We only ask

Two days ago, Trump declared Antifa as a domestic terrorism organization. He didn’t mention anything about whether the Boogaloo Boys, 3 percenters or KKK were also domestic terrorist organizations. (I think we can all agree that they are and have track records)

So what is Antifa? The Vox podcast Today Explained gavd the history and “organizational” structure (hint: there is none) in a recent episode. Basically, anyone who is Against Fascism could be Antifa. In other words, if you are willing to fight fascism, you could potentially be Antifa. {{insert the People’s Front of Judea telling Brian “alright, you’re in” when he says he really hates the Romans- A Lot!”}}

By the way, the explicit absence of an organizational structure makes it difficult if not impossible to declare Antifa a domestic terrorist organization. It’s very difficult to prosecute a conscience. Being anti Antifa is like saying you approve of concentration camps, singling out certain ethnic or racial groups for harsh governmental decrees and other loathesome things.

But seriously, if anyone in your family fought the Axis powers in WWII, they could be considered anti-fascist. Our country took the anti-fascist side. Antifa has its roots in Nazi Germany in the 1930’s when some German citizens decided to fight back. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Sophie Scholl might loosely be considered anti-fascist.

I’m not minimizing the role that various left wing ideologies have had in Antifa. I just want to point out that you don’t have to be an anarchist, socialist or communist to be anti-fascist. Being against white nationalism should be baked into the American character.

Anti fascism is a value set. Antifa is not necessarily anarchist but some anarchists may consider themselves Antifa. The primary reason for being for Antifa is to be anti-fascist. Whether it has its roots in another political ideology or not, it’s primarily directed against white nationalist movements.

Nazism and white supremacism is bad. Antifa is agin’ it.

If Antifa had a slogan, it might be: Stay in school, don’t do fascism. Or “Nip fascism in the junk before it starts growing. Take it seriously”

So, if Donald Trump is NOT Antifa:

****************

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a source of timely quotes.

Here’s a good one:

“We must learn to regard people less in light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.”

This one seems very appropriate:

“If I sit next to a madman as he drives a car into a group of innocent bystanders, I can’t, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe, then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver.”