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TheChristian Patriot movement is a subset of the broader AmericanPatriot movement that promotesChristian nationalism and emphasizes it as its core goal and philosophy. Like the larger Patriot movement, it promotes an interpretation ofAmerican history in which thefederal government has turned against the ideas of liberty and natural rights expressed in theAmerican Revolution.
The movement originally referred to thePosse Comitatus, afar-right militia organization. The Posse Comitatus followed an ideology based on the teachings ofWilliam Potter Gale, who was also aChristian Identity minister. This ideology holds the view thatstate andfederal governments are agents of an arcaneconspiracy to deprive Americans of their rights as "sovereign citizens." It also holds the view that this conspiracy can be undermined through various legal pleadings fromEnglish common law and other sources, such as a motion protesting the way a defendant's name is typeset in a legal complaint.[1]The ideology persists despite numerous court rulings that have declared its theoriesfrivolous.[2]
The movement grew during the 1990s after theRuby Ridge andWaco Sieges appeared to confirm the suspicions of Christian Patriots.[3] The movement maintained its ties with theAmerican militia movement of the same period. A highly publicized federal confrontation with Christian Patriots occurred in 1996, whenFederal marshals arrested theMontana Freemen.[1]
In 2009, theSouthern Poverty Law Center said that militia groups may be experiencing a "Patriot revival."[4]
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