Revelations: Who are the hate groups and why we should be very afraid

By (O)CT(O)PUS

(Hate groups are everywhere. There are more of them than we think and they are more powerful than we know. And they don't just dress up in Nazi uniforms or white sheets. Some of them, some of the larger ones, are major players in Washington and around the U.S., and specifically key players in the Republican Party, where they are prominent both in the base and in the leadership. It's essential that we know who they are... and what they're up to. -- MJWS)

To more fully grasp the potential for domestic terrorism, I am posting this list of known hate groups, most operating as far-right-wing Christian ministries. If you missed Capt. Fogg's article, "Holocaust," or my post, "When 'pro-life' means pro-death," you might want to read those first.

Here is a very partial list of radical hate groups that support anti-abortion violence, anti-Semitism, homophobia, racism, sexism, white supremacy, and the overthrow of our constitutional form of government:

American Center for Law and Justice. Headed by Marion "Pat" Robertson, this group advocates the assassination of foreign leaders, the subjugation of women, and the oppression of gays.

America's Promise Ministries. An anti-Semitic group that claims white people as the "chosen ones."

Army of God. An underground network of terrorists who believe violence is an acceptable way to end abortion. In 1984, Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun received death threats by mail from this group. Several members, Eric Rudolph, James Kopp, and Clayton Waagner, are serving prison sentences for bombing, murder, and anthrax threats, respectively.

Aryan Nations. A group that advocates anti-Semitism and the murder of homosexuals.

Bill Bright, Campus Crusade for Christ. A hate group that seeks to replace the Constitution and establish their own theocracy.

Christian Association of PrimeTimers. This group scams senior citizens out of their retirement money to finance the abolition of the U.S. Constitution and the installation of a theocracy.

Chalcedon Foundation. Seeks to abolish the Constitution and install themselves as leaders of a theocracy.

Christian Coalition of America. Once headed by Ralph Reed, this anti-abortion, pro-school prayer, pro-creationism group seeks the replacement of public schools with fundamentalist Christian schools supported with tax dollars.

Christian Reconstructionism. This hate group seeks the overthrow the U.S. Constitution and the establishment of a theocracy. Advocates the execution of racial minorities and homosexuals.

Citizens for Excellence in Education. Another pro school prayer, pro creationism group that seeks the replacement of public schools with fundamentalist Christian schools paid with tax dollars.

Collegiate Network. An anti sex education group that seeks the replacement of public schools with fundamentalist Christian schools paid with tax dollars.

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (Ft. Lauderdale FL). Led by D. James Kennedy, this hate group advocates violence towards gays and women and seeks to establish their own brand of theocracy.

Council for Conservative Citizens. Foments racism with a special focus on anti-Semitism.

Council for National Policy. Seeks to abolish the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and impose their own theocracy.

Focus on the Family. One of the most vocal, best-known homophobic groups in America.

Jack Chick Publications. Publishes bizarre comic books that allege a world-wide conspiracy of "Satanists" and "witches" who kidnap, torture, murder, and eat babies.

Jim Wickstrom. The leader of a cult with strong ties to "Posse Comitatus," a group that blames abortions on "Jewish Doctors" who then blast aborted fetuses into outer space [not a joke!].

Ku Klux Klan. This infamous hate group has participated in anti-abortion demonstrations in Melbourne and Pensacola Florida. Perhaps an obvious point: Many terror and intimidation tactics used against abortion clinics have been borrowed from the Klan.

Landmark Legal Foundation. Advocates the replacement of public schools with fundamentalist Christian schools paid with tax dollars.

Lifeline Long Distance. Finances domestic terrorist organizations like Operation Rescue and the so-called Army of God.

Operation Rescue. A domestic terrorist organization linked to the murder of abortion providers. Currently headed by Troy Newman, a front man for Randal Terry, this group preaches hatred and the submission of women to male masters. The cult's leadership advocates the overthrow of the Constitution and the removal of women from the work force.

Parental Freedom in Education. Their goal is to replace public schools with fundamentalist Christian schools financed with tax dollars.

Pete Peters. Claims Jews are conspiring to control the world with the United Nations taking over the United States.

Policy Research Institute. Demands the creation of tax-subsidized religious schools and the replacement of all public schools with fundamentalist Christian schools.

Phineas Priesthood. Advocates the murder of mixed race couples. The "Phineas" title is used by numerous Christian hate groups in the United States.

