For this "Fascism Friday" we ask the perhaps incendiary question "was Jesus a fascist?" In our previous episode, we explored the way Trump function as a cult leader—a would-be political messiah—how that is part of the recipe for fascism.

Definitions of fascism abound. But a commonly observed trait of a fascist leader is a mythic belief that they alone can solve a society's problems. And that all political opponents are enemies. Or that the leader will restore a nation to its former glory. Often appealing to the masses, such leaders encourage purity and militancy as they stand against corrupting forces from the outside.

Since Jesus said things like "Anyone who is not with me is against me" and "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword" and called his opponents "snakes" or "white-washed tombs."

So then, was Jesus a cult leader? Was he fascistic? Does he set a trajectory of authoritarianism that leads to fascism?