Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 18
growth in a party known as ―One Nation,‖ which displayed semi-fascistic undertones in its
propaganda. It also concentrated all power in the hands of its revered leader, Pauline
Hanson, and barred its claimed 300 branches from communicating directly with each other
(Tourish and Wohlforth, 2000). It won 22.67% of the vote in its first electoral outing in the
state of Queensland (Greason, 1998).
Within the American militias the dominant mood is one of fear, paranoia, contempt for
difference, a conviction that Armageddon is imminent, and an absolute determination to
achieve wider influence. One report into their activities summarized their belief system in
these terms:
Some speak of government plans to shepherd dissidents into 43
concentration camps ...Some claim that the government plans to murder
more than three-quarters of the American people ...that Hong Kong
policemen and Gurkha troops are training in the Montana wilderness in order
to ―take guns away from Americans‖ on orders of the Clinton administration
that UN equipment is being transported on huge trains and that Russian and
German trucks are being shipped to attack Americans ...that House Speaker
Newt Gringrich is part of a ―global conspiracy‖ to create one-government
New World Order‖ (Cited in Stern, 1996, p.15).
Many of the militia groups, and other supremacist organizations, trace their belief system to
the theology of Christian Identity. In this philosophy, Jews, blacks, gays, and all identifiable
minority groups are depicted as the champions of a devilish conspiracy against a pure,
Christian, and white way of life. Consequently, catastrophe can only be averted by racial
separation achieved through conflict. One of the movement‘s best known and most
vociferous proponents, William Pierce, expounds this position in an article published on his
website:
Certainly, there may be bloody chaos if we resist the Jews and their
collaborators. And we should not flinch from this. We should not focus on the
fact that it will be horrible and bloody, but on the fact that it will be
necessary, and because it is necessary it is good (Cited by Etchingham,
2000, p.4).
The theology of Christian Identity acts as a theoretical and emotional justification for the
activities of the many white supremacist cults now active within the United States. Such is
its imagined explanatory power that they are drawn to it, just as a moth is attracted to the
brightest light in a room. Understanding where it comes from is a vital step in grasping the
mindsets of those organising to deliver white supremacy in America. It also helps explain
the sense of passionate commitment and invincible conviction held by many of its
supportersemotions that lend themselves perfectly to cultic forms of organization.
Identity Theology, Paramilitarism, and Politics
Identity theology is dangerous precisely because it necessarily seeks an organized
expression in the form of high activity groups that share many of the characteristics
commonly found in cults. The movement‘s eschatological credo provides paramilitary and
survivalist groups with an ultimate justification for their existence and an inexhaustible fuel
for their over-arching sense of self-importance. Accordingly, many Identity believers have
embraced self-sufficient survivalist communities that eschew the larger societies. The term
―survivalism‖ describes a life-style of physical withdrawal and self-sufficiency geared to
surviving some imagined future catastrophe. Survivalist writer Kurt Saxon has said that a
survivalist is ―one who anticipates the collapse of civilization and wants to save himself and
his loved ones and bring something to the movement, if you would, which will contribute to
the advance of the next generation‖ (Cited by Tourish &Wohlforth, 2000, p.48).

Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 19
The sense of urgency is acute. At best, such communities hover on the fringes of legality. In
some cases, however, they are actively preparing terrorist campaigns and, ultimately,
secession from the US. A number of people have already proclaimed the ―Republic of Texas‖
as a separate nation, and maintain that lawful authority within the state is to be located
only within their compounds. (It should be pointed out that the Republic of Texas has also
attracted supporters from outside the tradition of the Christian Identity movement). Others
have argued that organizing insurgency now will spark a wider popular rebellion against
ZOG( Zionist Occupation Government). This fallacy is often repeated on the left in slightly
different forms.
Radical withdrawal in self-sustaining communities promotes a siege mentality. Enemies are
everywhere and the final battle for salvation has already begun. People become afraid to go
into the woods at night. We noted, earlier, how Identity theology leads in many cases to a
self-fulfilling prophecy. Survivalism is particularly prone to this outcome, promoting as it
does the very confrontation with authority from which its advocates have been theoretically
seeking to defend themselves. A number of such incidents have already occurred, such as
the Ruby Ridge siege in 1992. These events have entered the folklore of the far right as
further definitive proof of impending apocalypse.
The psychological effects are powerful, but contradictory. On the one hand, organizing
reduces uncertainty. Temporarily, the disempowered feel empowered. The presence of
others on country retreats, in public demonstrations, and in private confabs nourishes a
sense of absolute conviction. It promises redemption, triumph and public acclaim, when the
conspiracy is defeated. Certainty in the justice of The Cause increases. Yet such is the all-
embracing scope of the conspiracy that it can never be fully vanquished. Paranoia needs
enemies, as an infection needs diseased tissue. If one tentacle of the conspiracy is lopped
off another must be found immediately. The purpose of paranoia is paranoia. Thus, the fact
of struggling also increases uncertainty about the eventual outcome. The more one fights
against the conspiracy the more visible its agents become. The enemy is assumed to be
everywhere, aided and abetted by agents within the upper echelons of Government, the
major Churches, and even within other groups on the far right. The fevered imagination of
the right wing cultist is haunted by the specter of sell out and defeat. Thus, the struggle to
reduce uncertainty combined with its undying presence further inflames their sense of
righteousness, isolation, and peril, ensuring a constant recommitment to the certainties of
the struggle. Normal political action is quite compatible with question marks. For right wing
cultists, on the other hand, doubt is as welcome as daylight in a ghost story. Their rituals,
incantations, and monster stories are all designed to hold it at bay. Ideology is an important
part of this effort, and the main ideological wellspring seems to come from the Christian
Identity movement.
The Evolution of Christian Identity
Christian Identity is sometimes known as British Israelism, Israel identity, and Kingdom
message. Its origins lie in mid-19th century Britain. The most basic idea animating its
adherents is that white Christians are the true Israelites of the Old Testament and are God‘s
chosen people (see Bushart et al., 1998, for fuller discussion). In its modern, American
incarnation, Christian Identity argues that the US is the Promised Land spoken of in the
Bible. Identity supporters believe that ten lost tribes of Israel migrated to Europe, Great
Britain and eventually the USA. They argue that fundamental differences distinguish one
race from another and therefore that they should not co-mingle. Miscegenation is the
ultimate horror, threatening to dilute the pure bloodstock of the Aryan master race.
This prejudice is cast in Biblical mode. Non-whites were created with other animals before
Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden. Hence, they are not fully human. The
theory of different origins enables many believers to claim that they are not racists at all. In