Christian Identity (also known asIdentity Christianity[1]) is an interpretation ofChristianity which advocates the belief that onlyCeltic andGermanic peoples, such as theAnglo-Saxon,Nordic nations, or theAryan race and kindred peoples, are the descendants of the ancientIsraelites and are therefore God's "chosen people". It is a racial interpretation of Christianity and is not anorganized religion, nor is it affiliated with specificChristian denominations. It emerged fromBritish Israelism in the 1920s and developed during the 1940s–1970s. Today it is practiced by independent individuals, independent congregations, and someprison gangs.
No single document expresses the Christian Identity belief system, and some beliefs may vary by group. However, all Identity adherents believe that Adam and his offspring were exclusively White. They also believe inTwo House theology, which makes a distinction between the Tribe of Judah and the Ten Lost Tribes, and that ultimately, European people represent the Ten Lost Tribes. This racialist view advocates racial segregation and opposes interracial marriage. Other commonly held beliefs are that usury andbanking systems are controlled by Jews, leading to opposition to the Federal Reserve System and use of fiat currency, believing it to be part of "the beast" system. Christian Identity's eschatology ismillennialist.
Christian Identity is characterized asracist,antisemitic, andwhite supremacist by theAnti-Defamation League and theSouthern Poverty Law Center.[2]
Estimates of the number of adherents in the United States in 2014 ranged from two thousand to fifty thousand.[3]
The Christian Identity movement emerged in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s as an offshoot ofBritish Israelism.[4] Early British Israelites such asEdward Hine andJohn Wilson werephilosemites.[5] The typical form of the British Israelite belief held that modern-day Jews were descended from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, while the British and other related Northern European peoples were descended from the other ten tribes.[6] Christian Identity emerged in sharp contrast to British Israelism as a stronglyantisemitic theology, and by the 1940s to 1970s, it was teaching that contemporary Jews were either descendants ofEurasian Khazars or literal descendants ofSatan.[7]
British Israelism can be traced back to Great Britain in the 1600s, but in terms of its relationship to Christian Identity, a key text wasLectures on Our Israelitish Origin by John Wilson (1840).[8] Wilson was the first to formalize a distinction between the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel. Although Wilson's views were not originally antisemitic, they came to have great significance for modern Christian Identity adherents who believe that the northern tribes were carried off by the Assyrians and remained racially pure as they migrated into modern Europe, while the southern kingdom eventually became allied with Satan.[8]
In the 1920s, the writings ofHoward Rand (1889–1991) began to have an influence.[9] Considered a transitional figure from British Israelism to Christian Identity rather than its actual founder,[10] Rand is known for coining the term "Christian Identity".[11] Rand's father raised him as a British Israelite, introducing him toJ. H. Allen's workJudah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright (1902) by offering him five dollars ($78.48 in2024) if he would read it and write a report on it.[12] Around 1924, Rand began to claim that the Jews are descended fromEsau or theCanaanites rather than the tribe of Judah, although not going so far as to advocate the "serpent seed" doctrine.[13]
During the late 1920s, Anglo-Israelite writers began to compile research from 19th century writersDominick McCausland,Alexander Winchell, andEthel Bristowe, using them to develop five basic beliefs that would become the core tenets of Christian Identity doctrine. These were that Adamites represented Aryans as the chosen, thatnonwhites were tainted through race-mixing, that the serpent in the story of the Fall was not a reptile, but the Devil himself, that theseedline of Cain came through a union of Satan (the serpent) and Eve, and that the Jews were descended from this unholy line and thus had a natural propensity for evil.[14]
