Be it resolved: ride the nightmare

It should not be hard to pass a resolution condemning neo-Nazis and white nationalists. At least, once, it was not. Not anymore.

Earlier this spring, the Republican-dominated Tennessee General Assembly failed to do exactly that – twice. But Illinois may accomplish what Tennessee could not. Following the second failure, Illinois State Rep Lou Lang (D–Skokie) took it up. According to the Chicago Tribune, Rep Lang “has pledged to pass the Tennessee measure in the Illinois House.”

“Moral courage should not be watered down and moral courage should not stall in committee on a resolution denouncing Neo-Nazis,” Rep. Lang said. “Perhaps the Tennessee House wishes to avoid offending Neo-Nazis and white nationalists, but I, personally, don’t give a damn, and that’s why I plan to pass the Tennessee resolution in the Illinois House – word-for-word.”

Rep. Lang’s resolution, HR 0991, is a blistering condemnation of the Tennessee House, accusing it of failing “not once but twice to adopt Tennessee House Joint Resolution 583 to condemn white nationalism and neo-Nazism,” of failing “to summon sufficient moral courage and basic decency to place itself on the record against such a sinister and pernicious ideology infecting the body politic of the United States,” of being “cowed by the growing influence of white nationalists and neo-Nazis,” and finally, declaring, “The Illinois House of Representatives has no fear of white nationalists and neo-Nazis and abounds in moral courage and basic decency; therefore be it RESOLVED…”

Followed by the text of the Tennessee resolution, including a paragraph that was omitted in the second attempt, calling on law enforcement to purse white nationalists as terrorist organizations. You can read the full resolution on the Illinois General Assembly web page.

Illinois is known nationwide, not unjustly, for its dysfunction. For its corrupt politicians (two governors in a row got sent to federal prison; one is still there). For its notoriously self-serving political class. But we still can get some things right.

It is not just Republicans in Tennessee who like to take a soft approach to Nazis. Over the past few months, it has become fashionable in some Catholic circles to go easy on racists and neo-Nazis. Responses to last August’s riots in Charlottesville made this clear. At first, it was just a few people in my Facebook newsfeed such as one friend, who wrote that the white nationalists and the Antifa counter-demonstrators were “like two peas.” Then there was the Catholic blogger who wrote that we had no right to oppose or criticize racists until we had “tended to our own monsters.”

More recently, another Catholic blogger wrote that we should engage the racists, not shun them:

Stopping difficult, controversial, or “hateful” words before they are uttered or published will ultimately destroy authentic engagement between people. It may leave our feelings unhurt, but the price of insult-free living will be more loneliness, more isolation, not less.

This isn’t complete horse hockey. I know one former white-supremacist who says that kindness from his ideological opposites – one adversary bought him a beer once – was every bit as effective as the friend who introduced him to G.K. Chesterton.

But the trap is this: that “tending our monsters” or refusing to condemn Nazis and white nationalists out of a false sense of charity, can easily become an excuse to not fight evil at all. No. We must harken to the rallying cry of Chesterton: “I will answer the Call of Chaos and Old Night. I will ride on the Nightmare; but she shall not ride on me.”

This is the quote from which this column gets its name. This is the theme I mean to explore. In the age of Donald Trump, Nazism and white nationalism – chaos and old night –  surround us. But we must not let them win. In the Illinois House, Rep. Lang’s resolution has, besides himself, five co-sponsors, three Democrats and two Republicans. It is still in committee. It may fail altogether; this is Illinois, after all, and the spring session ends in three weeks. I do not know Rep. Lang personally, but I have seen him in action a few times. He’s a fighter. If he wants this resolution to pass, I believe it will pass.

If the Illinois General Assembly can get its act together and pass the resolution, then we will have shown the country what it means to ride on the nightmare, and not let it ride on us. Catholics, take note.