By Brian Birmingham

I once knew an older gentleman who lived near Mobile, Alabama. He called himself a “Christian” and he refused to read or study from any Bible other than a King James Version. He was retired, and he studied the Bible every day for hours. He was friendly and generous. We became Bible study partners and friends.

After weeks of study together, he began to share some of his personal beliefs and opinions.

That’s when it became evident that he was a racist.

But all of his racism was justified through interpretations of the King James Bible.

“Everything” he said was somehow explicitly spelled out and justified biblically, he claimed.

First there is the “Curse of Cain” (Genesis 4:15), which he interpreted as a premise for black slavery and servitude. Then he claimed that Acts 17:26 laid the foundation for biblically mandated segregation. He later told me that that Jeremiah 23:25 was the basis for denouncing Martin Luther King, Jr. as a “false prophet.”

He rejected all my arguments and insisted that “God” had commanded that the races must live separately and that black people specifically must be subservient to white people.

Within the world of “cults” these same racist sentiments are expressed by certain groups, who also insist that such pronouncements are solely based upon “God’s Word” in the Bible.

There is a group called “Twelve Tribes,” founded by Eugene Delbert Spriggs, that preaches Biblical justifications for holding racist beliefs. But Spriggs simply copied his teachings from other racists.

We often call groups that harbor such sentiments “White Supremacists.”

Now on the other hand what many don’t know is that there are also Black Supremacists.

The Ku Klux Klan marching on parade.

Black Supremacists often manipulate the bible too, much like the Ku Klux Klan and my old white racist friend from Alabama. The only difference is, which race is considered preeminent.

For example, the so-called “Black Hebrews” or “Black Israelite” movement, which includes “Israelites United in Christ” (IUIC) led by Nathaniel Ray of New York, also known as “Nathanyel Ben Israel.”

The IUIC represents just one faction, within the larger context of Black Hebrew or Black Israelite movement. But in many ways the IUIC is not unlike the Klan concerning their insistence upon ordained racial superiority.

By the way, the IUIC is hardly original. Just like the Twelve Tribes its beliefs are largely derived from earlier groups such as the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge (ISUPK), which is arguably even more militant.

Would Martin Luther King be considered a “false prophet” by such groups due to his philosophy of non-violence and peaceful resistance?

Years after my studies with the man from Alabama I came across a street preacher on a sunny Spring Day in downtown Dallas. He was accompanied by several supporters. The preacher blasted his message through a bullhorn, while his companions passed out flyers to pedestrians. They wore dark, tunic-like uniforms. Some had headpieces and they all carried Bibles. They were Black Israelites.

I stopped to listen and read one of their flyers. It was published by Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge (ISUPK). The message was hardcore Black Supremacist doctrine. All about how African Americans, and other people of color, are the true descendants of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. How Christianity is a “false religion” and white people are “devils.”

Hate speech is still free speech in America. And the ISUPK preacher shared a racist and anti-Semitic message based upon a twisted interpretation of the Bible.

Were they so different from the Klan or the White Supremist Christian Identity Movement or any other supposedly Bible-based hate group?

Scripture twisting, after all, is characteristically done by both.

Black Israelites preaching

FYI — The Anti-Defamation League provides a very good history of ISUPK and related groups on its website, in an article titled “Extremist Sects Within the Black Hebrew Israelite Movement.” It explains how the ISUPK and IUIC have the same ideological roots, beginning with a preacher named Frank Cherry.

I stood and listened to that street preacher, which apparently drew his attention. He said, “If you are truly sorry for all the evil done by white people, bow down and kiss my boot.” He explained, “Talk is cheap and action speaks louder than words. Humble yourself before this descendent of slaves that your ancestors tormented and exploited. Kiss my boot.”

So, I did it.

All the Black Israelites clapped as I rose to my feet and shook the hand of the preacher, who seemed genuinely surprised.

I was interested in his reaction and how my act of contrition might affect him.

Would this change his opinion of me or about white people?

“I didn’t think you would do it,” he said.

And then he put his arm around my shoulder like a friend.

Then he said, “After the race war, which is coming, I will make sure that you are a well-treated slave.”

We talked for a while after that, but he never really changed his mind about me or white people. There was nothing I could do or say to persuade him. He was just
as rigid as my old white Bible study partner.

