Blood and Faith: A new book links white nationalists to Christianity

[guillaumeb]

From the article:

There were no burning crosses or other hijacked symbols of religion on obvious display when white nationalists descended on Charlottesville, Va., earlier this month chanting “blood and soil,” a slogan dug up from the dredges of Nazism.
But Damon T. Berry, an assistant professor of religious studies at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.,  says the links between white nationalists and religion — especially Christianity — were there.
In his new book, “Blood & Faith: Christianity in American White Nationalism,” Berry traces how white nationalists — who believe whites are superior to other races and promote a whites-only vision of America — have cherry-picked Scripture to craft their exclusive ideology. He spoke about the book and the rise of Christian white supremacists with Religion News Service.

To read more:

http://religionnews.com/2017/08/23/blood-and-faith-a-new-book-links-white-nationalists-to-christianity/

[guillaumeb]

1. But before we frame this as excusively a Christian problem,

we have this excerpt:

There are some white nationalist groups that specifically speak out against religion, especially Christianity, as being harmful to the white race. Each of these groups articulates that position differently. Revilo Oliver, one of the formative ideologues of modern white nationalism, was deeply atheist in his views, as is Tom Metzger of White Aryan Resistance.

[DBoon]

6. This is why German Nazis reached back to paganism

they saw core values behind Christianity as opposed to their brutal racialism

[guillaumeb]

7. But they also used some elements of Christianity

in an attempt to link with German religious tradition.

[BigmanPigman]

2. Religion is another form of propaganda for money making and power grabbing groups

and individuals. Has been so since the dawn of time.

[guillaumeb]

3. True. It is used by individuals as a way to appeal to others.

But, as the article explains, some of the white nationalists are non-theists. They will use whatever they think will appeal.

[Lee-Lee]

4. That's been the case a long time on several fronts

The "Christian Identity" movement spawned on the 80's with this. A twisted version of Christianity that is all about justifying white supremacy.

Another fascinating but scary batch on he exact opposite end is the "Moorish Nation" that started as a fringe black supremacist/seperatist branch of Islam but over the last 2 decades has also dived deeply into many of the beliefs of the sovereign citizen movement. So you have the same. Heavier of white supremacists who use Christianity but instead black supremacists using Islam to justify their hate.

[guillaumeb]

5. I have never heard of the Moorish Nation.

Thank you for the reference.

[Lee-Lee]

11. This is a pretty good rundown

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2011/‘sovereigns’-black

Some that was written some of the camps have become more overtly violent. The man who shot 3 cops in Louisiana last year was associated with the movement.

[guillaumeb]

17. Thank you, but the link is not valid. eom

[Initech]

8. And the hate is largely going unchecked.

That's the scary thing. We have a president who is saying it's not a problem. It's a huge fucking problem and it needs to be dealt with.

[dalton99a]

9. There are no longer social or political inhibitions

[guillaumeb]

10. It is also unreported.

Or treated as simply a reaction to the so-called alt-left hate. It is an attempt to divide the country.

[Initech]

14. They're dividing us and getting away with it.

And our idiot president and his equally stupid news network are profiting off this country's division. As I said in another thread it's a perpetual shit machine of 24/7 fear, hate and misinformation, and it's aimed directly at liberals, and it won't go away as long as there's people profiting off this shit machine.

[guillaumeb]

16. And do not forget the weapons industry,

which also amplifies the fear with its advertising, and profits from that fear.

[LittleBlue]

12. I have never understood how any Nazis could also be Christian

Jesus was a Jew so...... what now?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

13. Because Jesus had blond hair and blue eyes

[guillaumeb]

15. Clearly.

A classical blond, Nordic Semite.

[greyl]

18. Damon T. Berry seems a little sketchy.

And jees, it's $27.17 for the paperback on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2veaYKA

From the Amazon description: Since the 1980 US presidential races, the term “religious right” has come to signify a politically and socially conservative form of Christianity. This term implies a joining of socially conservative evangelical Christianity with conservative politics that continues to shape the Republican Party to this day. But this relationship is hardly new in American history; certain forms of Christianity have long shared space with the political and nationalist right in the United States. Less well known, however, are the various other religions that have influenced white racist activities in America. The recent popularity of these ideologies has caused a shift away from, and resulting hostility toward, Christianity among white nationalists. In Blood and Faith, Berry explores the causes of this shift, as well as the challenges it has created for contemporary white nationalists who seek access to the conservative American political mainstream. Building on Michael Barkun’s landmark study of racist Christianity, Religion and the Racist Right, Berry takes a fresh look at the complex and evolving relationship between American white nationalists and religion.