Christian Identity
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Christian Identity is a label applied to a wide variety of loosely-affiliated groups and churches with a racialized theology. Most of them promote a Eurocentric version of Christianity. Their key commonality is British Israelism theology, which teaches that white Europeans are the literal descendants of the Israelites through the ten tribes that were taken away into captivity by the armies of Assyria. Furthermore, the teaching holds that these (White European) Israelites are still God's Chosen People, that Jesus was an Israelite and not of the tribe of Judah, and that modern Jews are of a separate, subhuman race.
The Christian Identity movement first broke into the mainstream media in 1984, when the White Supremicist organization The Order embarked on a murderous crime spree before being taken down by the FBI. It surfaced again in 1992 and 1993, after the deadly Ruby Ridge confrontation, when it was discovered that Randy Weaver had at least a loose association with Christian Identity.[1]
There is no single document that expresses the Christian Identity belief system. Adherents draw on arguments from linguistic, historical, archaeological and Biblical sources to support their beliefs. There are from 2,000 to 50,000 adherents of these groups in the United States of America[1], and an unknown number in Canada and the rest of the Commonwealth (former British Empire).
Christian Identity believers reject the beliefs of most modern orthodox Christian denominations, and claim that modern Christian Churches are teaching a heresy: the belief that God's promises to Israel (through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) have been expanded to create a spiritual people of "Israel," which constitutes the Christian "Church". In turn, most modern Christian denominations and organizations denounce Christian Identity theology as a heresy, and condemn the use of the Christian Bible as a basis for promoting anti-Semitism.
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[edit] Organization
Christian Identity does not have a national organizational or ecclesiastical structure. Rather, it is a grouping of churches throughout the world which follow a basic theology. Some of these churches can be as small as a dozen people, and some as large as the Aryan Nations church, which claims membership in the thousands. Some people classified in this group do not consider themselves "Christian" nor a part of any "church". Even so, they may recognize Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah, considering themselves "Israelite" or "Ephraimite". In some states, Christian Identity followers established or took over armed citizens' militias.
[edit] Ideology
Christian Identity asserts the people of Europe are God's servant people according to the promises that were given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It further asserts that the early European tribes were really the ten lost tribes of Israel and therefore the rightful heirs to God's promises.
The argument goes that the lost tribes of Israel were taken into captivity and deported by Sargon, king of Assyria as punishment for failing to honour the terms of the first covenant, given by God to Moses. After the death of King Solomon, the Hebrew people experienced a civil war that resulted in two houses, the House of Israel, and the House of Judah. As punishment for their sinfulness, God warned both houses through Jeremiah, and the minor prophets that both houses would be punished for 2520 years ("seven times" or also known in the Bible as "the time of the gentiles"), by being divorced as a people from their God, and removed from the land of their forefathers. By extension, the theory goes, this would mean that the European tribes inherited God's first covenant, and subsequent punishments, and the "New Covenant" as well.
Christian Identity, through British Israelism, has formulated the belief that the historical House of Israel, which was captured by Sargon, did not stay long in the "City of the Medes", the Biblical destination of Sargon's deportation. Rather, the House of Israel became nomadic and became the source of the invading Celto-Germanic tribes that ravaged the Roman Empire and Rome itself. Much is made of folk etymology such as the Hebrew word for exile (Glh, or Gal) compared to "Gaul", or "Issacsen" and "Saxons". In a similar way, some Identity believers claim the Biblical "tribe of Dan" became the tribe known as Danes, claiming that they left alleged clues scattered about Europe (such as river names like Danube, Dnieper, Dniester ) or that part of the Biblical "tribe of Judah", that was taken with the House of Israel in the Assyrian captivity, became known as the tribe of Jutes.
One of the most controversial beliefs held by Identity Christians is the belief that modern Jews are not the Biblical "House of Israel". Identity Christians go as far as to hold that modern Jews are not even the Biblical "house of Judah", but rather claim they are Edomites, descendants of Esau, that mixed with the House of Judah in Babylonian captivity, or are Khazars that adopted Judaism in 838 A.D. to avoid warring with Christian Europe, or the emerging power of Islam in the middle-east. This is known as the single-seedline version of Christian Identity. Other Identity Christians, known as dual-seedliners, believe that Jews were a result of Eve and the serpent in the Garden of Eden having sexual intercourse.