Today there are many hate groups online recruiting new members. Some have been banned on social media, while others have not.

YouTube has policies concerning hate speech.

However, groups like the IUIC, led by Nathaniel Ray, operate with impunity, using social media to spread hate, recruit and raise money. The IUIC is on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok and uses the app Clubhouse.

Nathaniel Ray IUIC

See the IUIC YouTube channel and the many indoctrination videos available there. For example, the one titled, “Let’s talk Israel United in Christ” by IUIC founder Nathaniel Ray. Ray explicitly calls whites and Jews the “Devil” at the 14-minute mark.

Ray provides a very concise explanation of the basic beliefs of the IUIC. He says that European Jews are “Edomites” and are themselves the “Devil.”

I have no regrets about my brief encounter with the ISUPK or boot kissing. It helped bring some clarity about the nature of all hate groups and how rigidly they hold onto their hate, whether someone kisses their boot or whatever.

When someone has hate in their heart it’s hard to change them. They see the world in black and white, “us vs. them.” And this distinction isn’t about race, it’s about the dichotomy and limits of their thinking and the rigidity of their mindset.

Note: Brian Birmingham is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts in Boston with a BA in Psychology and Sociology. He is a native of Dallas.

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Chicago Judge Joan Lefkow returned to her home last night to find both her husband and mother shot dead. The federal judge had previously been targeted in a Neo-Nazi murder plot.

Judge Lifkow was an obsessive fixation for white supremacist Matthew Hale; the self-proclaimed “Pontifex Maximus” head of a hate group once called “World Church of the Creator,” later renamed “The Creativity Movement.”

The name Hale first chose for his group already belonged to a benign church, which didn’t appreciate the confusion he caused, so they sued.

Judge Lefkow eventually ordered Hale not to use that name and to purge it from all his group’s literature and its Web site.

Hale hated her for that and plotted revenge.

But the plan hatched by the former “Pontifex” from East Peoria failed and he was found guilty for “solicitation of murder.” Hale is now locked up in jail within the loop of downtown Chicago pending sentencing.

Ironically though, Judge Lifkow actually had first sided with Hale, supporting his right to use the contested name.

However, a higher court forced the Chicago jurist to amend her ruling and she then meted out the required restrictions.

Nevertheless in the twisted mind of Mattew Hale Judge Lefkow became his hated enemy and the font of perceived “persecution.”

Hale considers himself a “political prisoner” and remains both a hero and martyr to many within the dark subculture often called the hate movement.

One Internet site the “Vanguard News Network” has posts of praise for “Dr. Hale” under the heading “White Revolution.” He is portrayed as the victim of “persecution” perpetrated by the “Devil Jew.”

Reportedly another Internet site described Judge Lifkow as “a white woman married to a Jew with three mixed-race grandchildren,” while yet another Web site made public her home address.

Hale once said, “Some people go out and hunt deer…I think it’s a hell of a lot more sporting to hunt a Jew.”

But Hale’s hunting days are over and it is unlikely that he was able to order the murders from his jail cell, where his contact with the outside world is closely monitored.

Instead, it appears likely that those sympathetic with Hale and inspired by his rhetoric of hate may have finally fulfilled his hope for revenge by murdering the judge’s husband and mother.

If so, this would not be the first time Hale has inspired murder.

Benjamin Smith, a follower inspired by Hale, went on a shooting spree in 1999 killing two and injuring nine before taking his own life. This occurred after an adverse court ruling, which effectively ended his hero’s effort to become a practicing lawyer in Illinois.

“I strongly suspect that the denial of my law license set him off,” Hale told CNN.

Are the Lefkow family murders, yet another example of someone “set…off” by Hales circumstances?

All this can be seen within the context of a purported “Racial Holy War” called “Rahowa” against so-called “ZOG,” which one Web site explains is “an acronym for Zionist Occupation Government.” A term used to describe “the assortment of traitors and Zionist lackeys who control most of the White nations on this planet.”

Just such paranoid delusions may have formed the basis and/or rationalization for the recent murders in Chicago.

The National Alliance sells marching music for “Rahowa” on CD. This was the brainchild of deceased Neo-Nazi leader William Pierce, author of the notorious “Turner Diaries,” which inspired Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh.

