What is antifa? How should a Christian view antifa?

Answer

Antifa is the name given to a loosely organized group of activists, primarily from the United States, who profess to oppose authoritarianism, racism, and right-leaning politics. The term antifa originates from the German word antifaschistisch, which means “anti-fascist.” Antifa’s approach to activism is mainly characterized by a readiness to (anonymously) resort to intimidation, suppression of speech, and violence. Members of Antifa believe that their methods are moderate when compared to what they view as the danger posed by conservative political perspectives. While the stance of being “anti-fascist” is commendable in principle, the tactics employed by antifa are counterproductive and inherently repressive. At most, their actions can be seen as politically motivated vigilantism. The scriptures do not endorse antifa’s methods in politics or culture.

The primary argument in support of antifa is the assertion that fascism gains ground due to inadequate resistance. Voting, discussion, dialogue, legal recourse, and other similar avenues are disregarded as inefficient or ineffectual. Instead, antifa advocates for a concrete, physical response to perceived fascism, which includes harassment. It also sanctions direct acts of violence against individuals and property. Although individuals who identify as antifa frequently disavow violence publicly, the movement is consistently linked to instances of vandalism and personal attacks.

Using the same rationale, antifa regularly employs tactics of intimidation. Violence and rioting are undoubtedly intimidating, but antifa also resorts to “de-platforming” those with whom they disagree. Any statements, speakers, writers, or events that do not align with antifa’s favored ideology are censored, called off, boycotted, or otherwise obstructed and silenced. The de-platforming strategy involves disinviting, protesting, blockading, or literally drowning out unwelcome expressions to render them ineffective—de-platforming essentially deprives individuals of the opportunity toexpress or explain their views.

Another tactic commonly associated with antifa is doxing/doxxing: deliberately revealing personal information about ideological opponents (phone numbers, home addresses, or other details). This is meant to invite further harassment and increase social pressure to conform to antifa’s way of thinking.

From a purely secular perspective, antifa’s tactics are hypocritical and self-defeating. Organizations that otherwise sympathize with antifa’s ideology have denounced the movement for that reason. In practice, antifa merely replaces government fascism with mob fascism. Fascist ideology is a combination of unaccountable leadership, regimented adherence to certain ideas, and forcible suppression of dissent, heavily relying on fear and intimidation. An unofficial, anonymous group that violently harasses, drowns out, or destroys any person or business with whom they disagree is not resisting fascism—they are crowdsourcing it.

The fact that the antifa movement is effectively anonymous and informal makes responses to it especially difficult. There is no single, unified antifa group. This complicates both private and government attempts to counter antifa violence.

Scripture encourages civic engagement, including voting and other political actions. The Bible supports both civil disobedience and even physical self-defense when necessary. However, the Christian worldview in no way allows for rioting, predatory attacks, intimidation, or any of the other tactics commonly associated with antifa (see John 18:36;Romans 12:18). Beyond the use of immoral tactics, antifa is strongly associated with ideologies difficult to square with a biblical Christian worldview such as critical theory, communism, and anarchism.

While believers should stand against racism and oppression, antifa’s methods and ideology are inherently contradictory to biblical Christianity.