In 1933, Rand founded theAnglo-Saxon Federation of America, an organization which began to promote the view that the Jews are not descended from Judah. Beginning in May 1937, there were key meetings of British Israelites in the United States who were attracted to this theory, and these meetings provided the catalyst for the eventual emergence of Christian Identity. By the late 1930s, the group's members considered Jews to be the offspring of Satan anddemonized them, and they also demonized non-Caucasian races.[15] Rand, however, rejected the satanic origin theories. This doctrine came to confirm the explicit separation between British-Israelism and Christian Identity.[16]
Links between Christian Identity and theKu Klux Klan were also forged in the late 1930s, but by then, the KKK was past the peak of its early twentieth-century revival.[17]
Christian Identity began to emerge as a separate movement in the 1940s, primarily over issues of racism and antisemitism rather than over issues ofChristian theology.[18]Wesley Swift (1913–1970) is considered the father of the movement; so much so that every Anti-Defamation League publication which addresses Christian Identity mentions him.[19] Swift was a minister in theAngelus TempleFoursquare Church during the 1930s and 1940s before he founded his own church inLancaster, California and named it the Anglo-Saxon Christian Congregation, reflecting the influence of Howard Rand.[20] In the 1950s, he wasGerald L. K. Smith's West Coast representative of theChristian Nationalist Crusade. In addition, he hosted a dailyradio broadcast in California during the 1950s and 1960s, through which he was able to proclaim his ideology to a large audience. Due to Swift's efforts, the message of his church spread, leading to the founding of similar churches throughout the country.
Eventually, the name of his church was changed to theChurch of Jesus Christ–Christian, today this name is used byAryan Nations.[18] One of Swift's associates was retired Col.William Potter Gale (1917–1988). Gale became a leading figure in theanti-tax andparamilitary movements of the 1970s and 1980s, beginning with the California Rangers and thePosse Comitatus, and he also helped found theAmerican militia movement.[21]
The future Aryan Nations founderRichard Girnt Butler, who was an admirer ofAdolf Hitler and Wisconsin SenatorJoseph McCarthy, was introduced to Wesley Swift by William Potter Gale in 1962.[22] Swift quickly converted Butler to Christian Identity. When Swift died in 1971, Butler fought against Gale, James Warner, and Swift's widow for control of the church. Butler eventually gained control of the organization and moved it from California toHayden Lake, Idaho in 1973.[23]
Lesser figures participated as Christian Identity theology took shape in the 1940s and 1950s, such asSan Jacinto Capt, aBaptist minister and California Klansman, who claimed that he had introduced Wesley Swift to Christian Identity;[24] andBertrand Comparet (1901–1983), a one-timeSan Diego Deputy City Attorney and associate of Gerald L. K. Smith.[25] Later Identity figures of the 1970s and 1980s includeSheldon Emry,Thomas Robb, andPeter J. Peters.[26]
The Christian Identity movement first received widespread attention from the mainstream media in 1984, whenThe Order, aneo-Nazi terrorist group, embarked on a murderous crime spree before it was suppressed by theFBI. The movement returned to public attention in 1992 and 1993, in the wake of the deadlyRuby Ridge confrontation, when newspapers discovered thatright-wing separatistRandy Weaver had a loose association with Christian Identity believers.[27]
These groups are estimated to have two thousand members in the United States and an unknown number of members in Canada and the rest of theBritish Commonwealth. Due to the promotion of Christian Identity doctrines through radio and later through the Internet, an additional fifty thousand unaffiliated individuals are thought to hold Christian Identity beliefs.[3]
While most of the Identity groups of the 1960s and 1970s relied on mailing lists, publications, and cassette recordings to disseminate their teachings, later figures promoted their ministries using radio and television.[28] Pete Peters and hisScriptures for America program was considered to be one of the largest white supremacist radio ministries in the United States.[29] Additionally, Peters was an early pioneer in promoting Identity via the Internet.[30] Today, Christian Identity is promoted through the Internet by using blogs, podcasts, and other means. The most prominent Identity teacher today is William Finck.[31]
