Christian Identity (extreme variants)
Extreme racist offshoot of British Israelism teaching that white Europeans are the 'true Israel' and non-whites are subhuman. SPLC hate-group designation; documented links to Robert Mathews's The Order (1980s) and other violent incidents.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
+1 for SPLC hate-group designation and links to multiple violent incidents.
Profile facts
In context
Christian Identity emerged from late-19th-century British Israelism through 1940s–60s reformulation under Wesley Swift and others. Multiple violent terror cases linked: Robert Mathews's The Order (1984 Alan Berg murder), Eric Rudolph (1996+ bombings), and various Aryan Nations splinters. SPLC hate-group designation. Distinct from mainstream British Israelism.
Key control doctrines
- White Europeans as 'true Israel'
- Two-seed theology
- Race-war eschatology
Recovery resources
- Tears of Eden — Christian spiritual-abuse-survivor support and clinician referral.
- Recovering Grace — Originally IBLP-focused; archive includes broader fundamentalist Christian high-control material.
- Reclamation Collective — Religious-trauma-aware therapist network; relevant for post-exit identity-rebuilding.
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.
See the full curated list at /resources.
Legal cases & controversies
- Robert Mathews The Order
- Eric Rudolph bombings
This profile is in progress — history, deeper BITE evidence and survivor voices are still being added. Contributions welcome via GitHub.
Timeline
- 1940s+Wesley Swift develops Christian Identity
- 1984Robert Mathews's The Order Alan Berg murder
- 1996Eric Rudolph Olympic Park bombing
Sources
- Michael Barkun, 'Religion and the Racist Right' (1997) search ↗
- SPLC Christian Identity profiles search ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗ runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: Christian high-control.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
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