History Minute (093): The Six Premises and Spirituality of the Ku Klux Klan

In prior posts, we have covered a variety of KKK views about what races are and where races come from, including what they believe to be God's intent. 

Regardless of which of these various threads of thought, as Gustaf Forsell explains in his article -- Blood, Cross and Flag: The Influence of Race on Ku Klux Klan Theology in the 1920s -- 

“...the general goal for the Ku Klux Klan was to maintain the Founding Fathers’ religious and racial ideals as imagined in order to counteract the alleged defilement of American society. To do so, the Klan formulated six premises."

He lists them as these:

1. The Republic was established by white men. 
2. It was established for white men. 
3. It should never fall into the hands of an ‘inferior’ race. 
4. Blacks must be kept outside of politics. 
5. Blacks ought to comprehend that Whites are the ones who rule in America. 
6. Purity of the white blood must be maintained.

He further states, 

"Two important Klan documents from each of these eras—Constitution and Laws of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (1922) and Klansman’s Manual (1924)—establish that one of the fundaments of the Klan was ‘to maintain forever the God-given supremacy of the white race’."

Spirituality, Forsell tells us, was (is) the most important aspect of Klan thought. It "contributed to strengthen Klansmen’s ambitions to mobilize a vanguard of white, native-born, Protestant Americans, to make them follow Christ as the Klan’s ‘Criterion of Character’ and thereby to enhance the resurgence of American nation in accordance with the Founding Fathers’ alleged religious and racial ideals. Such a religious nationalist and racial exegetical positioning was reflected in the burning cross, a defining symbol for the Klan ever since."

Read more:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2020.1809384

 

History Minute (092): The origins of Races in KKK thought -- part 3

A third theory of race in KKK thought -- the one most frequently articulated by Klansmen -- is that of all the world's races and their distinct nations, God chose superior British men of the Nordic race and guided them intimately in establishing the United States as racially pure people that is to be devoted to God. Americans of the Nordic race, this view holds, are the new "chosen people" and in America would regenerate the defiled Nordic race through racial purity and adherence to what they view as the "Word of God" in the Bible.

By the second half of the 19th century, in light of the outcome of the Civil War, this interpretation of American history pervaded American society. Many White Protestants articulated the racial myth that they are a people chosen by God to pursue the sacred mission to glorify the United States as the Promised Land for the people of the Nordic race. This meant they had (have) a divine mission to prevent miscegenation, and thereby preserve the "divine order". Every Klansman should act as a patriotic Christian.  

Read more:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2020.1809384

History Minute (091): The origins of Races in KKK thought -- part 2

A second view of race in KKK thinking -- British Israelism -- dates to the early 19th century, and sees the so-called Anglo-Saxon race as the descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The Bible indicates that Jacob's twelve sons were each to be the founders of tribes in Israel, but after 930 BCE, civil war divided Israel into two kingdoms -- Israel in the north with ten tribes, and Judah in the south with two tribes. Two hundred years later, Assyria invaded the northern kingdom and imprisoned its people, and what happened to them after that is a mystery of history. 

Contrary to what would commonly happen, promoters of the British-Israelist theory assert that the people of the Ten Tribes never assimilated, nor did they ever return to Israel, but instead migrated to lands now known as Turkey, Greece, southern regions of the former Soviet Union, and Western Europe, where they eventually ended up on the British Isles and became the ancestors of British people.

There are KKK members -- including the White Camelia Knights of the Ku Klux Klan -- and churches that hold to this Christian Identity theology of race: Aryans (Nordics) are the descendants of of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and Jews are their God-ordained arch-enemies.

Read more:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2020.1809384

History Minute (090): The origins of Races in KKK thought -- part 1

After Noah and his family survive the flood in Genesis 9 of the Bible, his three sons -- Shem, Ham, and Japheth -- became the fathers of peoples who spread out over the earth. However, before they did so, Noah  lay drunk and naked in his tent. After Ham tells his brothers that he saw Noah drunk and naked, Noah finds out and curses Ham's son, Canaan, that he should be the lowest of slaves to Japheth and Shem.

