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The rise of religious fascism
White Christian nationalists and other faith-based extremists share traits that subvert their respective faiths and threaten multicultural societies.
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Among the court exhibits in the case against the Bondi beach shooters was a home-made Islamic State flag found in the car of Naveed Akram.
PHOTO: AFP
Kumar Ramakrishna
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In recent years, the term “fascism” has re-entered global discourse amid warnings of the cult of “strongman” authoritarian leaders. Attacks have been levelled at US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, among others, for being fascist. Yet, there is a less discussed but no less important development that bears watching: the rise of religious fascism.
To appreciate why this phenomenon is of concern, a quick look at the concept of fascism is in order, to better understand how its defining characteristics are showing up in unexpected similarities between far-right, Islamist and other faith-based extremist movements.
