I would disagree. It might be true that there are War Genners for whom Hitler was a greater danger than Stalin...we know there were significant groups of American Communists throughout and after the war, but not American Nazis. But by the time the Boomer generation gained political cognizance, WWII was fading (it was never in our own memories) but the Cold War was preeminent. We were terrified of Stalin and then Khrushchev, not Hitler. There are even Boomers who are Holocaust deniers, but not Cold War deniers.
I am sure at the time, the threat was more particular to that specific situation, but just look at how the postwar consensus has crystalized over time. Nobody cares about Kruschev anymore, or even Stalin. You could walk around town wearing a t-shirt with their faces on it and hardly anyone would care. If you wore a t-shirt with the face of Hitler, it would provoke an emotional reaction in most.
Few people (besides conservatives) would care if you displayed a communist flag. Both Leftists and conservatives would recoil in horror if you displayed a nazi swastika. That means something. in our present day cultural mythos, i.e. the Postwar Consensus, the swastika is the location of true evil.
But if you conflate (as you're trying to do now) fear and revulsion of Fascism with fear and revulsion of Communism, then you're breaking down your own position.
I don't think most people really analyze Fascism or Communism that much, but instead develop a kind of simplistic map of good and evil which defines their reality. Most people think of Hitler as Satan, the Nazis as demons, Auschwitz as Hell, etc. The western world's political ideology is framed around WW2 as a central axis point of what is right or wrong. Everything we do or do not do is to avoid becoming a Nazi.
- Open borders because only Nazis care about which ethnic groups they live around.
- Have to start X war because otherwise we are reenacting the 'appeasement of Hitler'
etc.
Yes, many Boomers in both groups accept that during WWII, Fascism (or, particularly, Nazism) was the primary evil to be fought. That's as far as that goes. But the Cold War was the war that Boomers fought.
Yet many other Boomer were anti-war in this time period. Actually this is the period where the anti-war movement is really romanticized, a movement which continues up until the Iraq invasion in the 2000's. (ironically many of those anti-war protesters are now raging cheerleaders for war with Russia)
Some celebrity boomers even showed off their siding with the USA's enemies during the Cold War.
There is no romanticization of the anti-war/isolationist movement during WW2. Those people are regarded as enemies, and WW2 is crystallized as the 'good war' that nobody should question.
No, I would disagree that Fascism is any more open to the gospel than 21st Century Liberalism (at least to this point). We see that Fascism led to Nazism, an ideology that permitted no other "inspired leader" than the Fuhrer. That is the inexorable destination of Fascism...that's where it goes. That's not necessarily where 21st Century Liberalism is headed, unless it goes more directly down a Marxist path. But it's not there yet.
There is nothing in the Gospel/NT about strong leaders, emperors, kings, dictators, etc. being a bad thing, quite the opposite actually, we are instructed to honor the king.
Of course anything can become an idol, and I'm sure 1930's Germans had their fair share of idolatry, but look at how Americans have worshiped individual liberty and "freedom" as the greatest good.
The degree of tension between Church and State increases with the increase in authoritarianism of the government. Any style of government can get there, but at the moment a classically Liberal government is farther from that point than any Communist or Fascist governments are (I categorize the government of the DPRK as classically Fascist, not Communist).
My point was that it was probably easier to openly share the Gospel in 1930's Germany than it is in 21st century America, or western Europe for that matter.
There is actually a very interesting point to be made, where we find Christianity is still very strong in formerly communist states, where it has withered away in liberal societies. You could argue that the communist persecution made them stronger, but it's also because they were spared the liberal ideology of the boomer generation.
And I'd point out that the current US Democratic party has been following an increasingly Marxist ideology for the course of this century, not a true Liberal ideology. Maybe this past election will derail them from that destination.
True, but many would argue that the marxism/wokeism that we see today is the natural outgrowth of classical liberalism. If your main guiding rule is "liberty", then it inevitably leads to the breakdown of any virtue or order, like the family for example. Women were "liberated" from the rule of men, just as children are being "liberated" from the rule of their parents and even their own biological sex. Likewise people in liberal societies have been granted the "liberty" celebrating homosexuality, of unlimited access to p*rn*graphy, etc.... you can call this stuff marxist, but you can also say it's simply the Declaration of Independence in its purest form, with individuals being allowed to pursue happiness however they desire.
again 1930's Fascist Germany or Italy probably had a far more Godly society on average than present day America. That doesn't mean I support Fascism necessarily, but I'm just emphasizing the absurdity of calling it evil.
