“Why do so many white supremacists claim to be Christians?”
Interesting question. I’m not actually aware that this is common. I’ve encountered few genuine white supremacists online, but the ones I have run into all reject Christianity, primarily because of its close association with Jews. If they call themselves religious at all, white supremacists generally appropriate Norse mythology as their starting point; for example, a Finnish movement called Soldiers of Odin is currently gaining popularity in Canada’s western provinces.
Well, that’s assuming it is reasonable to refer to an organization with a mere 600 members across the entire globe as “popular”.
Anyway, for the sake of argument we’ll take for granted that there are non-trivial numbers of white supremacists who do claim to be Christians. What might explain that?
Demonizing Political Opponents
One complicating factor is that white supremacy is a philosophy and a political position. Unlike Christianity, it is rarely used as a form of self-identification. People do not call themselves white supremacists; they get called white supremacists by others. That leaves any reasonable onlooker asking the question, “Is this really so?” and “What evidence is there to support the accusation?”
For all that Neo-Nazi groups are perpetually cast as scenery-chewing villains in Hollywood dramas, their actual numbers in North America are microscopic, their ranks inflated by misapplication of the “white supremacist” brand to people whose political views are far less extreme. For example, anyone who doesn’t agree with current public policy on immigration levels or doesn’t like watching their cities burn over ancient grievances inflamed by grifters is reflexively slapped with the label, not just by the Left, but often by virtue-signaling conservatives eager to disassociate themselves from extremists. Supporters of Donald Trump were often unfairly labeled white supremacists, even when they were themselves people of color. Progressives and Democrats use the term so loosely that they have even accused blacks of promoting white supremacy when they don’t like their politics.
Believers too are victimized by smear campaigns. In most cases they are not white supremacists at all.
White Supremacy and Nationalism
White supremacy is also frequently conflated with nationalism. This is a category error.
To state the obvious, anti-globalism ≠ white supremacy. Multiculturalism is not an unmitigated good; it has both benefits and drawbacks. A Christian may reject unlimited immigration from certain countries and religious groups on the basis that it tends to produce social instability, not because of the belief that whites are genetically or morally superior to people from other ethnic groups. The same sort of instability would surely occur if 30 million Europeans suddenly moved to Saudi Arabia, not that the Saudis (or most other nations) would ever allow such a thing.
A person may believe that there is neither Jew nor Greek, black nor white in Christ Jesus without subscribing to the popular notion that “diversity is our strength”, or that millions of immigrants from nations all over the world living side by side are as likely to get along peacefully as a nation-state made up largely of people who share an ethnicity. Only the first belief is truly Christian in character; the second is globalist dogma and historically-ignorant happy talk.
It is not inconsistent for a Christian to vote for an ethnically-homogeneous nation while attending and believing in an ethnically-heterogeneous church. The two spheres of association are distinct in scripture. The unsaved world is not the church.
Confusion About Christianity
Another less-likely possibility is that the person in question really is a white supremacist, but is also genuinely saved. I think this is probably rare, but it’s not inconceivable. Christian maturity takes time, and we need to allow believers from bad backgrounds reasonable opportunity to grow in the Lord before we start questioning the genuineness of their profession of faith. We all know Christians who are well-developed in certain areas and weak in others.
Yet another possibility is that the person promoting white supremacy is not using the word “Christian” the way you and I might use it. People who self-identify as Christians are not always claiming to have entered into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, or to be his disciples. They may be using the term “Christian” in a cultural sense, which is technically incorrect, but extremely common.
It is also quite misleading, and we can hardly expect genuinely Christian conduct from people who do not truly know Christ.
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Photo: Justeraren, CC BY-SA 4.0
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