From this reading, KKK thought leaders proclaim that Ham is the originator of the Black race, Shem of the Semitic race, and Japheth of the Aryan / Nordic race. This line of KKK thinking is that this story proves God predestined Black people to be slaves, or at least, subordinate to White people, and was part of legitimizing slavery in the United States. The "kreed" of the Klan states, “We avow the distinction between the races of mankind as same has been decreed by the Creator, and we shall ever be true in the faithful maintenance of white supremacy and will strenuously oppose any compromise thereof in any and all things.”

So much for one of three competing views of race in KKK literature. More to follow.

Read more:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2020.1809384

History Minute (089): Christian Theology and Race in the Ku Klux Klan

Three theories of the origins of humankind are discussed in KKK literature:

• Monogenesis -- every race derives from Adam and Eve.
• Polygenesis -- only the White race descends from Adam and Eve.
• Evolutionary biology.

Evolutionary biology is dismissed out of hand as "emphatically the theory of infidels, skeptics, and atheists -- the pet philosophy of all the fools who say in their hearts, there is no God".

Monogenesis is a theory that relies on these hidden assumptions:

• Race is defined based on differences in body characteristics as well as inherent differences in fixed mental and moral traits.
• There is a natural preference to marry within one's own race and it is not merely a social habit. This instinct is God-given, natural law, wise, morally right, and unchangeable.
• Mixing races through intermarriage produces inferior outcomes: morally confused, physically weakened, or socially unstable offspring. This results in the overall lowering of the quality and dignity of humankind.

To be sure, there is no scientific basis for these assumptions. They are mere speculations of KKK thought leaders, expressing their preferred world view. All of their assumptions are presumed, not demonstrated to be true. 

Monogenesis, they say, would mean God made humans with built-in contradictions. On the one hand, if God created humanity as one, which would promote intermarriage leading to degradation of humankind, and simultaneously built in a preference to marry within one's own race, God would be contradicting themself. On the other hand, if humankind is one family coming from one set of parents in Adam and Eve, then God has destined humanity to failure through continual decline via intermarriage. Based upon these assumptions, they reject monogenesis as a theory because it would make God seem incompetent; it therefore cannot be true, they say, that everyone descended from Adam and Eve. 

KKK thought leaders rely then upon the theory of polygenesis -- that non-Whites are not descended from Adam and Eve but are instead inferior beings created by God before Adam and Eve. This is how, they say, after Cain killed Abel and was ostracized, he was able to meet other people in the land of Nod -- and the people of Nod, according to this theory, are an inferior race and are not part of the descendants of Adam.

In accord with the polygenetic theory, the KKK see the United States as having a God-given mission to regenerate the White race. The Klan claim to represent a holy crusade, and even to be "another form of God", and gave Paul's Letter to the Romans, Chapter 12, prominence as the Law of Life, summing up the sacred principles they seek to promote.

Read more:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2020.1809384

History Minute (088): KKK says "You must join" if you are decent, unlike the Catholics

“You must either join the Klan and throw your influence on the side of decency, Christianity and law enforcement, or join the law breakers, negro preachers, Roman Catholics and Jews,” says the tract Principles and Purposes of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

 

As conveyed by Gustaf Forsell in his article Blood, Cross and Flag: The Influence of Race on Ku Klux Klan Theology in the 1920s, “Hiram Wesley Evans’ chief indictment against Catholicism was ‘that it is, fundamentally and irredeemably, in its leadership, in politics, in thought, and largely in membership, actually and actively alien, un-American and usually anti-American’.”

Read more:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2020.1809384

History Minute (085): KKK views on separating by race

The thinking of the Ku Klux Klan is that each race was placed in its own geographic area, and should stay where it is, or go back to where it came from, to maintain each race's purity. To the extent that various races live in the United States, each racial group should know its place and not try to mix together, out of concern that race-mixing would pollute the race of white Protestant Americans. 

Klan members often disguise this vision by talking euphemistically about the need to solve social and political issues through a "solidified organization of militant American men".

