"Brit-Am Now"-187
Contents:
1. Letter and Comment on art and Israelite origins
2. The 'Chistian Identity' Cult
3. Historical Points:
a. Parthia
b. Germany
4. Criticisms of Brit-Am?
5. Book on Lost Tribes by Tudor Parfitt
1. Letter and Comment on art and Israelite origins
From: Henry Martin
Subject: Britam topic-interesting
Hi,
I viewed your Britam website. Your evidence is all new, most people know
nothing about these and library books don't have these info either. The
info you have explained is controversial and that
actually makes it all interesting. I was hoping to find more info ,especially,
may I quote ' relevant finds worthy of more investigation and emphasis
should include obvious "Assyrian" and Near Eastern elements in early Irish
and Pictish art as well as Anglo-Saxon finds (such as the metallic standard
at Sutton Hoo) based on ancient Middle Eastern prototypes.
Where can I look to investigate these info more thoroughly?
Thanks in advance, best wishes
Regards,
Henry Martin
Reply: In our work "Lost Israelite Identity" we deal with these matters
especially concerning the Near Eastern origins of Celtic and Pictic art. We
have a few of trhese books still available and a copy may be obtained from
us for $30.
2. The 'Chistian Identity' Cult
From: Roain
Subject: The 'Chistian Identity' Cult
Excerpts: Note the article below contains some historical innacuracies, for
instance, the British Israel idea existed long before Richard Brothers, as
can be verified by the Encyclopedia Judaica. Nevertheless the article is of
interest since it describes groups that give us a bad name. Incidentally it
turns out that most (maybe all?) Christian (and so-called "Messianic")
groups who have beliefs similar to those of Brit-Am also hold by some form
of replacement theory and anti-semitic inclinations even though their
followers are not necessarily aware of this. This is somewhat surprising to
us. At all events, there is no replacement for Brit-Am.
The 'Chistian Identity' Cult by Jonathan F. Sullivan received from Ríain
<wolfhound@irishpub-hostel.com> (Extracts)
Radical racist groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan and White Aryan Resistance,
live on the fringes of society, inhabiting a dark underworld that few know
about and fewer still understand. Those that do not know anything about
them tend to equate these groups with violent political action connected to
outdated ideologies. What few know, however, is that these groups are
increasingly motivated to action by the religious and theological teachings
of a movement called Christian Identity. This movement, which purports to
reveal the "true" identity of the white race as the chosen people of God,
remains largely unstudied and misunderstood; this has left any systemized
attempt to refute its teachings ill-prepared and under-equipped. This paper
will trace Christian Identity's roots, outline its basic theology, and show
the potential for danger the group poses to the world. It will end with a
few general guidelines on how the Christian Church can respond to this
threat in the spirit of the Gospel.
History of the 'Christian Identity' Cult
The roots of the Identity movement reach back into the late 18th century to
an obscure ideology call British-Israelism. The central tenant of this
movement began with Richard Brothers, a retired British naval officer who
claimed to be receiving millenarian visions in 1791. By 1793 he was
convinced that it was his divine mission to lead the Jewish people back to
the Holy Land. Claiming to be a descendant of the house of David, Brothers
also claimed that the vast majority of the world's Jews were, in fact,
dispersed and hidden through the European peoples, ignorant of their
biblical identity (Barkun 1994, 6).
This idea of a "hidden" Israel, dispersed among the people of Europe,
becomes the founding principle of British-Israelism, setting it apart from
many of its contemporary occult theologies. Brothers felt that the British
people were especially connected to the biblical Israel and that God had
special designs for them. He gathered a small following, but was unable to
organize a structured group. His behavior becoming increasingly erratic and
eccentric, Brothers was declared legally insane and institutionalized from
1795 until 1806, dying some 18 years later a destitute man (Barkun 1994, 6).
It was not until 1840, with the release of John Wilson's Lectures on Our
Israelitish Origin, that the British-Israelism movement began to gain
momentum. Bringing British- Israelism to a large middle-class audience,
Wilson attempted to provide some empirical evidence for his claims of
English succession to Israel. One of his favorite techniques was to search
for English and Hebrew words that sound the same (Barkun 1994, 7).