McVeigh executed his plan for revenge on the second anniversary of the fiery end of the Waco Davidian compound, April 19, 1995.

Is it only a fluke that the Chicago killings yesterday occurred on February 28th, which is the 12th anniversary of the ill-fated BATF raid on that same cult compound?

Waco has been a battle cry for anti-government extremists for more than a decade.

The FBI is now investigating the Lefkow murders and as they already know it only takes one deranged true believer to create mayhem and commit murder.

Judge Lefkow is under the protection of federal marshals.

Note: Bart Ross, another disgruntled litigant who lost before Judge Lefkow, later confessed to the murders in a suicide note. His DNA matched that found at the crime scene. Ross had no known connection to a hate group or Matthew Hale.

Guest column by a former member/resident of the Church of Israel

Dan Gayman misrepresents his relationship with Eric Rudolph and lies to the media about the length of time Eric spent on church grounds, and the relationships that Eric forged there.

Dan Gayman is the leader of the Church of Israel.

Gayman claims Pat Rudolph and her sons Eric and James just showed up uninvited at his church. And that she was a “destitute widow” he helped out.

However, Mrs. Rudolph and her children were invited by Dan Gayman to attend the Church of Israel “Tabernacles Celebration” in1984 and given specific directions to the remote compound, located five miles outside the small town of Schell City, Missouri.

Pat and her sons didn’t just happen upon to compound accidentally, as Dan has said in the past.

The Church of Israel is actually difficult to find and many people get lost on their first visit.

When Eric Robert Rudolph arrived at the church with his mother he was barely 18. His father, Robert had recently died of skin cancer in Florida and Eric seemed to want a father figure in his life.

The Rudolphs once followed the teachings of Nord Davis, another Christian Identity leader in North Carolina. They knew about Dan Gayman through his teaching tapes, which Mrs. Rudolph ordered through the mail. She felt that her family had finally found the “one true religion.”

Pat’s background and “credentials” were certainly checked before she was allowed onto the church property and given a place to stay.

Although Pat Rudolph was a widow, her brother was helping to support the family. She was not completely “destitute.”

In early November 1984, Dan Gayman instructed my husband and I to take the Rudolph family into our home for the winter months. We were then a young couple just starting out and the Rudolph family seemed nice so we readily agreed.

When Pat and her family stayed at our home she was diligent when it was her turn to buy groceries and she paid Dan for our house electric bill.

Eric Rudolph seemed to feel that he had found a father figure in Dan Gayman.

During Eric’s stay he spent many hours alone with Dan discussing politics, religion and philosophy. He dated one of the Gayman’s daughters and Dan appeared pleased about this.

Eric was interested in far-right politics and read “Imperium.” He also read “Mien Kamph,” by Adolph Hitler and was a fan of Neitze.

Regarding his long discussions with Dan, I never once heard Eric mention that Dan disapproved of his reading choices. And Dan seemed to enjoy their lengthy discussions.

After a while, Gayman even asked Eric to read the Morning Prayer in church on Sunday mornings.

The Rudolph family, which included Eric, Pat and Jamie, lived within the Church of Israel compound for several months.

Eric was a good-looking boy and he was a hit among the teenage girls who attended the church. And Dan was very excited to have Eric dating his daughter and welcomed him into his home on a regular basis.

But Eric didn’t enjoy the long boring winter in Missouri with so little to do. He also grew tired of Dan’s daughter, even though she was beginning to get serious. Eric said that she was “just too dominant” for him.

Eric Rudolph eventually left and went back to North Carolina in early 1985.

But he returned in the spring to help Pat and Jamie make the trip back to Topton, North Carolina. It was then that Eric made Dan and his daughter furious by falling in love with a pretty 18-year-old girl, who had come to attend the Feast of Pentecost with her father and grandparents.

When Dan and Eric parted company in the spring of 1985, they weren’t on good terms. When asked to perform Morning Prayer for the last time, Eric used the word “Lord” instead of “Yahweh” or “Christ.”

The Church of Israel doctrine maintained that using “Lord” in reference to God was something like blasphemy. Dan specifically said the word “Lord” was “Baal worship.” But I suspect it was really just another control issue for him, like everything else.