Some Identity Christians believe that a version of Christianity must have existed before Roman Christianity entered Europe. Proponents of this theology cite the existence of Celtic Christianity and its struggles with Roman Christianity as evidence, arguing that Celtic Christianity must have been a reflection of the native beliefs of many European tribes. On a related note, many Christian Identity churches display animosity towards the Roman Catholic Church, referring to it as the Whore of Babylon.
[edit] Iconoclastic Biblical fundamentalism
Interpreting the Book of Genesis, some Pre-Adamite Christian Identity followers assert that Adam and Eve were preceded by other, lesser races, identified as "the beasts of the field" (Gen. 1:25). Eve was seduced by the snake (Satan) and gave birth to two seed lines: Cain, the direct descendant of Satan and Eve, and Abel, who was of good Aryan stock through Adam. Cain then became the progenitor of the Jews in his subsequent matings with the non-Adamic races. This is referred to as the dual-seedline doctrine (the other races are considered by dual-seedliners to be descendants of pre-Adamic peoples). This doctrine is a revival of a medieval folk belief ascribing the ancestry of legendary monsters such as Grendel to Cain. Most Christians see this ancestral argument as absurd, since a literal interpretation of Genesis would indicate that Noah, a direct descendent of Seth (another son of Adam), is the father of all modern day peoples (since his blood line was the only one saved in the flood).
Christian Identity adherents believe the Jews are predisposed to carry on a conspiracy against the Adamic seed line and today have achieved almost complete control of the earth. (Kaplan, Radical Religion in America) As a general rule, Christian Identity followers tend to have ultra-conservative opinions about the role of women, abortion, homosexuality, and usually assert that the account of the Earth's creation in Genesis is literally true, although there are exceptions to this rule. A minority of Christian Identity followers do not believe that the Jews are literally the children of Satan, and claim to acknowledge that there are "good men of Edom", instead saying that this doctrine should be understood as a metaphor to display how evil most Jews are.
In addition to their racialist views Christian Identity adherents distinguish themselves from mainstream Protestant Fundamentalism in various areas of theology. Most Christian Identity adherents follow the Mosiac law of the Old Testament [e.g. dietary restrictions, the 7th day Sabbath, certain annual festivals such as Passover.] It is also common place for adherents to follow the Sacred Name Movement and insist on using the original Hebrew names for referring to God and Jesus Christ. Some Christian Identity writers criticize modern Bible editions as well as the Jews for the removal of the original Hebrew name of God in the Bible. Although their adherence to Old Testament Mosiac law may make them appear as being "Jewish"; they claim that the Jewish interpretation of the law has been corrupted through the Jews' Talmud. Unlike many Protestant Fundamentalists, Christian Identity adherents reject the notion of end-times Rapture; believing it to be a Judaised doctrine of men which the Bible does not teach, and yet others still, take a Preterist view of the book of Revelation and 'end-times'. Unlike Protestant Fundamentalism [not to mention mainstream Christianity in general] Christian Identity adherents tend to reject the doctrine of the trinity, instead favoring the Modalist view of the Godhead.
[edit] Justifying violence
A relatively new tenet gaining popularity among some radical Christian Identity believers justifies the use of violence if it is perpetrated in order to punish violators of God's law, as found in the Bible and interpreted by Christian Identity ministers and adherents. This includes killing interracial couples, abortionists, prostitutes and homosexuals, burning pornography stores, and robbing banks and perpetrating frauds to undermine the usury system. Christian Identity adherents engaging in such behavior are referred to as Phineas Priests or members of the Phineas Priesthood. This is an appealing concept to some followers, who believe they are being persecuted by an alleged Jewish-controlled U.S. government and society and/or are eagerly preparing for Armageddon, when Jesus will return and Jews, non-Whites and other non-Christians will be killed. However, some CI churches teach that this is false and that the story of Numbers 25 in the Bible is simply of forbidden Adamic lineages, not an Adamic and non-Adamic relation at all. Those that teach this point out that if the sin in Numbers 25 had been race mixing then one must be prepared to accept that Moses (as recorded in Numbers 31:18) promoted race mixing. At the time the Midianites were punished for their sin in Numbers 25, Moses spared the Midianite virgins for the Israelite men, as permitted by God's law in Deuteronomy 21:10-13. In other words, Israelite men were allowed to take virgin, non-Israelite women of the same race (such as the Midianites) for wives, except from the forbidden lineages of Moab, Ammon and Caanan. The idea that Numbers 25 involved race mixing is a theory taught by those who promote a Phineas priesthood for today.
[edit] The end of the world and Armageddon
Christian Identity adherents believe in the inevitability of the end of the world (or the end of the world as we know it) and the Second Coming of Christ. These End Times events are seen as part of a cleansing process that is needed before Christ's kingdom can be established on earth. During this time, Jews and their allies will attempt to destroy the white race using any means available. The result will be a violent and bloody millennial struggle, which will be a race war. The white Christian Identity believers see themselves as God's agents battling what they see as the forces of evil: Jews and non-Whites.
The view of what Armageddon will be varies among Christian Identity believers. All contend there will be a race war in which millions will die; many believe that the United Nations, backed by Jewish representatives of the anti-Christ, will take over the country and promote a New World Order. One Christian Identity interpretation is that white Christians have been chosen to watch for signs of the impending war in order to warn others. They are to then physically struggle with the forces of evil against sin and other violations of God's law (e.g., miscegenation and internationalism); many will perish, and some will be forced to wear the Mark of the Beast to participate in business and commerce. After the final battle is ended and God's kingdom is established on earth, only then will the Aryan people be recognized as the one and true Israel.
Christian Identity adherents believe that God will use what they believe is the Chosen Race as his weapons to battle the forces of evil. Christian Identity followers believe they are among those chosen by God to wage this battle during Armageddon and they will be the last line of defense for the white race and Christianity in general. To prepare for these events, they engage in survivalist and paramilitary training, storing foodstuffs and supplies, and caching weapons and ammunition.
Christian Identity followers who are Preterist however, view the end-times as being a mistranslation for the 'end of the age' rather than the end of time, and they also believe that the Kingdom of God is here and now and is just waiting for good Christian men of Adam-Israel stock to take hold and build the Kingdom of God here and now, and thus they are neither awaiting a 'second coming', Armegeddon nor any race war.
[edit] Origin
Christian Identity developed out of British Israelism, a Protestant religious movement popular in the Victorian era of British history. It asserted that the Anglo-Saxons were the original descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. However, this form of the belief contained little or no anti-Semitism, its followers instead holding that Jews made up a minority of the tribes of Israel, with the British and other European races making up the remainder. However, this tradition's popularity in the United Kingdom has been interpreted as seeking to justify imperialism in the Victorian period.
English banker Edward Hine (1825-1891) published an influential book on British Israelism in 1871 called Forty-Seven Identifications of the British Nation With Lost Israel. In 1884, Hine sailed to American to spread his ideas there. Howard Rand (1889-1991), born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, took Hine's ideas, added anti-semitism, and called the result "Christian Identity."
Wesley Swift (1913-1970) is considered by the FBI to have been the single most significant figure in the early years of the Christian Identity movement. Swift helped popularize a new element: the "two-seed" (or "seedliner") theory, which holds that Eve was seduced by the Serpent, conceived Cain as a result, and that modern Jews are actually descended from Cain. Most current Identity groups embrace this belief. (Some figures once prominent in the Identity movement (Pete Peters, Ted Weiland) believe that modern Jews descended from the Khazars rather than from Satan. However, in recent years they seem to have backed away from the Identity label.)
Swift was born in New Jersey, eventually moving to Los Angeles to attend Bible college. He's claimed to have been a "Ku Klux Klan organizer and Klan rifle-team instructor." [2] In 1946, he founded his own church in Lancaster, California. In the 1950s, he was Gerald L. K. Smith's West Coast representative of the Christian Nationalist Crusade. In addition, he had a daily radio broadcast in California during the 1950s and 60s, through which he was able to proclaim his ideology to a large audience. With Swift's efforts, the message of his church spread, leading to the creation of similar churches throughout the country. In 1957, the name of his church was changed to The Church of Jesus Christ Christian, which is used today by Aryan Nations (AN) churches.
One of Swift's associates was retired Col. William Potter Gale (1917-1988). Gale had apparently been an aide to General Douglas MacArthur, and had coordinated guerrilla resistance in the Philippines during World War II. Gale became a leading figure in the anti-tax and paramilitary movements of the 1970s and 80s, beginning with the California Rangers and Posse Comitatus (U.S. movement), and helping to found the militia movement. Numerous Christian Identity churches preach similar messages and some espouse more violent rhetoric than others, but all hold to the belief that Aryans are God's chosen race.
It was Col. Gale who introduced future Aryan Nations founder Richard Girnt Butler to Swift. Until then, Butler had admired George Lincoln Rockwell and Senator Joseph McCarthy, but had been relatively secular. The charismatic Swift quickly converted him to Christian Identity. When Swift died, Butler took over the Church, to the apparent chagrin of both Gale and Swift's family. Neither Butler nor Gale were anything like the dynamic orator Swift had been, and attendance dwindled under the new pastor. Butler eventually renamed the organization "The Church of Jesus Christ Christian/Aryan Nations" and moved it to Hayden Lake, Idaho.
Lessor luminaries were also present as Identity theology took shape in the 1940s and 1950s, such as Baptist minister and California Klansman San Jacinto Capt[sic] (who "claimed to have gotten Wesley Swift started (in Identity)" [3]), and one-time San Diego Deputy City Attorney (and lawyer for Gerald L. K. Smith) Bertrand Comparet (1901-1983). But, for the most part, today's Christian Identity groups seem to have been spawned by Wesley Swift, through his lieutenants William Potter Gale and Richard Butler.
[edit] Groups
Christian Identity groups include the Aryan Nations; Church of Jesus Christ Christian; Confederate Hammerskins; Jubilee; LaPorte Church of Christ; Kingdom Identity Ministries; and White Separatist Banner. Christian Identity is a major unifying theology for a number of diverse groups on the extreme right. It is a belief system that provides its members with a religious basis for racism and an ideology that condones violence against non-Aryans. This doctrine allows believers to fuse religion with hate, conspiracy theories and an apocalyptic vision of the future.
Herbert W. Armstrong is inaccurately described by some of his critics, as well as supporters of Christian Identity, as having supported Christian Identity, due to his belief in a modified form of British Israelism, and the fact that during his lifetime, he propounded observances favoured by many Christian Identity groups, such as the observance of the Sabbath and Biblical festivals. The Worldwide Church of God which Herbert W. Armstrong founded did not subscribe to the anti-Semitism so commonly held in the Christian or Israel Identity groups but instead adhered to the traditional beliefs of British Israelism. Those beliefs held that the Jews were descendants of the Tribe of Judah whereas the Anglo-Saxons, Celts, Danish etc. were descendants of the remaining Ten Tribes of Israel formerly known as the Northern Kingdom.
[edit] Aryan Nations
The Aryan Nations (AN) is a group that adheres to the Christian Identity belief system. The group espouses dislike towards Jews, blacks and other minorities, as well as the United States federal government. The original ultimate goal of the AN is to forcibly take five northwestern states - Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington and Montana - from the United States government in order to establish an Aryan homeland. This particular ideology is known throughout the White power movement as the Northwest Territorial Imperative. The AN was headquartered at Hayden Lake from the late 1970s until February 2001. Its annual World Congress attracted a number of different factions from the far right wing. The World Congress was a sort of round table to discuss Racialist issues. Since the main Aryan Nations compound in Idaho was dismantled, there have been several struggles over control of the movement that are as yet unresolved.
[edit] The Order
Robert Jay Mathews formed a clandestine cell in part from members of Aryan Nations called The Order which committed a number of violent crimes, including murder. Their mission was to bring about a race war. While the group had a number of Christian Identity adherents, Mathews himself followed Odinism, as did several other Order members. Dennis McGiffen, who also had ties to the AN, formed a cell called The New Order, based on Mathews' group. The members were arrested before they could follow through on their plans to try to start a race war. Chevie Kehoe, who was convicted of three homicides, conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property had also spent some time at the AN compound. Buford O. Furrow, Jr., the man accused of the August 1999 Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting as well as the shooting death of a Filipino American US Postal Service carrier in Los Angeles, California, also spent some time at the AN compound working as a security guard.
[edit] South African groups
Some white South Africans, mostly Afrikaners, practise a form of Christianity which is similar to Christian Identity, usually asserting that the Boer nation is God's chosen people and that God gave the Afrikaners dominion over South Africa and its people. They share similar views about race, the Jews, the role of women, and many other issues. Their lifestyle is often similar to that of Christian Identity groups elsewhere, as they frequently live in remote areas and stock foodstuffs and other supplies, believing that a race war is imminent. These groups have been accused of involvement in terrorist activity, including a string of bomb attacks in 2002 [4].
Christian Identity in South Africa (it is often called "Israel Identity") has a longer history than elsewhere, and due to the apartheid era, during which South African leaders made frequent use of religion to justify their ideals, may be said to have gained greater societal acceptance among certain sectors of the population than in other nations. Ideas similar to the Christian Identity belief system have continued to survive in certain areas, and some South African commentators blame this on the high crime rate in South Africa and increased unemployment among Whites, especially Afrikaners, since the ANC took power. [5]
Some members of these Israel Identity groups follow the teachings of Siener van Rensburg, an Afrikaner prophet who lived during the Second Boer War and predicted, amongst other things, the death of Koos de la Rey. [6] An example of his prophecies can be found here.
[edit] Opposition by some neo-Nazis, support by others
Some Neo-Nazis reject Christian Identity because they see Christianity as a religion based on the Hebrew Bible and since they reject all things seen as influenced by Jews, they reject Christianity. They believe that modern Jews and the Biblical Israelites are related genealogically. Many modern neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and White Power groups have a strong emphasis on belief in God and Christian fundamentalism. Whether neo-Nazi and Fascist movements promote Christianity or a form of neo-Paganism depends on the beliefs and ideology of the specific leadership of the organizations or movements, and as a general rule is never strictly one way or the other.
[edit] The CSCS
A group in Tennessee [7] called the Christian Separatist Church Society also opposes many CI doctrines - most notably the celebration of Biblical festivals and the fact that many CIs keep Saturday as the Sabbath, which is seen by this group as a "Jewish practice." They also allege that pastors such as Pete Peters have been dabbling in anti-racism, and publish an "Antichrist Watch" in which CI sects whose doctrines displease the group are named and shamed.
The CSCS's leader, V.S. Herrell has translated his own version of the New Testament, the Anointed Standard Translation [8], into English, alleging that other versions of the Bible are corrupted and "written by Jews". This sect does not enjoy good relationships with mainstream Christianity (which it accuses Christian Identity of becoming), or with other White Nationalist organisations.
They hold to a preterist doctrine which claims that Biblical prophecies such as those included in the book of Revelation were fulfilled in 70 AD, rather than being yet to be fulfilled, as is often claimed by many Christians. They also claim that Noah's Flood happened locally, rather than around the whole world, and dispute the idea that evolution did not happen.
Like other CI sects, the group has been accused of being a cult. They follow the dual-seedline theory of CI and are virulently anti-Semitic and racist, also believing that only members of the CSCS will be saved.
However, after the death of Richard Butler, the CSCS published a [9] tribute to him, despite the obvious differences between the two sects being that Van Herrell as well as Mike Rose were both previously members of the group.
There are about 6 members of the CSCS group world wide who issue each other "doctorate degrees." Many within CI are suspicious of them being that they refuse to show any credentials which lead to their translation of their AST Bible telling those who would doubt the veracity of this purported translation to "prove where we are wrong" and putting the burden of proof back on the shoulders of those who might criticize it or ask for their linguistic credentials.
[edit] See also
- Neonazism
- Anti-Semitism
- Pre-Adamites
- Racism
- Khazars
- Serpent seed
- Herbert W. Armstrong
- August Kreis III
- Positive Christianity
[edit] References
- ^ Barkun, Michael (1996). “preface”, Religion and the Racist Right: The Origins of the Christian Identity Movement. University of North Carolina Press, x. ISBN 0-8078-4638-4.
- W.L. Ingram, God and Race: British-Israelism and Christian Identity, P. 119 - 126 in T. Miller, Ed., America's Alternative Religions, SUNY Press, Albany NY, 1995
- Jeffrey Kaplan, Radical Religion in America, Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1997, p. 47-48)
- Charles H. Roberts, Race over Grace: The Racialist Religion of the Christian Identity Movement, Omaha, Nebraska: iUniverse Press, 2003, ISBN 0-595-28197-4
