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"Christian Identity is for pantywaists" | 1, 2


"Rudolph, to the extent that we know about his associates and his friends, hung around with Nord Davis' Christian Identity folks" in North Carolina, "while this guy was hanging around Bob Mathews' widow and the Aryan Nations," Vanderbaugh said. Furrow lived with Debbie Mathews, whose husband, Robert J. Mathews, founded the neo-Nazi group the Order, a violent offshoot of the Aryan Nations.

Nord Davis, who died two years ago, hosted Christian Identity military training camps at his mountain home near Andrews, N.C., where Rudolph disappeared. Ex-Green Beret and self-styled Populist Party leader James "Bo" Gritz led some of the sessions. Rudolph, who has been indicted in other bombings, including the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, was educated briefly at a Christian Identity commune in Missouri, where he embraced white supremacy and neo-Nazi literature, according to his brother.

Rudolph knew Nord Davis, according to North Carolina sources, but was not known to train at his camp. He learned how to make bombs from found materials in the Army, when he was assigned to an air cavalry unit, according to a law enforcement source.

Another difference between Rudolph's bombings and Furrow's alleged attack Tuesday was that Rudolph's missions always appeared to be aimed at police, as well as the primary target -- a key tenet of Christian Identity tactics, according to manuals associated with the movement. No security personnel were attacked at the Jewish Community Center.


Christian Identity offers a convoluted, Old Testament gloss to traditional anti-Semitism and racism, teaching that white Northern Europeans are the real Israelites and all others are "mud people." Neo-Nazis and chrtisitian Identity followers, who have a scattering of churches, mainly in the South, share anti-Black, anti-Jewish, anti-gay and anti-abortion sentiments.

"I think in some ways Christian Identity is designed for pantywaists who are afraid to declare themselves true Nazis," Vanderbaugh jibed. "These are the folks who have to tell their mommas or their wives, "It's OK that we hate blacks and Jews, dear, because God and Jesus told us it's OK. Whereas the Nazis don't worry about that kind of thing. They're sort of beyond excuses.

"You know, when you've got Adolf Hitler as your standard-bearer, what else have you got to be embarrassed about?" Vanderbaugh said.

"They each come to their pus-filled beliefs by different roads, but they agree on the destination."

Vanderbaugh agreed with J.D. Cash that the neo-Nazis hope to incite and gain control of pro-gun sentiment by attacks like the one on the Jewish Community Center.

"It definitely makes sense from their point of view," Vanderbaugh said. Their "long-term goal is to climb up the resistance tree" of anti-gun control forces in "a civil war that will be provoked by the complete confiscation of guns."

"Trust me, conflict will break out," Vanderbaugh said. "It doesn't take the neo-Nazis to start it, but they're more than happy to benefit from it."


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Jeff Stein covers criminal justice and national defense issues for Salon News.

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