Dan had his right hand man at the time, write a letter to Eric and Pat castigating Eric and demanding that he repent and publicly apologize to Dan, or not come back.

However, it appeared that Eric and Dan did make up, because Eric later attended Pentecost for one day the following spring.

I distinctly remember Eric striding up to Dan after a service in the small chapel on the hill. Dan embraced Eric Rudolph and they shook hands. Gayman appeared happy to see him.

Eric also attended one night a year later, during a Tabernacles celebration. He came in late. My eldest son was just a baby then and I was busy with him, so I only could speak briefly with Eric after the sermon.

I don’t know what will happen to Eric Rudolph. Perhaps he will get the death penalty. He certainly deserves to pay for his crimes if proven guilty.

What bothers me is that so many people don’t understand how dangerous leaders like Dan Gayman are.

The Christian Identity movement promotes a distrust of government officials, hatred of Jewish people and intolerance for any sort of meaningful interracial co-habitation.

Dan Gayman has much to lose if his connection to Eric Rudolph is fully understood. He is busy cultivating an upper-middle class, white-collar following now. Gayman wants to secure his little kingdom for his children and grandchildren.

Dan Gayman directly controls thousands of acres of property in Vernon County, Missouri and his reported income in donations alone over the past 5 years was almost $1 million. He and all his children live in comfortable country homes within the Church of Israel compound.

Dan doesn’t want to have the attention of the Federal Government. And he refuses to take any responsibility for the philosophy of Eric Rudolph, which apparently led to the horrible bombings that killed several people.

Unwanted attention and public scrutiny might just cause some of Dan’s regular attendees to drop out and others to seek a group or cause that is less likely to attract critical media attention.

At age 66, Gayman is willing to lie to the public about what he has taught and/or teaches. He wants to depict his church as just a benign little country congregation that supposedly adheres to fundamentalist Christianity.

Dan is so concerned about preserving the assets he has accumulated over the years; he is willing to go underground with his beliefs.

However, I lived at the Church of Israel compound in the 1980’s and know firsthand about its political and religious teachings. I know how Dan Gayman views race, abortion, homosexuality and AIDS.

Dan has been preaching a message of hatred for over 30 years. And his “Two Seeds of Genesis 3:15″ is famous amongst Identity circles.” He taught us that salvation is only for white people of Anglo-Saxon, Germanic and Scandinavian racial background and that the Jews, far from being “God’s chosen people,” were instead “The Seed of Satan.”

Dan taught us that African American’s do not have souls and for this reason, cannot “inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.”

When my family lived within the Church of Israel compound Dan told us that we had to be willing to die for our faith.

But now because he is in the uncomfortable position of having an Eric Rudolph connection he publicly misrepresents, minimizes and/or outright lies about what he teaches and has taught at the Church of Israel.

After spending his life promoting a doctrine of hatred Dan Gayman now wants to distance himself from Eric Robert Rudolph and even falsely claim that he barely knew him.

Gayman refuses to take responsibility for his influence and the effect he has had on other people’s lives.

However, when a charismatic dominant leader like Dan Gayman preaches such a strong message of hate there are often tragic consequences.

A message of hate influenced Timothy McVeigh and led to the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building.

The teachings of Christian Identity ministers have had far-reaching and devastating effects. The Church of Israel alone has influenced thousands of people.

Thankfully we left that influence years ago and we pray for the victims of the y movement and hope for justice.

We also hold the leaders of this movement personally accountable for the ideology of hate, exclusion and intolerance, which they promote.

Eric Rudolph, once one of the ten most wanted criminals sought by the FBI, is now behind bars, reports MSNBC.

Indicted for terrorist bombings the white supremacist eluded law enforcement for years and had not been seen since 1998.

Many believed Rudolph was dead, his remains rotting in some remote and forgotten refuge.

But the FBI has confirmed that the alleged murderer is alive.

Rudolph was found by a Sheriff’s deputy in North Carolina, apparently scavenging for food in a garbage dumpster.

The suspicious officer brought in the apparent vagrant, who was later identified as a wanted fugitive.

A former member of the Missouri “Church of Israel” led by Dan Gayman, Rudolph grew up in a world filled with hatred, bigotry and paranoid conspiracy theories.