Wilson, and British-Israelism in general, never denied that the modern-day
Jews were not descendants of the biblical people. However, he did not think
that they held as high a status because they were descendant from the
southern kingdom of Judah, inheriting only those divine promises given to
Judah. The European peoples, on the other hand, were descended from the
scattered tribes of Israel, the northern kingdom which was destroyed by the
Assyrian conquest of 721 BCE, and to which the majority of biblical
promises had been made (Barkun 1994, 7).
According to Identity beliefs, after the Assyrian conquest the ten tribes
were scattered, gradually making their way north and settling in what is
now Britain . They became the Anglo-Saxon people and the progenitors of all
white peoples. The truth, of course, is that the ten tribes of the northern
kingdom were overrun by the Assyrian army, the religious leaders and the
wealthy deported. National and ethnic identities were blurred as the
Assyrians resettled the area, and the Israelites were absorbed into the
Assyrian empire (Alstræm 1993, 670, 676-677).
The beginning of the Identity movement in the United States is often traced
to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a series of articles published
under the eye of Henry Ford in his hometown newspaper. Collected under the
title The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem in the 1920s, the
Protocols purported to expose a series of Jewish plots such as the Russian
Revolution and Communism, Freemasonry, control of the world's banks and the
usury system, and trade unions. The author of the articles, William
Cameron, founded the Anglo- Saxon Federation of American in 1928,
publishing Destiny magazine as a British-Israelist publication. This became
the premier British-Israelist periodical in the country, with a readership
comprised of some of the top racist and anti-Semitic figures of the time
(Zeskind 1986, 12-13).
Figures such as Wesley Swift and Bertram Comparet systematized the emerging
Identity theology and introduced it to the rising white supremacist
movement, founding such organizations as the Church of Jesus
Christ--Christian and the Christian Defense League in the middle of the
20th century. The Identity movement has since spread, producing such
notable preachers as Richard Butler of the Aryan Nations, Bill Gale and Jim
Wickstrom of Posse Comitatus, and Pete Peters, one of Identity's "rising
stars" (Zeskind 1986, 10, 12-13).
The Theology of Christian Identity
Since the first attempts at a systematic Identity theology, the movement
has elaborated on British-Israelism and allowed new theories to take root.
However, the most distinctive feature of Identity theology remains its
decidedly racial character; indeed, race is the normative feature of
Identity theology. Every theological category employed by Identity
preachers passes through their racial theories.
This racial theory serves to connect present day Anglo-Saxons to biblical
prophecies. Appealing to the Hebrew prophets, Identity theology claims that
the centuries between the fall of the northern kingdom and the time that
Christianity spread across Europe were pre-ordained as a time of "lost
identity." The "re-discovery" of the true nature of the ancient Israelites,
and their modern descendants, is seen as the key to understanding biblical
prophesy and current events. This people will necessarily play a vital role
in establishing God's kingdom on earth (Zeskind 1984, 17-19).
Because of its fervent belief in Anglo-Saxons as the only descendants of
biblical Israel, Identity theology has had to account for the modern-day
Jews and their heritage. The Christian Identity Church of Harrison,
Arkansas, explains the common Identity belief in terse and vivid language
in its Doctrinal Statement of Beliefs:
We believe in an existing being knows as the Devil or Satan and called the
Serpent, who has a literal "seed" or posterity in the earth commonly called
Jews today. These children of Satan through Cain are a race of vipers,
anti-Christs who have throughout history always been a curse to true
Israel, the Church of God, because of a natural enmity between the two
races, because they do the works of their father the Devil... The ultimate
end of this evil race whose hands bear the blood of our Savior and all the
righteous slain upon the earth, is Divine judgement (Christian... 6-7).
The development of this "seedline" theory began with the pre-Adamic theory
of creation held by British-Israelism. However, by the 1960s, a distinctive
history of the Jewish bloodline had emerged, first systematized by Conrod
Gaard. Gaard believed that the biblical serpent was a member of one of the
pre-Adamic races, a race in eternal struggle with the "pure seed" of Adam.
