@trippfuller 5/ ..."the better to grasp the complex and subtle relationship between redemption and revolution in his philosophy of history" (Löwy), "mutually activating – or, rather, reactivating – one another, and together leading the charge against alleged historical necessity." (Ivernel)
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In other words, Benjamin wants to posit that fascism is possible only because of the twentieth century’s fixation with progress; rather than an aberration, fascism is the logical production of a modern politics of progress. What is needed is a conception of history that does not assume a general progress, but remembers the victims of history and interrupts the chain of human wreckage that “progress” leaves in its wake. Hence, Benjamin’s task is to raise the fire alarm in the mid-twentieth century in order to wake people up to these “progressivist illusions.” Of these illusions, the most menacing to Benjamin is the assumption that fascism would just automatically disappear in the course of historical progress. The “real state of exception” is the task of interrupting, by uprising and revolt, “if only for a brief moment, the triumphal procession of the powerful.” Ryan L. Hansen: Paul, Philosophy and the Theopolitical Vision
![One of the trump cards of Fascism was, as Benjamin stressed, the incomprehension shown by its opponents, inspired as they were by the ideology of progress. Benjamin had grasped perfectly the modernity of Fascism, its intimate relation with contemporary industrial-capitalist society. [What was merely suggested in Thesis VIII is here explicitly affirmed: Fascism, in spite of its ‘archaic’ cultural manifestations, is a pathological manifestation of industrial-capitalist modernity, basing itself on the great technical achievements of the twentieth century.] Hence his critique of those – the same people – who were astonished that Fascism should ‘still’ be possible in the twentieth century, blinded as they were by the illusion that scientific, industrial and technical progress was incompatible with social and political barbarism.
Walter Löwy:
Fire Alarm, Reading Walter Benjamin’s ‘On the Concept of History’](/media/1890750368654467216-Gj1LcF6b0AAAEL2.jpg)
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One of the trump cards of Fascism was, as Benjamin stressed, the incomprehension shown by its opponents, inspired as they were by the ideology of progress. Benjamin had grasped perfectly the modernity of Fascism, its intimate relation with contemporary industrial-capitalist society. [What was merely suggested in Thesis VIII is here explicitly affirmed: Fascism, in spite of its ‘archaic’ cultural manifestations, is a pathological manifestation of industrial-capitalist modernity, basing itself on the great technical achievements of the twentieth century.] Hence his critique of those – the same people – who were astonished that Fascism should ‘still’ be possible in the twentieth century, blinded as they were by the illusion that scientific, industrial and technical progress was incompatible with social and political barbarism. Walter Löwy: Fire Alarm, Reading Walter Benjamin’s ‘On the Concept of History’
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…How is this storm to be halted, how is Progress to be interrupted in its unstoppable forward march? As ever, Benjamin’s answer is twofold: religious and secular. In the theological sphere, this is a task for the Messiah; its secular equivalent or correspondant is none other than Revolution. The messianic/revolutionary interruption of Progress is, then, Benjamin’s response to the threats to the human race posed by the continuance of the evil storm. Walter Löwy: Fire Alarm, Reading Walter Benjamin’s ‘On the Concept of History’
@Plough @AnthonyMBarr "I believe we cannot fully understand these teachings without understanding that Christ crucified is Christ executed." A question, then. Why was Jesus murdered? We know why @UniteThePoor.
![.James Lawson, who invited Dr. King to Memphis for his fateful encounter, told me once he refers to King's murder as a 'crucifixion'. Why was Dr. King ["among the most hated men in America"@TheKingCenter] crucified? Why was Jesus crucified? We know why@UniteThePoor
Photo of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther Kung and his words, "We must also realize that the problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be resolved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power."
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Surprise, surprise, this pivotal personal and cultural locus of a functional Christology is also a universal, trans-dispensational claim of planetary prophetology. So then: @WaltBrueggemann: "Love of God comes as love of neighbor with an immediate, concrete, economic dimension.”](/media/1762209862279458822-GHSghQkbQAAHFpq.jpg)
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.James Lawson, who invited Dr. King to Memphis for his fateful encounter, told me once he refers to King's murder as a 'crucifixion'. Why was Dr. King ["among the most hated men in America"@TheKingCenter] crucified? Why was Jesus crucified? We know why@UniteThePoor Photo of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther Kung and his words, "We must also realize that the problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be resolved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power." · Surprise, surprise, this pivotal personal and cultural locus of a functional Christology is also a universal, trans-dispensational claim of planetary prophetology. So then: @WaltBrueggemann: "Love of God comes as love of neighbor with an immediate, concrete, economic dimension.”