religion in general nor to the presence of that particular established
religion, which is Italian Catholicism. The State has no theology, but
it has morality. In the Fascist State religion is considered as one of
the most profound manifestations of the spirit; it is therefore not
only respected, but defended and protected. The Fascist State does not
create its own "God," as Robespierre wanted to do at a certain moment
in the frenzies of the Convention; nor does it vainly endeavour to
cancel the idea of God from the mind as Bolschevism tries to do.
Fascism respects the God of the ascetics, of the saints and of the
heroes. It also respects God as he is conceived and prayed to in the
ingenuous and primitive heart of the people.


13. Empire and Discipline.

The Fascist State is a will expressing power and empire. The Roman
tradition here becomes an idea of force. In the Fascist doctrine,
empire is not only a territorial or a military, or a commercial
expression: it is a moral and a spiritual one. An empire can be
thought of, for instance, as a nation which directly or indirectly
guides other nations--without the need of conquering a single mile of
territory. For Fascism, the tendency to empire, that is to say the
expansion of nations, is a manifestation of vitality, its contrary
(the stay-at-home attitude) is a sign of decadence. Peoples who rise,
or who suddenly flourish again, are imperialistic; peoples who die are
peoples who abdicate. Fascism is a doctrine which most adequately
represents the tendencies, the state of mind of a people like the
Italian people, which is rising again after many centuries of
abandonment and of foreign servitude.