Christian Identity (CID) is an antisemitic, racist theology that gained a foothold during the Civil Rights Era and reached a prominent position within the racist right by the 1980s. “Christian” in name only, CID doctrine claims that white people, not Jewish individuals, are the true Israelites favored by God in the Bible. The movement has maintained a contentious relationship with evangelicals and fundamentalists, who believe that the return of Jewish people to Israel is essential for fulfilling end-time prophecy.
Top Takeaways
Although the number of CID groups remains stagnant, CID rhetoric and beliefs continue to exert influence among more mainstream Christian nationalist and neo-Confederate circles. Notably, there has been an increase in overlap between CID and Ku Klux Klan groups this year — groups whose theologies have historically been considered incompatible.
Key Moments
While CID groups primarily rely on their own websites for messaging, they are increasingly active on alternative platforms like Telegram, Bitchute and Rumble, as well as X since Elon Musk’s takeover. Euro Folk Radio, in particular, has taken advantage of X’s increasingly permissive stance toward extremist content, establishing a significant presence on the platform. Websites like Christogenea and Kingdom Identity Ministries continue to publish updated sermons and essays from current CID leaders and promote the teachings of figures such as Wesley Swift and Richard Girnt Butler. Additionally, “Chip Lamkin,” a leader of Kingdom Identity Ministries, has emerged as a prominent figure in a new Klan group, Yahweh’s Aryan Knights. This development highlights CID’s expanding appeal within Klan circles, likely due to its overt antisemitism.
What’s Ahead
While the number of active CID churches and institutions will likely remain small, Christian Identity is expected to retain its niche status without reclaiming the influence it wielded from the 1980s to early 2000s. Nonetheless, CID adherents remain vocal online, and aspects of their theology — especially its apocalyptic themes — are apparent in the broader white power movement.
While the CID movement may be small, its rhetoric has seeped into more mainstream Christian nationalist ideologies, such as Dominionism. The “Watchman Decree” prayer declaration echoes the fundamentalism underlying the Christian Identity movement, shaping ideas of who qualifies as “true Christians” and “true Americans.” As the Christian nationalist movement grows, it increasingly reflects CID-inspired themes, even if many followers may be unaware of their origins in one of the most racist and antisemitic interpretations of Scripture.
Background
Of all the movements that have appeared within the white power movement in this country, Christian Identity is among the most radical, attracting believers who have gone on to commit acts of terrorism.
Although nominally Christian, this movement owes little to even the most conservative of American Protestants. Its relationship with evangelicals and fundamentalists has generally been incongruent because of their belief that the return of Jewish people to Israel is essential to the fulfillment of end-time prophecy.
The foundational principles of Christian Identity began to gain traction with Wesley Swift’s founding of his Church of Jesus Christ Christian in 1957. Swift, along with the network of ministers and adherents he trained, traversed the nation, disseminating the vitriolic teachings of Identity during the Civil Rights Era. One of Swift’s most devoted (initially) disciples, who would often act as his proxy, was William Potter Gale. Gale was most directly responsible for the eventual recruitment of future Aryan Nations founder Butler. Gale was suspected of being responsible for the bombings of several African American churches and was active throughout Alabama in the 1960s. The FBI monitored Swift and Gale because several people who were connected to them were suspected of assassination attempts, terrorism and other criminal activity against people the preacher believed were “destroying” the U.S.
Christian Identity eventually rose to a position of commanding influence on the racist right in the 1980s, thanks in large part to its promotion by Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler — the so-called “spiritual heir” to Wesley Swift. A prolonged period of aggressive legal efforts, including such powerful civil litigation efforts as the SPLC’s successful judgment against Aryan Nations in 2000, and multiracial grassroots organizing campaigns in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest, helped to hasten the ideology’s decline. In 1985, CID Pastor Pete Peters Church of Christ and his publication Scriptures For America came to national attention when members of the violent terrorist group The Order — founded by white supremacist Bob Mathews — met at the church. Further investigations into the church revealed Peters’ connections to several other prominent CID individuals including Butler and Louis Beam. His writings and events glorified violence against Jews and other “undesirables.”
2024 Christian Identity Hate Groups
Assembly of Christian Israelites
Milford, Ohio
Christogenea
Panama City Beach, Florida
Church of Israel
Schell City, Missouri
Euro Folk Radio
Chicago, Illinois
Fellowship of God’s Covenant People
Union, Kentucky
Kingdom Identity Ministries
Harrison, Arkansas
Mission to Israel Ministries
Scottsbluff, Nebraska
Sacred Truth Publishing and Ministries
Mountain City, Tennessee
Scriptures for America Worldwide Ministries
Laporte, Colorado