This is a continuation of the series Using Fiction to Talk About Fascism. It's not a full-fledged entry. Just a sidebar but a crucial one. Fascism has an idyllic view of a past that doesn't exist. Those who purport to support democracy can be guilty of the same with respect to the more recent past.

If we're going to build a better world, we can't ignore how bad things were before they were torn apart by authoritarians.

Moral Orel is a (mostly) stop-motion animation show based on the adventures of Orel Puppington in his small town, Moralton, in the fictional state of Statesota.

If this show had been released on 2016, 2020, or 2024, it would have been hailed as visionary, prophetic, and a biting satire of Evangelical Christianity and Christian Nationalism. It was released between 2005 and 2008. In hindsight, it's not so much visionary and prophetic as it is a dark view of a future we haven't managed to avoid.

It has a lot to teach us in 2024 that we could have learned sooner.