- flection, fellowship, and discernment of the call of Christ to the church today. It involves challenging the- ology to accompany the gospel on its journey through

the nations and through the times. It challenges the inclination towards self- preservation. Missiology, the study of the mission of Christ’s church, interferes with that bent toward self-preservation by asking novel and potential upsetting questions.

This year’s missiological conversation focused on the topic of fascism. We had the opportunity to learn about the characteristics of fascism. I want to use the next few Pastor’s Reports to share this information with you.

The 14 characteristics of fascism were described by Lawrence Britt in Free In- quiry Magazine, Spring 2003. Yes, 2003, not 2023. He studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile). Dr. Britt found they had all 14 elements in common. I’ll share the first seven in this report and the rest in next month’s.

Powerful and Continuing Nationalism Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are lay symbols on clothing and in public displays.

Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe; racial, ethnic, or religious minorities; liberals; communists; social- ists, terrorists, etc.

Supremacy of the Military Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

Rampant Sexism The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation in national policy.

Controlled Mass Media Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the govern- ment, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regu- lation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, espe- cially in wartime, is very common.

Obsession with National Security Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.