Gaard was less interested in Cain's actual parentage (since he took a
pre-Adamic wife and in that way betrayed his race) that his is in Cain's
relationship with Satan. According to Gaard, Cain founded the first world
government, a kingdom devoted to carrying out the work of the Devil on
earth. This kingdom continues into the modern day and includes Communist
Russia and China, the Illuminati, as well as all attempts at a one world
government (Barkun 1994, 178).
Identity thinkers extrapolated this idea over the years, attempting to
provide biblical foundations to the seedline theory based on the belief
that the sin of Eve was sexual union with the serpent. Jarah B. Crawford, a
former minister in the Assembly of God church and often considered the
foremost Identity interpreter of the Bible, believes that all but five
books of the Bible have a decidedly racial character to them and provide
the basis for segregation and the seedline theory. In truth, however, much
of Crawford's writing is merely a rehashing of previous Identity materials
on the subject; Crawford simply lifts Scriptural passages to bolster his
position (Barkun 1994, 190).
The belief of the special place of the Anglo-Saxons in the coming kingdom
is also tied to Identity theology's regard for the United States and Great
Britain. Equating these two nations with Manasseh and Ephraim, Identity
theology holds that each nation has inherited the blessings of the two sons
of Joseph to be "a nation" and "a company of nations" (Gen 48: 19)4.
Together, the birthright of these two nations is to be "the wealthiest,
most powerful nations on earth," to "colonize the world." The United States
is often equated with the new Promised Land, where God "will assemble the
outcasts of Israel" (Isa 11: 12), the prosperity of the United States seen
as proof of Identity's convictions (Zeskind 1986, 19).
Christian Identity adherents believe that America was divinely established
as a Christian Republic. This is a nuanced but important component to
Identity political theory, because in a republic, it is the individual who
is sovereign, not the majority as in a democracy. Many of Identity's
political agendas, such as tax rebellion, common law, the role of the
judicial branch, and the role of law enforcement, stem directly from this
belief in the rights of the individual (Zeskind 1986, 36-37). Pointing to
various anti-Semitic writings, Identity adherents also point out that the
Founding Fathers took the "Jewish threat" very seriously (Eastern...).
However, they also believe that this divinely founded government has been
compromised by the Jewish conspiracy; the ZOG (Zionist Occupied Government)
is responsible for the decline of American society because it has fallen
into non-Christian hands. They are especially concerned about the
separation of Church and state, which they describe as a Jewish plot
intended to undermine Christian values. They believe that the proper place
of the government is under the auspices of the Church. As Bill Gale, a
noted Identity preacher, wrote,
Modern Christian Identity ideology is often associated with Protestant
Fundamentalism because of their shared interest in eschatology and End-Time
scenarios; this is not always far from the truth. Both promote a
dispensationalist view of history. That is, they believe in a specific
ordering of time decreed by divine will. Each of these periods in history
begins with a divine revelation and ends with a divine judgement. Both the
Christian Right and the Identity movement also tend to be
Pre-millennialists. They believe that, before the Second Coming, there will
be a period of Tribulation in which the world will be overtaken by evil,
after which Christ will return to rule in peace for a thousand years
(Zeskind 1986, 22).
Instead, Identity members claim that the elect will remain on Earth during
the Tribulation to fight the agents of Satan and the sin they bring into
the world. Chosen on the basis of race, these elect will be the front line
soldiers of the End Times, charged by God to warn their fellow Christians
of the coming trials and to act swiftly to "overcome" evil (Zeskind 1984,
24). Identity thought sees the signs of this coming apocalyptic conflict
everywhere. One tract from the Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord
describes witches "sexually mutilating people," "sodomite homosexuals
waiting in their lusts to rape," "negro beasts who eat the flesh of men,"
and "seed of Satan Jews sacrificing people in darkness" (quoted in Minges
1995, 93).
