" Authoritarian followers favor centralizing power in a single individual, party, religion, and ideology. They use fear of a real or concocted enemy so that their strongman can present himself as their protector. They divide society based on a loyalty test to the strongman and his regime. They distort or distract from the truth to build and maintain unquestioning support for the strongman. And they suppress dissent by any means necessary. Any personal values that authoritarian followers previously held are sacrificed, one by one, for "

― Brian D. McLaren , Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned