Abstract
Christian Identity is a belief system so strange, indeed bizarre, that most Americans who know anything about it dismiss it outright and relegate those who believe it to the quaint and quirky fringes of the nation’s religious subcultures.How seriously, for example, can one take the notion that God created Adam as a white man and that other races are sub-human? Or the belief that the lost tribes of Israel traversed Europe, landed in Great Britain, and crossed the Atlantic to inherit—as white Christian racialists—the promises of God? Or that Jesus came only to reach out to and save this particular “Israel,” comprised solely of white supremacists?Little wonder that Americans do not take this ideology seriously, or that American Christians and their church leaders pay it scant attention. An occasional news story on the white supremacist movement may mention Christian Identity, and most readers quickly recognize the obligatory description of its basic racist and anti-Semitic beliefs.In American history, and particularly in American Christian history, these ideas are not as bizarre as they may seem at first glance.
Highlights
Christian Identity is a belief system so strange, bizarre, that most Americans who know anything about it dismiss it outright and relegate those who believe it to the quaint and quirky fringes of the nation’s religious subcultures
For example, can one take the notion that God created Adam as a white man and that other races are sub-human? Or the belief that the lost tribes of Israel traversed Europe, landed in Great Britain, and crossed the Atlantic to inherit—as white Christian racialists—the promises of God? Or that Jesus came only to reach out to and save this particular “Israel,” comprised solely of white supremacists? Little wonder that Americans do not take this ideology seriously, or that American Christians and their church leaders pay it scant attention
An occasional news story on the white supremacist movement may mention Christian Identity, and most readers quickly recognize the obligatory description of its basic racist and anti-Semitic beliefs
Summary
Christian Identity is a belief system so strange, bizarre, that most Americans who know anything about it dismiss it outright and relegate those who believe it to the quaint and quirky fringes of the nation’s religious subcultures. An occasional news story on the white supremacist movement may mention Christian Identity, and most readers quickly recognize the obligatory description of its basic racist and anti-Semitic beliefs. It is so removed from the basic teachings of Jesus as to be a caricature of his way of life and his admonitions about living justly and righteously It is so intent on appropriating the story of the ancient Israelites that its interpretation of that story is preposterous. It convinces a follower that killing “the other” is justified by the God who loves only white Christians It bred the violent Order of the 1980s. Christian Identity: An American Heresy seeks to expose the theological underpinnings of this belief system in a new way, and to call religious and civic leaders to counter this heresy boldly and publicly. It has been at Zeskind’s urging that this article has been completed, putting to print work that the Center for New Community has had the privilege of carrying out with congregations and communities of Christians and Jews, and with persons of all races across the nation as it seeks to build democratic community deeply rooted in the Biblical story of justice and hope
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