Christian Identity theology promotes aracialist interpretation ofChristianity.[32] In his book,Gods of the Blood, Swedish historian and scholar of comparative religionMattias Gardell has noted that "Christian Identity is best understood as an umbrella concept under which a variety of different theologies are found".[33] He points out that there are considerable differences in dogma and religious practice between various ministries and groups.[33] Some Christian Identity churches preach with more violent rhetoric than others, but all of them believe thatCeltic andGermanic peoples, such as theAnglo-Saxon,Nordic nations, or theAryan race and kindred peoples are the true Israelites and that modern Jews have dispossessed them of their identity asGod'schosen race.[34] Identity beliefs are conspiratorial, believing that all of history represents a great cosmic war between the forces of good and evil. It is all part of a Satanic plot to take control of creation.[35]
Christian Identity beliefs were primarily developed and promoted by two authors who considered Europeans to be the chosen people and consideredJews to be the cursed offspring of Cain, theserpent seed, a belief which is known as the dual-seedline or two-seedline doctrine. Wesley Swift formulated the doctrine which states that non-Caucasian peoples have nosouls and therefore they can never earn God's favor or besaved.[36]
No single document expresses the Christian Identity belief system; there is much disagreement over the doctrines which are taught by those who ascribe to Identity beliefs, since there is no central organization or headquarters for the Identity sect. However, all Identity adherents believe that Adam and his offspring were exclusively White and they also believe that allnon-white races arepre-Adamite races because they belong to separatespecies, a doctrinal position which implies that they cannot be equated with or derived from theAdamites.[37] Identity adherents cite passages from theOld Testament, includingEzra 9:2,Ezra 9:12, andNehemiah 13:27, which they claim containYahweh's injunctions againstinterracial marriages.
Christian Identity adherents assert that the white people of Europe in particular orCaucasians in general are God's servant people, according to the promises that were given toAbraham,Isaac, andJacob. It further asserts that the early European tribes were really theTen Lost Tribes of Israel and therefore the rightful heirs to God's promises, and God's chosen people.Colin Kidd wrote that in the United States, Christian Identity exploited "the puzzle of the Ten Lost Tribes to justify an openly anti-Semitic and virulently racist agenda."[38] According to Michael McFarland and Glenn Gottfried, Indentitarians developed their racist interpretation of Christianity because of its status as atraditional religion of the United States, which allowed them to advocate the belief thatwhite Americans have a common identity, and because of the variety of possibleinterpretations of the Bible in the field ofhermeneutics.[39]
While they seek to introduce a state ofracial purity in the US, Christian Identitarians do not trust theCongress or thegovernment,allegedly controlled by Jews, to support their agenda. In their view, this means that political changes can only be made through the use of force. However, the failed experience of the terrorist group The Order has forced them to acknowledge the fact that they are currently unable to overthrow the government by staging an armed insurrection against it. Thus, the Christian Identity movement seeks an alternative to violence and government change with the creation of a "White Aryan Bastion" or aWhite ethnostate, such as theNorthwest Territorial Imperative.[40]
Being decentralized with no center of orthodoxy, individual pastors each have their own approach tobiblical hermeneutics. However, the teacher-student relationship is how training and ordination occur, and is very important to an Identity congregation.[41]
Much of the racism in Christian Identity is the result of the pre-Adamite hypothesis, which is a cornerstone of Identity theology.[42] Christian Identity adherents believe thatAdam and Eve were only the ancestors ofwhite people.[43] In this view, Adam and Eve were preceded bylesser, non-Caucasian races which are often (although not always) identified as "beasts of the field" (Genesis 1:25,Genesis 2:19–20) who took human form as a result of mating with Adamites.[42]
To support their theory on the racial identity of Adam, Christian Identity proponents point out that the Hebrew etymology of the word "Adam" (Aw-Dam) translates as "to show blood in the face, flush or turn rosey. Be dyed, made red (ruddy)", often quoting fromJames Strong'sExhaustive Concordance, and concluding that proves Adam as the ancestor of the Caucasian race.[44]