Another common theme in Identity literature is that the End Times are upon
us because of Israel's (that is, the white race's) disobedience to the
covenant. The sins committed by God's race include miscegenation,
homosexuality, abortion, promiscuity, and fornication. The divine
punishments enacted upon Israel for these sins include "the plague of
AIDS," sometimes called Acquired Immoral Deadly Sin, "sickness, disease,
loss of jobs, drought, floods, venereal disease, farm foreclosures,
business bankruptcies, government regulations, licenses, [and] excessive
taxation" (Gayman).
Regardless, Identity believers see in current events the unfolding of the
End Times, the fulfillment of biblical prophesy. Social security numbers
and diver's licenses are seen as the "Mark of the Beast" (Rev 4:19).
Members have begun to stockpile food, water, and supplies for the coming
Armageddon. Many groups, such as the Aryan nations, believe that Satan is
attacking them directly through the government. Conflicts arise, and
Identity believers are forced to translate their beliefs into action
(Zeskind 1986, 24-25).
Action
Though not always in the public eye, this action does arise, often in
violent ways. One Identity group which has risen into the public eye
because of its initiatives is the Order (known to its members as Bruders
Schweigen, or the Silent Brotherhood). Founded by Robert Matthews in the
fall of 1983, the Order embarked on a series of robberies, counterfeiting
schemes and murder until Matthews was killed in a shootout with police in
December of 1984 (Barkun 1994, 228).
The Order was patterned after a paramilitary group in the novel The Turner
Diaries. First published in serial form between 1975 and 1978, The Turner
Diaries recounts the seizure of southern California by a white power group
calling itself the Organization. The novel's hero, Earl Turner, joins the
group by expelling nonwhites from their area of control and fighting "the
System" with nuclear arms stolen from Air Force bases. Though not an
Identity text per se, the novel does depict Turner's initiation in the
Order, the Organization's inner circle, during which Turner describes a
feeling of being "born again," and of realizing that "we are truly
instruments of God in the fulfillment of His Grand Design," thus appealing
to a wide audience of Identity sympathizers (quoted in Barkun 1994, 226-227).
The Order was finally brought to the public's attention during a wave of
violent crime in 1984. In July of that year members of the Order pulled off
a daring hijacking of an armored car, recovering $3.8 million. This money
was contributed to various right-wing causes and used to fund the Order.
However, the Order's most notorious act of violence was the murder of radio
talk-show host Alan Berg in December of 1984. Known for baiting extremists
on his Denver program, the Jewish Berg may have been a last-minute
substitution for Morris Dee, the founder of the Southern Poverty Law
Center. The murder led to a massive manhunt, ending in Matthews' death and
the apprehension of other Order members (Barkun 1994 228).
In at least one instance the leaders of an Identity church actually
murdered a fellow Identity member for allegedly having "bad thoughts" and
poisoning a turkey. Over the course of three days the victim was, among
other atrocities, sodomized with a shovel handle, whipped, and had his
fingertips shot off. On the third day he was kicked and beaten to death by
the church' elder and his brother. He dead body was again shot and placed
in a grave. The two church leaders were later convicted of murder (Young
1990, 150-151, 155-156).
Not all Identity groups promote such violence. Indeed, following Robert
Matthew's death, Dan Gayman, pastor of the Church of Israel in Schell City,
Missouri, issued a strong dissent against the tactics of groups such as the
Order, saying,
This body of Christian believers [does] not believe in and would not
condone crimes including counterfeiting, armed robbery, murder of law
officers, and a variety of other crimes spawned by the ORDER and openly
condoned and sometimes encouraged by a variety of militant organizations...
No single group in post World War II history has done so much to discredit,
malign, and retard the growth of the Gospel of the Kingdom in North America
(quoted in Barkun 1994, 232)5.
Many of these more peaceful Identity groups are content to remain isolated
from society, providing services for its members. Working out of what H.
