Religion and the Racist Right: The Origins of the Christian Identity Movement Rating :
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14 of 21 people found the following review helpful.
Tour of one region in America's chaotic religious landscape
By B. Jackson
While I highly enjoyed this book and found it meticulously, yet engagingly, researched, I will try to refrain from repeating what other reviewers have already stated. What I would like to add, is that I was unexpectedly impressed with the tortuous connections Barkun unearthed between the Identity/British-Israel sects/movements and other strains of Protestants and Pentecostals. I felt that I learned not only about Identity, but also gained a wider perspective on America's colorful religious history. Barkun also did an admirable job of maintaining a degree of objectivity and emotional distance from his subject, preventing a preachy or moralistic tone from overwhelming the book.
6 of 9 people found the following review helpful.Religion of White Supremacy
By A Customer
This is really the only complete history of the Christian Identity movement, a modern descendent of the anglo-centric British Israelism movement of the late 19th century.
Identity is the overtly racist religion practiced by Aryan Nations, the Freemen, and many other fringe White Supremacist movements. Among the beliefs subscribed to by a variety of Identity groups are that Jews are descendents of Satan, and that all non-Whites are descendents of sub-human "beasts of the field" created before Adam and Eve. Identity believers claim that they are the "remnant" of the lost tribes of Israel, and will have dominion over the earth after a racist holy war in which God will smite all their enemies. This is a fascinating book that sheds light on an
obscure and shadowy movement that has united many disparate elements of the racist fringe for the past couple of decades. I could't put it down! While Identity has been covered in passing in other books or articles, nobody has researched and explained this movement quite like Barkun, a professor of Political Science at Syracuse. Tad Cook
5 of 8 people found the following review helpful.White Supremacist Religion
By A Customer
This is really the only complete history of the Christian Identity movement, a modern descendent of the anglo-centric British Israelism movement of the late 19th century.
Identity is the overtly racist religion practiced by Aryan Nations, the Freemen, and many other fringe White Supremacist movements. Among the beliefs subscribed to by a variety of Identity groups are that Jews are descendents of Satan, and that all non-Whites are descendents of sub-human "beasts of the field" created before Adam and Eve. Identity believers claim that they are the "remnant" of the lost tribes of Israel, and will have dominion over the earth after a racist holy war in which God will smite all their enemies. This is a fascinating book that sheds light on an
obscure and shadowy movement that has united many disparate elements of the racist fringe for the past couple of decades. I could't put it down! While Identity has been covered in passing in other books or articles, nobody has researched and explained this movement quite like Barkun, a professor of Political Science at Syracuse. Tad Cook
Product Description
According to Michael Barkun, many white supremacist groups of the radical right are deeply committed to the distinctive but little-recognized religious position known as Christian Identity. In Religion and the Racist Right (1994), Barkun provided the first sustained exploration of the ideological and organizational development of the Christian Identity movement.
In a new chapter written for the revised edition, he traces the role of Christian Identity figures in the dramatic events of the first half of the 1990s, from the Oklahoma City bombing and the rise of the militia movement to the Freemen standoff in Montana. He also explores the government's evolving response to these challenges to the legitimacy of the state.
Michael Barkun is professor of political science in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is author of several books, including Crucible of the Millennium: The Burned-over District of New York in the 1840s.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #593073 in Books
- Published on: 1996-12-15
- Released on: 1996-11-06
- Original language:English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.49" h x6.50" w x.91" l,1.25 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 330 pages
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