Definitions | The Issues | Articles | Resources | Home Page

Ku Klux Klan and Other Hate Groups in the United States

The Charter for Racial Justice Policies holds us accountable as United Methodists in the United States to be conscious that "we have sinned as our ancestors did; we have been wicked and evil" (Psalm 106:6, Today's English Bible). We are called to a renewed commitment to the elimination of institutional racism. We affirm the 1976 General Conference statement on "The United Methodist Church and Race," which states unequivocally:

By biblical and theological precept, by the law of the Church, by General Conference pronouncement, and by episcopal expression, the matter is clear. With respect to race, the aim of The United Methodist Church is nothing less than an inclusive church in an inclusive society. The United Methodist Church therefore calls upon all its people to perform those faithful deeds of love and justice in both the church and community that will bring this aim into full reality.

The United Methodist Church has expressed its opposition to all forms of racism and anti-Semitism in the past. Racism replaces faith in the God who made all people with a belief in the superiority of one race over another.

Nevertheless, racism still exists in the United States, congealed in its most violent, antidemocratic form—the white supremacist movement.

The white supremacist movement has developed into two distinct trends. One is the clandestine and semi-clandestine movement committed to terror and violence to popularize its aims and achieve its goals. The other trend has specialized in developing an elaborate facade, designed to win new supporters who would otherwise be repelled by an open appeal to violence and neo-Nazism. Together these groups form a fascist movement with a stable core and expanding spheres of influence, despite the temporary fortunes or misfortunes of its constituent groups.

An underground composed of members of different Klan factions, the Aryan Nations (which include the Church of Jesus Christ-Christian, the Mountain Kirk, and other nonchurch organizations), and other neo-Nazi formations continue to exist. The underground was typified by The Order, a basic philosophy of the Ku Klux Klan. Activities carried out under this philosophy include murder, theft, vandalizing synagogues, counterfeiting, bombing churches and public buildings, and bank robbery.

The racist movement has already entered the twenty-first century with an increasingly sophisticated technical apparatus. The Aryan Nations organization operates five different "Liberty Net" computer bulletin boards that relay messages among white supremacists, which allows them a wider public audience for their ideas.

Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups engage in open paramilitary activity. Training bases of groups are located in all sections of the country. From the White Aryan Resistance in the West, to the Christian-Patriots Defense League in the Midwest, to the Ku Klux Klan in the South, hate groups are trained with highly sophisticated weaponry.

On the other hand, Posse Comitatus-type groups have recruited farm and rural whites throughout the depressed agricultural sections of the country. They have used clever schemes based on providing fraudulent legal assistance and grassroots organizing to win new recruits. Although organizers of groups such as National Agricultural Press Association (NAPA), Farmer Liberation Army, and the Iowa Society of Educated Citizens don't openly identify themselves as neo-Nazi, they do place the blame for the crisis in agriculture on a mythical international Jewish conspiracy. Some of the members of the Posse Comitatus-like groups have been involved in violent altercations with the law.

In addition to the paramilitary, economic, and political organizing of the fascist movement, a powerful religious movement called Christian Identity has developed. Christian Identity is derived from a century-old religious doctrine known as British Israelism. It provides theological unity to disparate sections of the white supremacist movement and an attraction to the racist movement for those whose beginning interests are primarily religious. Christian Identity functions in the religious sphere much like fraudulent legal schemes do among economically distressed farmers. Christian Identity theology teaches that people of color are "pre-Adamic," lower forms of species than white people; that Jews are children of Satan; and that the white people of northern Europe are the Lost Tribes of Israel.

Therefore, be it resolved, that the General Conference, in solidarity with victims of recent outbreaks of racial violence:
1. Calls upon the appropriate boards and agencies of The United Methodist Church to:
(a) Educate clergy and laity to the insidiousness of the Christian Identity movement, the Ku Klux Klan, and other hate groups who claim their values and practices are based in Christianity. Education should include courses in seminaries as well as education for children, youth, and adults in church programs;
(b) Develop special programs to support churches and persons harassed by hate groups, particularly in rural areas where the social institutions that mediate conflict are weak and hate group activity is prevalent;
(c) Support coalitions that oppose bigotry and hate groups; and
(d) Oppose the involvement of minors in paramilitary training sponsored by the Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups; and
2. Calls upon government and its agencies to:
(a) Ensure that law-enforcement personnel take the necessary steps to maintain accurate records on racist violence and bring to justice the perpetrators of such violence and intimidation; and
(b) Hold hearings on racist violence, particularly in those states where statistics reveal an increase in the activity of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups. Congressional hearings should be held when there are allegations of government involvement or negligence exacerbating such violence.

ADOPTED 1988

Back to Resources page