Richard Niebuhr calls a stance of "Christ against culture," such groups
remove themselves from the context of the larger society to insulate
themselves from the "satanic" influences that have corrupted the world
(Niebuhr 1956, 45). Consequently, they must develop ways of remaining at
least partially self-sufficient. For instance, the Church of Israel in
Schell City provides a wide variety of services for its members, including
a home schooling ministry, health ministry, home birthing assistance, and
seminars on "building the Christian family" (Gayman 1988, 2). However,
these groups do retain their racist theologies, even if they are not among
the more radical Identity groups.
Despite this tendency to eschew society, an increasing number of groups
associated with Identity theology have begun to branch out, actively
recruiting new members. Ironically, one of their greatest tools in
evangelism is their eschatological views. Because they are so similar to
the views of many Christian Fundamentalists, and do not reveal any of
Identity's racist or anti-Semitic teachings, they have been an easy point
of entry for Identity preachers seeking a larger audience. Quoting chapter
and verse, their arguments tend to resonant within the biblically-minded
Fundamentalists (Zeskind 1986, 33).
Another tool that is rapidly becoming a standard component of Identity's
evangelical outreach is the Internet. A simple search of any Internet
search engine reveals the wide variety of racist and anti-Semitic sites
available. Sites such as Kingdom Identity Ministries, Scriptures for
America Worldwide, and Christian Defense League are devoted to spreading
their ideology across the country--and, potentially, across the world.
3. Historical Points:
a. Parthia
The Parthians once ruled Persia. The Parthians were ruled by the Arsacid
dynasty.
The Arsacids and their kin were of Israelite ancestry but most of their
subjects were not.
The Parthian army was composed mainly of "slaves" who were non-Israelites
trained by the Parthian ruling class.
The Parthians acheived great victories over the Romans especially due to
the assistance of their Sacae (Scythian) allies
such as the clan of Surena.
b. Germany
German Nobility descended from slaves confirming our contention that later
Germans were different from the earlier ones.
From: "Mark Passehl"
> In the 19th century the German aristocracy just about blew a collective
fuse when historians discovered that most of their illustrious families were
descended from "ministerial" stock and status. The ministerial age was a
Mediaeval institution not confined to the First Reich, but it certainly
developed furthest and flourished there more than anywhere else. Essentially
it came to mean an unfree (servile status) knighthood. Naturally, as slaves,
the minsiterials were never "knighted" as such, but they were armed and
fought as knights, held fiefs like knights, and eventually began to hold the
very highest posts in the Reich and at the imperial court. Indeed so
favoured did they become by the kings and leading princes who really called
the shots in Germany that most of the lesser freiherren voluntarily
surrendered their status, property and persons into the posession of the
great princes, that they might enjoy the greater benefits, security, power
and wealth of being a slave knight.
4. Criticisms of Brit-Am?
received two mild politely expressed (otherwise I would not have listened)
points of criticism last week:
a. Prejudice in editing. It was suggested that I am prejudiced in editing
letters I re-post to the list.
These days Censorship is no longer a problem. A person can say whatever he
likes in very many forums.
On the Brit-Am forum only matters directly relevant to Brit-Am are
re-posted and even then not always in full.
People writing to us should know this in advance. All letters are read.
Most (but not all) questions are answered.
Some letters are (usually in part) re-posted to the list
b. Funding. Brit-Am is always requesting funding. OK. Once the problem is
solved or lightened we will relax the requesting.
5. Book on Lost Tribes by Tudor Parfitt
Just finished reading "The Lost Tribes of Israel. The History of a Myth",
by Tudor Parfitt (2002).
I will probably give a thorough review later elsewhere.
The book discusses Lost Tribe ideas all over the world: Burma, India,
Afghanistan, China, Africa, Maoris, etc. It dedicates one chapter (out of
twelve) to Britain and America.
Two chapters to the Amerindians. The book takes a sceptical approach all
over but is packed full of valuable information.
After reading the book I skimmed through our work "Origin", especially the
second section dealing with Scripture.
My opinion is that Brit-Am is the only explanation that is proves itself
from every aspect. The book by Parfitt disagrees with this conclusion but
the evidence produced in the book helped strengthen it.
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