Read more:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2020.1809384

History Minute (084): KKK concept of the Nordic noble race

The Ku Klux Klan combined its concept of race with contemporary thought about eugenics -- good genes versus bad ones. Klansmen religious nationalist talk about the past is frequently in terms of inherited "Nordic-ness".  White Americans -- at least those of Nordic descent, as a certain percentage of Anglos are thought to be -- are part of a "noble race". In their view, God intentionally gave America to this noble race of superior white men for the purpose of their rebirth and expansion. God has destined them to save white civilization.

Members of this noble race of superior white men can be identified, in their thinking, by their "Nordic" traits: wavy brown or blond hair; light skin; eyes that are blue, grey, or biscuit; a nose that is symmetrical; a sturdy physique; and a skull that is relatively long, with a width of less than 80% of its length. Such people might come typically from eastern Germany, Poland, and Russia, as well as eastern Ukraine -- though not every person from these lands are members of the "noble race".

Members of this Nordic "noble race" allegedly created ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, both of which declined due to intermarriage with non-Nordic people. They say further, that when the Roman Empire fell, it was Nordic Goths who acquired the science, literature, and aesthetics of the Roman Empire and supposedly initiated the Renaissance. They assert that all the great minds of this era -- Dante, Michelangelo, da Vinci, etc. -- were racially Nordic. In our time, they claim that the vast majority of people of the British Isles belong to the Nordic race -- most especially Scotland, where the race is thought to be most pure.

Read more:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2020.1809384

History Minute (082): KKK calls Catholicism a political and cultural threat

• “At the height of the Jim Crow and disfranchisement era, the Klan viciously maintained the sexual and social colour line, but treated Catholicism as a more immediate political and cultural threat, claiming that Catholics sought to take over the political and public school systems.” 

•  “[William Lloyd] Clarke argues [in anti-Catholic The Devil’s Prayer Book] that Catholicism by nature is incompatible with white Protestant social order and that the papacy embodies impurity. Furthermore, he claims that Catholicism seeks to damage traditional family norms and that Catholics seek to replace the President and the American Constitution with the Pope and Catholic tenets.”

Excerpts from:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2020.1809384

History Minute (081): KKK support from Henry Ford and Hiram Wesley Evans

“In 1920, business magnate Henry Ford introduced the American public to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and published his own article series ‘The International Jew’ (1920–1922), which contributed to enhance anti-Semitism as ideological element for nationalist mobilization. [Grand Dragon Hiram Wesley] Evans on the other hand emphasized political anti-Catholicism and strived to make the Klan a political force in America.”

Excerpt from:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2020.1809384

History Minute (080): Christian pastors and theology in the KKK

“Walter C. Wright, a Texas reverend and one of the Klan’s foremost ideologues, emphasized that the core of Klan theology was belief in Christianity’s essential tenets, to regard Christ as ‘Criterion of Character’, and to consider Romans 12 as his ‘Law of Life’. Across the country, individuals who lived up to the membership requirements sought themselves to the Invisible Empire, predominately those from Evangelical, charismatic and Pentecostal churches, which in many respects constituted the Klan’s recruiting ground. Kleagles [i.e., recruiters for the Klan] were eager to recruit Protestant ministers to the Klan, highlighting the importance of clergy in building a Protestant fraternal and political movement.”

Excerpt from:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2020.1809384

History Minute: (079): How big was the KKK?

“In a period of four years, the Invisible Empire [i.e., the KKK] turned into one of the country’s largest mass movements with an estimated four to six million members in 1924. This means that the Klan at its peak had as many members as the American Federation of Labour, at the time one of the largest union movements in the United States.” (Gustaf Forsell, Blood, Cross and Flag: The Influence of Race on Ku Klux Klan Theology in the 1920s). 

• At a time when the population of white males over age 15 was roughly 30 million, approximately 15 - 20% were members of the KKK.
• In former Confederate states, where the male population over age 15 was 8 to 12 million, approximately half of them were KKK members. (Census figures from Perplexity.ai)

Read more:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2020.1809384

History Minute (077): The Klan called all these people "threats to white American society"

"From originally being a brotherhood determined to reinstate slavery, the Klan identified myriad alleged threats to white American society after the end of the First World War in 1918. Catholics, Asians, the labour movement, Communists and to some extent Jews were all accused of threatening white American civilization."

