A hard-core minority of evangelicals is actively working to create an American theocracy and to eliminate non-believers. Mainstream Christians -- even some evangelicals --governments and the media stand by and watch in the name of tolerance.

So says Chris Hedges, a former New York Times correspondent, who evinces some frightening scenes in his new book, American Fascists. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Hedges draws alarming parallels between 20th-century totalitarian movements -- particularly in pre-Second World War Europe -- and the highly organized, well-financed "Dominionist movement," an influential theocratic sect within the large U.S. evangelical population.

Hedges says Dominionists wait only for a fiscal, social or political crisis, or another terrorist strike on American soil, to establish an American theocracy -- a Christian fascism -- in which the Bible is the sole guiding principle.

That day, he warns, could be sooner than many think.

Q: You don't pull any punches with the word "fascist" in the title. Is it deliberate?

A: Yes, and it wasn't an easy choice because fascism conjures historical images of Nazis and swastikas. But fascism as an ideology has generic qualities which ... I try to match with what I think are the fundamental tenets of the radical Christian right in the United States. The match was significant enough to warrant the word.

Q: You do not indict 100 million Americans who consider themselves evangelicals. It's only a small part of this group that you discuss.

A: It's a tiny part. We use the terms "evangelicals" and "fundamentalists," but I think incorrectly. Traditional fundamentalists have always called on their followers to remove themselves from the contaminants of secular society and to shun involvement in political power.

This is a new, radical mutation, a drive to seize political power and create a so-called Christian state. It's a mutation that makes this movement unlike any other religious movement we have seen in American history, and ultimately, the most dangerous mass movement we've seen in American history.

Q: Can you explain the difference between Dominionism and traditional evangelicalism?

A: Dominionism, or Christian Reconstructionism, is a movement ... which argues that Christians have been anointed by God to create the Christian state and ultimately, a global Christian empire. The Ten Commandments should be the basis for the legal system. The federal government should be disempowered, reduced to issues of homeland security, defence and property rights. Social welfare agencies, along with educational systems, should be turned over to these churches.

Q: If it's such a small fringe group, why is it so dangerous?

A: Well, let's name names: (Evangelical leaders) James Dobson, Pat Robertson, (Left Behind co-author) Tim LaHaye -- they're very well funded, very well organized and they have taken over virtually all of Christian radio and broadcasting. They've taken over denominations, such as the Southern Baptist Convention. They have managed to make huge inroads into the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.

Q: Are traditional evangelicals in danger of being drowned out by these Dominionists?

A: They already are. Because the movement has learned to speak so well in traditional and comfortable vocabulary, they have huge numbers of people, both in and out of the faith, who don't understand the threat.

Q: You say debate with this radical Christian right is "useless" because they don't want dialogue; you say they are "bent on our destruction." How do we then engage them and move forward?

A: The movement is built on the personal and economic despair of tens of millions of Americans. The American working class has been decimated. Fewer than 10 per cent of jobs are in the manufacturing sector. Whole sections of the United States look the developing world. And that has thrust people into this despair.

The only way to blunt this movement is to begin to develop systems where (the poor) are reincorporated into American society, given secure and decent jobs and certainly social benefits, and given hope.

None of these movements can come to power unless there's a prolonged period of instability or a crisis. But that could very well come in the United States through an economic meltdown, a series of environmental disasters or another catastrophic terrorist attack.