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Adam Russell Taylor writes in this week’s SojoMail that Christians of all stripes must condemn language when it crosses that line: In a recent interview with The New York Times, four-star general John Kelly said that he believed former President Donald Trump met the definition of a fascist leader. Kelly, who served from 2017 to 2019 as Trump’s chief of staff, compared definitions of fascism with Trump’s behavior: “Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.” As I’ve written before, “fascist” isn’t a word I ever use lightly. It’s not a word that resonates with most Americans, and I’ve worried using that word will only further polarize our deeply divided nation. But Trump’s escalating rhetoric, especially over the past few months, calls for moral clarity: It is time to state emphatically that Trump’s rhetoric is increasingly and dangerously fascist. Fascist rhetoric is plenty distressing on its own; racism and attacking one’s political enemies are just plain morally wrong. But we also have a long record of these tactics being used by other strongmen political leaders to gain and consolidate power and commit some of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.
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