An influence on the Christian Identity movement's views on pre-Adamism was Charles Carroll's 1900 bookThe Negro a Beast or In the Image of God?[45] In his book, Carroll sought to revive the ideas which were previously presented byBuckner H. Payne, he described the Negro as a literal ape rather than a human being.[46] He claimed the pre-Adamite races such as blacks did not have souls and that race mixing was an insult to God because it spoiled his racial plan of creation. According to Carroll, the mixing of races had also led to the errors ofatheism andevolutionism.[47]
Dual Seedline Christian Identity proponents –those who believe that Eve bore children with Satan as well as with Adam – believe that Eve was seduced by the Serpent (Satan), shared her fallen state with Adam by having sex with him, and gave birth totwins with different fathers: Satan's son Cain and Adam's son Abel. This belief is referred to as the serpent seed doctrine. According to the "dual seedline" form of Christian Identity, Cain then became the progenitor of the Jews in his subsequent matings with members of the non-Adamic races.[48]
Seedline theology in Identity circles can take different forms. The most racist form of this belief that modern Jews are literal descendants of Satan. Other groups consider themselves to be authentic Jews and do not proclaim a hatred of Jews, although they are suspicious of them.[49]
Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism or racialism, thepseudoscientific belief that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racism, is the core tenet of Christian Identity, and most CI adherents are white nationalists who advocateracial segregation and the imposition ofanti-miscegenation laws.[citation needed] Some CI adherents also believe that Jews are genetically compelled to carry on aconspiracy against the Adamic seedline by their Satanic or Edomite ancestry and they also believe that the Jews of today have achieved almost complete control of the Earth through their claim to hold the white race's status as God's chosen people.[50][non-primary source needed]
Identity adherents also assert thatdisease,addiction,cancer, andsexually transmitted infections (herpes andHIV/AIDS) are spread by human "rodents" via contact with "unclean" persons, such as "race-mixers". Theapocrypha, particularlythe first book of Enoch, is used to justify these social theories; the fallen angels of Heaven sexually desired Earth maidens and took them as wives, resulting in the birth ofabominations, which God orderedMichael the Archangel to destroy, thus beginning a cosmic war between Light and Darkness. The mixing of separate things (e.g.,people of different races) is seen as defiling all of them, and it is also considered a violation of God's law.[51]
Like British Israelites, Christian Identity adherents believe in Two House theology, which makes a distinction between the Tribe of Judah and theTen Lost Tribes. "Israel" was the name given to Jacob after hewrestled with the angel atPenuel as described in Genesis 32:26–32. Israel then had twelve sons which began theTwelve Tribes of Israel. Around 931 BC the unified kingdom was split into theKingdom of Israel in the north and theKingdom of Judah in the south. After northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered byAssyria atc. 721 BC, the ten tribes disappeared from the Biblical record.[52]
According to British-Israel doctrine,2 Esdras 13:39–46 then records the history of the nation of Israel journeying over theCaucasus Mountains, along theBlack Sea, to theAr Sereth tributary of theDanube inRomania ("But they formed this plan for themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the nations and go to a more distant region, where no human beings had ever lived. ... Through that region there was a long way to go, a journey of a year and a half; and that country is called Arzareth"). The tribes prospered, and eventually colonised other European countries. Israel's leading tribe, theTribe of Dan, is attributed with settling and naming many areas which are today distinguished by place names derived from its name – written ancient Hebrew contains no vowels, and hence "Dan" would be written as DN, but would be pronounced with an intermediate vowel dependent on the local dialect, meaning thatDan,Den,Din,Don, andDun all have the same meaning. Various modern place names are said to derive from the name of this tribe:[52]
The following peoples and their analogous tribes are believed to be as follows:[53]
