Christian Nationalism and Antonio Gramsci: The Most Influential Italian You Never Knew (Part 2)

The first column in this series introduced the intersection between the demonization of religion and patriotism (other than those approved by the Left) and cultural Marxism.

This column will acquaint the reader with Antonio Gramsci the Godfather of cultural Marxism. His hypotheses are the reason for the Leftwing assault on Christianity and patriotism. These two aspects – and others- of Western civil society must be eliminated for Marxism to reign supreme.

The best way to understand Gramsci is to know that he realized Marxism would never take root in Western Europe and America because of the relative affluence and the political freedom of those nations. He theorized that before people in the West would accept Marxism it would be necessary to change how these people think and what motivates them. This would be accomplished by changing the culture – what he called cultural hegemony.

His ideas were contained in a series of essays he wrote while in prison, to which he was confined by the Mussolini regime in the 1920s. Called the Quaderni del Carcere ( Prison Notebooks) Gramsci theorized that the ruling class in the West ruled not by force but by consent. This consent was obtained by changing societal culture, which required a complete takeover of the opinion-forming institutions—the news media, movies, television, schools and universities, religious institutions, and the courts, among others.

An example of Gramscianism was implemented in China. Professor Li Xing described it in a 2001 article for China Review:

“The Chinese Cultural Revolution Revisited,” ….[T]he goal of the socialist project was to break down traditional social relations. The traditional bureaucratic relations, i.e. relations of domination and subordination and the old divisions in the social, political, and economic domains, were still being reproduced…. Antonio Gramsci is right in pointing out that hegemony… has to be continually maintained even after a social class or group has become dominant and achieved state power. In Mao’s view a solid socialist hegemony is determined by whether such an ideology is able to occupy all positions throughout society and control the whole process of social reproduction.”

Prof. Xing described  Gramsci’s theory in practice. Eliminate those ideas and practices that are the glue that holds Western civilization together. Do this not by violent revolution but by subversive activities.

This is why the European and American Left demonize the manifestations of religion and patriotism. This is why Leftwing Democrats – which are basically all Democrats currently- invest so much effort into making the term Christian Nationalist a pejorative. They are employing the tactics of their Gramscian Marxist masters.

Gramsci’s philosophy came to modern America by way of the thinkers of the Frankfurt School– Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse, et al. The concepts were first applied to the American cultural elite via academia. The cultural brainwashing continued with so-called Radical Chic in the early 1970s. They were the patrons of groups like the Weathermen and the Black Liberation Army whose objective was to change American society from a capitalist republic to a communist utopia.

Gramsci’s postulations were, for example, used in January 1987,

when Rev. Jesse Jackson led a group of 500 students at Stanford University chanting: “Hey hey, ho ho, western civ has got to go!” Whether or not Jackson knew he was a tool of Gramscian communist cultural Marxism is unclear. But the fact is he was part of the effort to destroy American society.

During the 1990s the so-called “multiculturalists” led an effort to destroy the very foundation of Western Civilization by initiating a vicious campaign against celebrating the 1992 quincentennial of Christopher Columbus discovering the existence of America for Europeans. The Left did everything it could to discourage the commemoration. This effort has become even more outrageous thirty years later with the Taliban-like toppling of Columbus statues and monuments around the USA.

The modern Gramscian Marxist views the importance of bending and shaping a nation’s culture as paramount. This is why Republicans who say they are not culture warriors—like former Republican House Speaker and failed VP candidate Paul Ryan—are not conservative. Indeed, they are completely oblivious to what is happening. Wealth is all that motivates them.

Antonio Gramsci’s hypotheses are the bedrock of cultural Marxism. His influence is profound. He surmised that if the culture of Western nations were changed, the Marxist utopia would follow. Therefore, it is not Christian Nationalism threatening our republic. The threat comes from those who want to purge Christianity and patriotism from American culture.

For Marxism to live, Gramsci knew the culture of Western Civilization must die.

Do not forget this on Election Day.