Excerpt from:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2020.1809384

Christian Identity (Wikipedia)

Christian Identity (also known as Identity Christianity) is an interpretation of Christianity which advocates the belief that only Celtic and Germanic peoples, such as the Anglo-Saxon, Nordic nations, or the Aryan race and kindred peoples, are the descendants of the ancient Israelites and are therefore God's "chosen people". 

It is a racial interpretation of Christianity and is not an organized religion, nor is it affiliated with specific Christian denominations...Today it is practiced by independent individuals, independent congregations, and some prison gangs...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Identity

The End of the Johnson Amendment? (Hemant Mehta and Jessica Bluemke, The Friendly Atheist podast #591)

— Is the Johnson Amendment dead? IRS says churches can now endorse candidates from the pulpit. (1:35)

— Hate-fueled, anti-gay sermons from Indiana New IFB church spark outrage. (32:30)

— Court rules against West Virginia in $5,000,000 religious grant controversy. (52:59)

— FOX & Friends promotes Creationist theme park in sponsored segment disguised as news. (1:04:25)

— “Sheep do not judge the shepherd”: Priest defends convicted abuser in shocking sermon. (1:17:20)
Interview: 

https://friendlyatheistpodcast.com/2025/07/10/the-end-of-the-johnson-amendment/

 

Putting the White in White Christian Nationalism (Andrew Seidel; One Nation, Indivisible podcast, Episode #012)

This episode touches on the recent controversies around the new Pope’s actions, the resignation of 'Righteous Gemstones', the rise of white Christian nationalism, and specific incidents of racism by individuals like Shiloh Hendricks and Lily Gaddis.

It also covers the fundraising support for racists and criminals on the GiveSendGo platform, and the differential treatment of activists based on their race and political stances. Seidel emphasizes the deep-rooted connection between American Christianity and racism, and recommends key resources for understanding this phenomenon.

• Katherine Stewart reporting on Rev. Barber and Anti-Christian Bias Task Force for The New Republic: https://newrepublic.com/article/194834/trump-anti-christian-bias-task-force 
• Amanda Marcotte reporting on Gaddis for Salon: https://www.salon.com/2024/06/17/a-tradwife-drops-a-slur-why-the-rights-trolling-economy-made-lilly-gaddis-rise-inevitable/ 
•  Understanding Christian Nationalism reading list on Bookshop.org https://bookshop.org/lists/understanding-christian-nationalism 
• White Evangelical Racism by Anthea Butler https://bookshop.org/a/71739/9781469661179

Interview: 

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-rvmmr-25632564

Crankmail (March 2025) (Freethought Today, March 2025)

Here's a sample of the mail that good devout Christians send to the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Beware toxic language. Printed as received.

https://www.freethoughttoday.com/free/crankmail-march-2025/

There’s no such thing as the “sin of empathy”

Interview: 

https://youtu.be/F8p_NaYyb-0?si=L4gR_DdU_wx04lvQ

”Crimes Against Humanity”? A Defense of Dr. Anthony Fauci (Seth Andrews; The Thinking Atheist podcast)

In the minds of many, immunologist and public health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci has become an enemy of the people. Who is this man, and what is driving public hatred toward him?

Interview: 

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-5bivh-1f11705a

Why Always the Jews? (w/Mike Rothschild)

Who could be a better guide through the fever dream of modern anti-semitism—the socialism of fools—than a scrappy young scion of the House of Rothschild? How has Mike, this mysterious insider—visible on CNN but a seeming ghost in real life—used his inheritance and connections to score book deals with the Fake News Media? Will he redeem his family name?

Just joking! Author and friend of the pod Mike Rothschild is no relation to the banking family that has lived rent-free in the minds of antisemites and conspiracy theorists for over two centuries now. He is the author of 2021’s The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything. His new book out less that two years later, is ​​Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories. Mike joins us now from his summer palace in the South of France, um, actually his home office in Los Angeles to discuss the very stupid but dangerous groundswell of Jew hatred now filling our feeds.
Interview: 

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-urnay-1aeec21c