While British Israelites believe that modern Jews are descended from the tribe of Judah, Christian Identitarians believe that the true lineal descendants of Judah arenot contemporary Jews, but are instead the modern-day Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Germanic, Nordic, and kindred peoples.[43]
Some followers claim that the Identity genealogy of theDavidic line can be traced to the royal rulers of Britain andQueen Elizabeth II.[54] Thus, Anglo-Saxons are the trueIsraelites, God's chosen people who were given the divine right to rule the world until theSecond Coming of Christ.[52]
Identity adherents reject the label "antisemitic" by stating that they cannot be antisemitic because the trueSemites "today are the great White Christian nations of thewestern world", with modern Jews being considered the descendants of theCanaanites.[55]
Identity preachers proclaim that, according to the Bible, "the penalties for race-mixing,homo-sexuality, andusury aredeath."[56]
The first documents which advocated Christian Identity's views onracial politics andeconomics were written by Howard Rand andWilliam J. Cameron after theGreat Depression. In 1943, Rand published the article "Digest of the Divine Law" which discussed the political and economic challenges which existed at that time. An excerpt from the article states: "We shall not be able to continue in accord with the old order. Certain groups are already planning an economy of regimentation for our nation; but it will only intensify the suffering and want of the past and bring to our peoples all the evils that will result from such planning by a group of men who are failing to take into consideration the fundamental principles underlying the law of the Lord."[57]
While Rand never formally named the groups which he was specifically referring to, his hatred of Jews,racial integration, and the country's economic state at that time made the direction of his comments obvious. Identifying specific economic problems was not the only goal which Rand had in mind. He began to analyze how these changes could be made to happen through legal changes; thus, making strategic plans to integrate the Bible intoAmerican law andeconomics. The first goal was to denounce all man-made laws and replace them withlaws from the Bible. The second goal was to create an economic state which would reflect the teachings of the Bible.[58]
While William Cameron agreed with Rand's initial argument, he specifically focused his writings on changing American economics. One of Cameron's articles, "Divine System of Taxation", spoke of the Bible supportingindividualism andsocial justice with regard to economics. He also believed that the government had no right to tax land or other forms of property. In accordance with this doctrine, tax refunds should be applied to family vacation trips or they should be applied to national festivals which are observed by adherents of Christian Identity. Also, for the betterment of the United States' economic future, no interest should be charged on debts which are paid with credit, and no taxes should be collected during the traveling time of goods from a manufacturer to a consumer.[59]
The mutual point which Rand and Cameron both agreed upon, was that while they may have disagreed with how the government was operating, neither of them resisted the government's current tax policies. Gordon Kahl was the first CI believer to study the founding principles of Rand and Cameron, and apply them in order to take action against the government. Kahl believed that they were on the right track with regard to what needed to be accomplished in order to change public policies. However, he felt that if no actions were taken against violators, no real changes would be made. In 1967, he stopped paying taxes because he felt he was paying "tithes to theSynagogue of Satan". Kahl killed two federal marshals in 1983. Before he was caught for the murders, Kahl wrote a note in which he said "our nation has fallen into the hands of alien people. ... These enemies of Christ have taken their JewishCommunist Manifesto and incorporated it into the Statutory Laws of our country and thrown ourConstitution and ourChristian Common Law into the garbage can."[60]
Identity doctrine asserts that the "root of all evil" ispaper money (particularlyFederal Reserve Notes), and that both usury andbanking systems are controlled by Jews.[61] Exodus 22:25, Leviticus 25:35–37 andDeuteronomy explicitly condemn usury.[62] Ezekiel 18:13 states "He who hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? He shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him" and it is quoted as a justification for killing Jews.
