Sep 15 2009
The Potential of Totalism
In Chapter 7, “The Problem of Endism,” Strozier concludes, “Social crisis, or a big war, or a disaster like nuclear terrorism could transform the [fundamentalist] movement overnight into a potent and active apocalyptic force, and so transform the American political and social landscape” (Strozier 166).
America, as a Christian nation, and more importantly, as the most religious industrial nation in the world, provided a perfect example of this “pull towards totalism” both in the 1950’s and in the aftermath of September 11th (Strozier 164).
In the 1950’s, apocalyptic visions of nuclear war, as illustrated for children in the film “Duck and Cover,” (1951) were supplemented with McCarthyism in response to the Red Scare. The American people, afraid of Soviet espionage infiltrating all arenas of American life, supported Senator McCarthy’s program of accusing, investigating, blacklisting, and generally persecuting suspected Communists. Accused Communists were always guilty until proven innocent.
The terrorism on September 11th, 2001, was the worst in recent American history. As a direct result of the attacks, Congress drafted and passed the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act). The Act was supported by members of both political parties, and was passed in both houses of Congress with ease. Only one Senator voted against it.
Written with the goal of protecting the country against foreign and domestic terrorists, it greatly expanded the government’s law enforcement power. After the initial shock of the attacks subsided, however, some Americans began to question whether the Act unreasonably curtailed civil liberties in granting permission for such a zealous pursuit of security. After all, as Ben Franklin said, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Strozier’s conclusion about fundamentalism (that its tendency to be totalistic stems from the fact that its ideological basis is so apocalyptic ) is equally applicable to America. America, as a Christian nation, is also steeped in apocalyptic values. According to Strozier, then, it was only natural for the apocalyptic scares of the 1950’s and 9/11 to give rise to expressions of totalism in America.
Ariana, this is an astute discussion about the “pull towards totalism” and its threat to democratic liberty. It made me think about the extent to which crisis is a relative term. The ones you mention are clear instances of sudden crises, with traumatic emphasis. But currently the issue of medical reform has taken on a sense of crisis for the opponents, so that we can witness the pull in the direction of totalism in organized protests with certain slogans, repetitions, and demonization of pro-medical reform advocates (Obama portrayed as Hitler, etc.). This is something that you might apply to next week’s readings in terms of postmodernism and Watchmen. How is crisis operating for postmodernists and/or Rosen in her analysis of their shift in apocalyptic representation?