Religion and the Racist Right

According to Michael Barkun, many white supremacist groups of the radical right, such as the Aryan Nations, the Order, the Posse Comitatus, and elements of the Ku Klux Klan, are deeply committed to the distinctive but little-recognized religious position known as Christian Identity. In Religion and the Racist Right, Barkun provides the first sustained exploration of the ideological and organizational development of the Christian Identity movement. Describing its origins in a small but vigorous movement in Victorian England called British-Israelism, Barkun traces the fascinating history of Christian Identity as it traveled from England to America and developed into a virulently anti-Semitic theology based on a vision of the world on the verge of an apocalyptic struggle between good and evil in which Aryans will battle against Jews. Barkun argues that Identity doctrine is now a force behind much right-wing political activity and was a factor in the rise of David Duke. Based on a systematic reading of Identity literature and the correspondence of Identity figures, Religion and the Racist Right enables us to understand Christian Identity's history and the role it plays in the ideology of the most violence-prone segments of the extreme right.