Promise Keepers. Advocates the violent "taking back" of male dominion over women.

Rodney O. Skurdal. Advocates the removal of women from the workplace.

Stormfront White Nationalists. Last week, this online hate group praised James von Brunn, the gunman who killed a security guard at the Holocaust Museum. The scariest part: Stormfront has a huge following... estimated to be in the millions.

The Army of God. Like Operation Rescue, this is a domestic terrorist group that has claimed responsibility for several abortion clinic bombings, including the infamous double-bombing intended to murder rescue workers aiding victims of the first blast.

The Bradley Foundation. Advocates the replacement of public schools with fundamentalist Christian schools paid with tax dollars.

The Church of Jesus Christ Christian. Similar to Aryan Nations and the Ku Klux Klan, this anti-Semitic group that advocates violence.

The Heritage Foundation. Finances racist research.

The Institute for Historic Review. An anti-Semitic hate group that denies the Holocaust.

The Order. A hate group that focuses on racism and abortion.

The Sword and the Cross. An anti-Semitic hate group that operates worldwide.

Traditional Values Coalition. An anti-homosexual hate group that denies the separation between church and State.

U.S. Tax Payers Party. Supports the domestic terrorist group, Operation Rescue.

Westboro Baptist Church. Headed by Fred Phelps, this group pickets churches, schools, businesses, and military funerals to rail against homosexuality. Unbelievers are labeled as “faggots."

White Aryan Resistance. A hate group led by Tom Metzger, who advocates abortion for non-white mothers and forced birth at gun point for white mothers.

Virginia Trinitarian Pro-Nomian Alliance (VTPA). A hate group seeking to overthrow the Constitution and remove the Bill of Rights to install their own theocracy.

Source: The Skeptic Tank

When I first presented this list at The Swash Zone, several readers questioned the preponderance of Christian ministries cited above. Why were ministries engaged in so-called "good works" (i.e., James Dobson) included on the same list as rabid homophobes such as Fred Phelps?

As you can see, this website underwritten by Dobson promotes a clear anti-gay message. His opposition to all gay rights is infamous, and most mental health professionals reject his views on homosexuality (including his views on physical punishment as a means of disciplining children).

Rarely does a blogger receive a comment as dramatic, contextual, and convincing as this:

A few days ago a young man (16) killed himself because he was tired of hiding his gayness. I knew him because he mowed my yard and he mailed me a letter the day he hung himself (…) That young man was a handsome, decent intelligent young man and I will cherish his letter for the rest of my life [see comment @ 5:44 PM, June 12, 2009].

To underscore my point, the suicide rate among gay and lesbian youth is disturbing and heartbreaking: LGBT youth are two to three times more likely to commit suicide compared with other young people. Predisposing risk factors include homophobia within our culture, gender uncertainty with respect to sexual orientation, social ostracism among peers, and parental rejection. Thus, anti-homosexual attitudes of far-right-wing ministries abuse our underage and vulnerable young people struggling with issues of self-identity.

Indeed, there is a regrettable preponderance of Christian ministries cited in this post, but my intent here is not to disparage faith and good works. All too often, religious fervor degenerates into demonization, fear-mongering, scapegoating, and Apocalyptic aggression. Or, as Chip Berlet states in Toxic to Democracy: Conspiracy Theories, Demonization & Scapegoating:

People who believe conspiracist allegations sometimes act on those irrational beliefs, and this has concrete consequences in the real world. Angry allegations can quickly turn into aggression and violence targeting scapegoated groups (…) Even when conspiracist theories do not center on Jews, homosexuals, people of color, immigrants or other scapegoated groups, they still create an environment where racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, homophobia, and other forms of prejudice, bigotry, and oppression can flourish [p. 47].

If faith and good works mean changing laws to deprive women of private and legitimate health-care rights, returning women to the days of back room abortion butchers, forcing them to bear dead babies against their will, forcing them to forgo life-saving chemotherapy just because they are pregnant, discriminating against our gay brothers and sisters and turning them into second-class citizens, denying any class of citizens equal protection under law, forcing school prayers on people who do not want it, using public tax money to finance private religious education, and demanding the imposition of one religious doctrine over believers and non-believers alike, then those groups on this list BELONG on this list.

(Cross-posted at The Swash Zone.)