Christian Identity advocates the belief that the creation of theFederal Reserve System in 1913 shifted the control of money from Congress to private institutions and violated theConstitution and the monetary system encourages the Federal Reserve to take out loans, creating trillions of dollars in government debt, and allowing international bankers to control the United States. Credit/debit cards and computerised bills are seen as the fulfillment of the Biblical scripture which warns against "the beast" (i.e., banking) as quoted in Revelation 13:15–18.[63]
Identity preacher Sheldon Emry stated that "Most of the owners of the largest banks in America are ofEastern European (Jewish) ancestry and connected with the (Jewish)Rothschild European banks", thus, according to Identity doctrine, the global banking conspiracy is led and controlled by Jewish interests.[63] Emry used the radio airwaves to promote his Christian Identity message and his bookBillions for the Bankers, Debts for the People. Emry promoted abolishing the banks, which he suggested would solve most of society's ills, including unemployment, divorce, and women working outside the home.[64]
Christian Identity is described as millenarian.[65]
Sociology professor James Aho describes Christian Identity eschatology asdispensational premillennialist, which includes aphysical return of Christ to earth at the final battle ofArmageddon.[66] However, in contrast with dispensationalism and some othermillennialist forms offundamentalist Christianity, Christian Identity adherents reject the notion of arapture.[67] Identity preacherSheldon Emry taught that the idea of a rapture is aJesuit doctrine andJohn Nelson Darby, who initially formalized this eschatological concept, was an agent of the Jesuits.[68] In addition to rejecting rapture beliefs,Michael Barkun notes that Identity also breaks significantly from the dispensational eschatology of fundamentalism which is centered around Israel, which Christian Identity rejects.[69] For Identitarians who view Jews as the offspring of Satan, this leads them to view proponents of dispensational eschatology as agents of Satan.[70]
Identity predictions vary, and some include arace war or a Jewish-backedUnited Nations takeover of the US, and that they should wage a physical struggle against individuals and groups which serve the forces of evil.[71] While theSoviet Union has disappeared as a vital threat in their rhetoric, many Christian Identity adherents believe thatCommunists are secretly involved in international organizations like the United Nations, or the so-called "New World Order", in order to destroy the United States.[40]
Along with teaching that America is the true Israel, some Identity preachers teach that America is the Zion of Bible prophecy and will be the seat of Christ's earthly, millennial kingdom.[72]
Modern Identity proponents such as Mark Downey and William Finck teach ahistoricist view of eschatology.[73][74]
Rather than being an organized religion, Christian Identity is diverse and decentralized.[75] It is an ideology which is adhered to by a variety of groups. Some of these groups arechurches and congregations, such as theChurch of Jesus Christ–Christian,[76]Church of Israel,[77]LaPorte Church of Christ,[58]Elohim City,[78]Kingdom Identity Ministries,[79] andThe Shepherd's Chapel. Others are activist groups and paramilitary organizations such asAryan Nations,[80]Aryan Republican Army,[81]Assembly of Christian Soldiers,Christian Defense League,[82]The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord,[83] andWhite Patriot Party.[84] Other organizations that are not strictly Identity based, but have members who believe in Identity or have affiliations with believers in Identity are theAryan Freedom Network and thePosse Comitatus.[85] Members of the prison gangAryan Brotherhood adhere to Identity, but it prioritizes criminal enterprise over ideology.[86]
While most public and scholarly attention to Christian Identity focuses on the concern for possible criminal violence,[87] Swedish historianMattias Gardell points out inGods of the Blood that there are two strains of Christian Identity, which he categorizes ashardcore andsoft Identity.[33] Similarly, David Brannan, writing inTerrorism and Political Violence, has called these two variationsrepentant andrebellious Identity.[88] Certain events during the 1980s and 1990s brought a more violent strain of Identity into public attention, contributing to the crystallization of these two schools of thought.[33] Gardell sees a likelihood of polarization continuing, thus resulting in two separate Aryan Israel religions.[89]Jeffrey Kaplan argues that Christian Identity represents revolution within the religious tradition of Christianity, but, usingDan Gayman'sChurch of Israel as an example, suggests that the typical pattern follows that of earliermillenarian movements in which the dominant motif is societal withdrawal rather than revolutionary violence. The outbursts of violence, per Kaplan, are not the norm and are relatively short.[90]
