(OPINION) CBN – Violence in our streets and a shifting culture. Is America heading down the road to totalitarianism? It seems unthinkable, but on this week’s episode of the Global Lane, author Rod Dreher contends the United States is well on its way to becoming what’s known as a “soft'” totalitarian state. Dreher explained the difference between soft and hard totalitarianism to CBN News Chief International Correspondent Gary Lane.

“The hard version is what we all think of as totalitarianism,” Dreher said. “It’s George Orwell’s 1984, it’s the Soviet Union, it’s the infliction of pain and terror on people to get them to conform.” Dreher explained that he doesn’t believe this is what the US is currently facing, however, the soft version is equally as oppressive.

“I don’t think that’s what we’re facing. I don’t think that’s what is happening here. Rather ours is going to be a more soft version where they use the infliction of economic pain, marginalization, and shaming to force Christians out of the public square and to compel us to conform with left-wing ideology. The fact that it’s soft does not mean it is any less totalitarian.” He emphasized how social media has negatively affected Americans, especially the younger generation.

“What social media has done is serve as a sort of substitute for person-to-person contact and it has made young people have extraordinary levels of depression, alienation, and it has made them desperate for something to solve their problem of alienation and their anxiety. I think that this is opening them up to the acceptance of a false idol that will be totalitarian – that will tell them ‘we can take care of all your problems. We can fix it if you’ll only say yes to us.’ That’s what happened in Russia, in Germany, and that’s what is coming here,” Dreher added. READ MORE