Beginning in childhood he was submerged in a subculture that includes as many as 50,000 Americans in more than a hundred desperate groups scattered across the country. This subculture is often called the “Christian Identity” movement.

Christian Identity believes that whites are the descendants of the biblical tribes of Israel and God’s elect. And also that the world will soon be engulfed in an apocalyptic struggle. In that struggle whites will battle against a worldwide Jewish conspiracy.

According to the movement’s proponents Jews and non-whites are actually descended biologically from Satan. That is, Satan had sex with Eve in the Garden of Eden and this union produced the other races.

Dan Gayman preaches a so-called “two seedline doctrine.” He says the offspring of Satan inhabit the Earth today, but rather slyly insists he doesn’t know who they are.

Gayman has a history of trying to carefully spin his beliefs, in an apparent effort to disarm critics.

Eric Rudolph’s mother introduced her son to Christian Identity.

The widowed Mrs. Rudolph eventually found a haven and home within Gayman’s Missouri compound, where the charismatic preacher became a mentor and paternal figure to her teenage son.

Within this controlled milieu Gayman nurtured Eric Rudolph’s hate and seemingly reinforced it.

It appears that the boy’s mindset was hardened at the Church of Israel. And the beliefs he largely learned there and amongst his other Identity brethren would be the impetus behind Rudolph’s “holy war” as the “Army of God.”

The FBI searching for Rudolph would later question Gayman. But like many hate group leaders, the prejudiced pastor would disavow any responsibility for the crimes committed by his one time follower.

However, Rudolph’s alleged crimes directly reflected the doctrinal focus of hatred inherent within both the Christian Identity movement and the Gayman church.

His targets for destruction would be gays, abortion clinics and the supposed “New World Order,” as expressed by nations coming together at the World Olympics.

How did Eric Rudolph survive for five years in hiding?

Did the subculture that created him sustain the fugitive?

What underground network of friends and support may have existed, that might have made Rudolph’s long-term survival in hiding possible?

Did such a support system suddenly collapse, forcing the fugitive to forage through garbage to feed himself?

The Christian Identity movement has spawned a litany of murderers and violent criminals.

How many more potential Eric Rudolphs are stewing in this sordid subculture, waiting to launch their holy wars?

As investigators unravel the past five years of Rudolph’s life, more will likely become known about this dark organized movement of hate that exists within America.

Since 9-11 Americans have looked outside of the country for the face of terror.

But long before that terrible day it was Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma bombing that made domestic terrorism the primary focus of the FBI.

Since that bombing of the Murrah Federal Building investigations and arrests have put many members of the Christian Identity movement, white supremacists, so-called “militia” men and an assortment of anti-government extremists behind bars.

The saga of Eric Rudolph offers compelling testimony that there are those within America that have a darkly twisted interpretation of religious scriptures, which often leads to bloodshed.

Osama bin Laden’s is not the only hate filled proponent of “holy war.”

Hate group leader Matt Hale feels the “Windy City” isn’t blowing his way, reports Associated Press.

The jailed former head of the so-called “World Church of the Creator,” now named “The Creativity Movement,” wants a coming criminal trial moved to his hometown of Peoria, where he lived with his father.

But it’s unlikely the judge will grant a change of venue. The racist’s trial is currently scheduled for September.

Hale has been on a losing streak for some time.

First, he was refused admission to the Illinois State Bar, upheld on appeal.

Then he lost the use of the name “World Church of the Creator,” which actually was originated by a group in Oregon.

It was that setback that apparently led to Hale losing it entirely.

Then it seems a federal judge became the focus of his fury. Hale is charged for plotting to murder that judge.

A Chicago jail cell is now Hale’s new home. And he may not get back to the old bedroom at Daddy’s house for a long time.

Hate group leader Matt Hale may be locked up, but his progeny still find ways to make trouble.

Hale headed a group once called “World Church of the Creator,” but is now in jail pending trial charged in an alleged murder plot to kill a federal judge.

However, Hale’s legal status hasn’t stopped his cronies from stirring up more trouble.

Repeatedly the courts have ruled that Hale’s “church” had no right to its name, which was originated by someone else. In what seemed like an effort of compliance he changed its title to “The Creativity Movement.”

However, in what looks like a brazen attempt to reject the rulings of US courts, the group has now launched a new website using the old name again, but this time based in Australia, reports the Chicago Sun Times.

Apparently Hale’s remaining faithful feel having an Internet server overseas somehow precludes previous domestic legal decisions.

This hate group has certainly given new meaning to the old adage “sore losers.”

It seems that even a murder plot to kill an unfriendly judge who ruled against them, just wasn’t enough to vent their anger and/or let off steam.

These losers seem still in the midst of the “mother of all temper tantrums.”

Earl Krugel has now pleaded guilty regarding a conspiracy to bomb an American mosque.

The 60-year-old Jewish Defense League (JDL) member may ultimately end his life in prison based upon the terms of his plea agreement reports Associated Press and Fox News.

According to the deal negotiated with prosecutors Krugel will serve no less than ten years in prison for his involvement in the bomb plot.

The FBI arrested Krugel and his JDL leader Irv Rubin in December of 2001.

Rabbi Meir Kahane founded the JDL in 1968. A Moslem fanatic murdered him in 1990.

Kahane was not unlike other charismatic hate group leaders such as William Pierce and Osama bin Laden who largely defined their groups through the power of their individual personalities.

The hate-filled rhetoric of the radical rabbi was often described as extremist and incited violence. One man associated with an Israeli Kahane-connected organization murdered 29 Moslems at prayer in a Hebron mosque.

Fortunately it seems the FBI stopped Rubin and Krugel before they could wreak havoc and death on a mosque.

In 1994 the party Kahane founded in Israel was outlawed and later declared a foreign terrorist organization by the United States State Department.

Now perhaps the JDL’s reign of terror will end. Without Rubin or some other strong personality to fill its present void, perhaps the JDL will fade away.

Matt Hale wasn’t wearing a suit for his court appearance this time.

The East Peoria, Illinois resident and leader of the “World Church of the Creator” had a history of filing lawsuits and appearing in court through various actions and appeals.

But this time the would-be lawyer was more befittingly attired in a plain orange jumpsuit, the dress required for jailhouse residents.

Even though the hate group leader’s father was hoping to post $200,000 bail for his son, Hale was refused release, reports Associated Press.

A US Magistrate rejected a bail request and instead set Hale’s trial date for July.

The racist is charged with plotting to murder a federal judge who ruled against him in a lawsuit.

Hopefully, the white supremacist’s wardrobe will eventually evolve into more conservative prison garb.

Hale does seem to like uniforms, but probably didn’t have this one in mind for his wardrobe.

Matt Hale the self-proclaimed “Pontifus Maximus” of the hate group called the “World Church of the Creator” was arrested recently for allegedly plotting to kill a federal judge.

However, according to a Hale groupie in Wyoming it’s all just bogus, reports the Casper Star-Tribune.

Thomas Kroenke says, ”The very idea that an intelligent man, such as P.M. (Pontifus Maximus) Hale, would be so foolish to conspire to murder a judge over any issue, much less an issue we are winning, is absurd.” Kroenke is the man Hale appointed to lead the group in Wyoming.

Hale may have a law degree, but apparently his intelligence can’t find a way to cash in on that diploma. And he still lives with his father. Needless to say his racist views and conspiracy theories are hardly original and are instead the reiterated rant of other like-minded hate mongers. Hale even failed to pick an original name for his group.

What’s so “intelligent” about all that?

Clearly, regardless of the outcome of Hale’s current criminal case, his followers will continue to believe whatever their “P.M.” says. They likely will consign the evidence, prosecution and/or “PM’s” possible conviction, to yet another conspiracy theory.

Hate group leader Matt Hale, now charged for planning to murder a federal judge, will be held in jail pending a hearing on Monday, reports Associated Press and WMTW.

Hale had planned to lead a racist rally over the weekend against African refugees in Lewiston, Maine. However, the self-proclaimed “Pontifex Maximus” of the World Church of the Creator, will now be unable to attend.

Hale will instead be taking a much-needed rest within a Chicago jail, as ordered by the court. His supporters will just have to spin conspiracy theories and continue hating without him.

Hale could be sentenced to twenty years in prison if found guilty. Maybe his followers should start looking for a new “Pontifex Maximus” soon?