Although most Identitarians have lived within the dominant culture, some Christian Identity groups on the fringe of the movement have been associated with revolutionary violence.[91] According to theCenter on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism, "Christian Identity has developed a deepaccelerationist current as a result of an active desire among CI adherents to expedite the Battle of Armageddon."[92]James Mason, the inspirational leader of theaccelerationist "siege culture", was at one time a Christian Identity minister.[93] Leaders in this strain of Identity have included Richard Girnt Butler,James Wickstrom, 11th Hour Remnant Messenger, and Kingdom Identity Ministries.[89]
Tax resister and militia movement organizerGordon Kahl had connections to the Christian Identity movement.[94] His death in a 1983 shootout with federal authorities made him the first martyr of thePosse Comitatus.[95]The Order, whose main objective was to start a white supremacist revolution against the United States, was almost entirely made up of individuals who were associated with various Christian Identity groups.[96]Bob Mathews, the founder of The Order, is also considered a martyr in the movement.[97]
Robert Millar's Elohim City, awhite separatist community inOklahoma which is associated with Christian Identity, is also associated with several violent acts.Chevie Kehoe spent time there following the Mueller family murders.[98]Timothy McVeigh called the compound prior to theOklahoma City bombing and he is linked to community residentAndreas Strassmeir.Richard Wayne Snell is buried there.Midwest Bank bandit Kevin McCarthy was a resident.[99]
TheOzarks-based compound ofThe Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord was the site of an FBI raid, which ultimately ended without shots fired as the result of CSA member Kerry Noble negotiating a surrender by CSA leaderJames Ellison.[100]
Within Christian Identity circles, thePhineas Priesthood is made up of individuals who have committed a "Phineas action"; a term used to reference a higher law as opposed to rejection of law itself.[101] This term is broadly used in reference to murders ofinterracial couples, murders ofsame-sex couples, antisemitic acts, and violent acts against members of other non-white ethnic groups.[102] According to Houston-area writer John Craig, mass shooterLarry Gene Ashbrook had ties to the Phineas Priesthood.[103]Byron De La Beckwith, the assassin ofNAACP andCivil rights movement leaderMedgar Evers, was also linked to the Phineas Priesthood.[104] Immediately prior to entering prison, De La Beckwith wasordained as a minister in the Temple Memorial Baptist Church, a Christian Identity congregation inKnoxville, Tennessee by ReverendDewey "Buddy" Tucker.[105]
Soft Identity sees the concept of serpent seed theology as allegory. It dismisses National Socialism as secular diversion and ungodly occultism. It further rejects the vigilante concept of the Phineas Priesthood adopted by hardcore Identity, seeing it as misguided. The claim is that while they should be prepared for the final battle, the start button for the battle should be left to God, thus rejecting an accelerationist belief.[33]
Although they are not considered pacifists, leaders within "soft" Identity reject the violence of the more militant side, complaining that it has resulted in all of Identity being "painted with the same brush, thereby transforming Identity into an icon of evil in the public mind".[33] Leaders within this strain have sought to distance themselves from more militant strains by rejecting the "Identity" label and adopting terms like "Kingdom Israel" or "Covenant People".[33] The soft Identity school includes Pete Peters, Ted Weiland,Jack Mohr, andDan Gayman.[89]
Brannan points out that most academic writing on Gayman focuses on the ideology of the greater Identity movement, glossing over his theology, as an agenda-driven polemic; further stating that although Gayman's theology is problematic, overstating the position and lumping all Identity together is dangerous.[106] Gayman takes a traditional view ofRomans 13 and rejects the militia movement as illegitimate, drawing a firm distinction between repentant Identity and the rebellious forms.[107] Brannan concludes that repentant Identity has a more coherent presentation of theology, despite its academic or scholastic flaws. Thus, it is more theologically driven than the ideologically driven rebellious Identity.[108]
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