Survivalists, White Supremacists, and the Doomsday Prophecy Millennium Rage

Survivalists, White Supremacists, and the Doomsday Prophecy

PHILIP LAMV

SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lamy , Philip. Millennium rage : surviva1ists, white supremacists, and the Doomsday prophecy / Philip Lamy. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Survival ism. 2. Mi 1lenia1 ism. 3. Millenium. 4. Judgment Day. 5. Militia movements. 6. White supremacy movements. I. Title. HM206.L26 1996 301—dc20 96-32896 CIP

ISBN 978-0-306-45409-7 ISBN 978-1-4899-6076-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4899-6076-4 © 1996 Philip Lamy Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1996 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1996 10 987654321 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher It was in the early 19808, while studying punk rock and its subculture, that I first became interested in the millennial myth. In the punks' disdain for the values of the dominant culture, I had discovered a worldview that was strangely apocalyptic. The punk look-black, tom, disfigured, a montage of fashions and styles-was the look of mass destruction. It was what everyone would be wearing after "they" dropped the "big one." Punk faces made up in the gaudy and grim starkness suggestive of death itself became the famous punk "faces of doom." Through their music and in their art, the punks rendered the entire social and value structure of modem society as repressive, decadent, and obsolete. They viewed the dominant society as corrupt and its popu• lar culture-exemplified by disco and synthesized music-as insipid examples of a mass cultural decay masquerading as "art." And so they sang anthems of social collapse, the fall of civilization, and nuclear Armageddon. "We're the future, your future!" screamed Johnny Rotten, lead singer of the Sex Pistols, punk's most famous band, in their first and only hit single, "God Save the Queen." In an odd sort of way, the punks were prophets of the apocalyptic age that had already begun. From the mar• ginal terrain of underground rock 'n' roll, the punks were voices crying out in the wilderness, telling us that, as best they could make out (with tongues planted firmly in their cheeks), the end times were near.! Many of the apocalyptic themes I had seen in punk music and literature I began to see elsewhere, especially in the popular culture and mass media. The 1980s-the decade John Mitchell " v; MILLENNIUM RAGE

(1983) dubbed the "doomsday decade"-was esrecially steeped in apocalyptic thought and millennial movement. The conservative morality of the "Reagan revolution" was aided in part by the prophetic and evangelical fervor of the religious right. In the Ameri• can heartland, white "Christian" supremacists melded with paramili• tary antigoverment extremists, producing groups such as "The Order" and "The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord," which engaged in shoot-outs with law enforcement agencies. Meanwhile, New Age consciousness, he~vy metal and Chris• tian rock bands, and "cyber-punk" apocalyptic films were other examples of a "pop apocalypticism" that permeated American culture throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. Even George Bush employed apocalyptic language to frame the Persian Gulf War as an effort to build and preserve a "new world order"-a theme that was to appear a few years later, and with a very different meaning, in the rhetoric of militias and the "America first" platform of presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan. Doomsday visions were also being manifested through survi• valism, the main focus of this book. Survivalism addresses the physical survival of nuclear war (or some other major societal disaster) through crisis relocation, the stockpiling of food and weapons, and the practice of survival strategies. Survivalism is a practical and secular approach to disaster preparedness. Many survivalists feel strongly that the current social and world order is moribund, and so they have taken steps to prepare for its imminent demise. Much of this doomsday prophecy derives from the millennial myth. The millennial myth originated in ancient Hebrew and Christian apocalyptic prophecies concerning the ultimate destiny of the world and the cosmic cataclysm in which God destroys the ruling powers of evil and raises the righteous to life in a messianic kingdom that will last for 1,000 years-the prophesied millennium. For the past several years I have followed the evolution of the millennial myth as it has been manifested in survivalism and the subculture of the paramilitary right. I have interviewed dozens of survivalists in major metropolitan areas (such as g!,eater Boston), many of whom maintain caches of water, food, camping equip- PREFACE vii ment, and weapons locked in the closets and/or cellars of their homes or apartments. One, a former public school teacher, began practicing survivalism shortly after becoming a born-again Chris• tian. I also have spoken with rural-based survivalists and members of survivalist communities or compounds who have devoted great time and expense to surviving the collapse of society. Survivalism provides a modem site where the millennial myth has "fractured"; its symbols and meanings have been reproduced and redefined in our popular culture through the mass media and within new social movements. In certain ways, survivalism reflects the severe downside of the millennial myth. Like the nihilism of punk, the survivalist philosophy speaks of mass destruction and death. It is not interested in reforming the system; the collapse of civilization is imminent. However, it does offer a plan of action, a kind of "redemption" or "salvation," in the manner of surviving the great destruction of the current order and living on to build a new one. The fusion of survivalist ethic and millennial belief is the subject of this book. This fascination with the end times continues to filter through American society and, increasingly, the world as we approach the year 2000 and the next millennium, producing a wide array of apocalyptic expressions and movements. More recently, millennial expressions can be found in revitalized messianic movements like the Branch Davidians and the Aum Shinrikyo of Japan-the mil• lennial cult linked to poison gas attacks in the subways of Tokyo, and even in the rock'n roll messianism of the "Church of Elvis." However, millennialism also appears in unusual, seemingly secu• lar, groups and individuals as well, such as survivalists, the Un• abomber and, most notorious of recent years, the paramilitary and antigovernment "militia movement." The "apocalyptic" war with the government "beast" can be discerned in the militia- and sur• vivalist-inspired Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the alleged Oklahoma City bombers; it is present in the "common law" phi• losophy and "Identity" religion of the Montana Freemen, who, refusing to abide by state and federal law, prompted a spring 1996 stand-off with federal law enforcement; and it fueled the terrorist viii MILLENNIUM RAGE plot of the Arizona "Viper Militia," of whom twelve members were arrested in July 1996 for allegedly plotting to bomb buildings housing the FBI, ATF, IRS, the Phoenix Police Department, and the Arizona National Guard, among others. A number of things are converging to create a resurgence of millennialism-widespread social change, relative deprivation, the end of an era. Many of these are the same things that have occurred throughout the myth's long history. What is different now, however, are the numerous and often contradictory ways the mil• lennial myth is expressed in American culture. Millennial symbols and images not only belong to radical religious and secular move• ments and cults but are part of the dominant American culture as well. As the millennial myth continues to evolve, certain groups corne to interpret current events through the lens of cultural myth. In the past, millennial movements often arose during periods of intense social change, coinciding with the end of an age or era. In many ways contemporary expressions of millennialism reflect the major social changes that the world has been undergoing at the close of the second millennium A.D. They reflect the "tribulations" and "plagues" of our age-rapid and widespread social, cultural, and technological changes that are transforming the world into some form of new world order of the twenty-first century. M any people have helped me throughout the develop• ment and preparation of this book: family, friends, colleagues, students, and staff. I thank them all for their suggestions, sup• port, and caring. The research for Millennium Rage began back in the 1980s, while I was a graduate student at Northeastern University in Boston. At that institution Drs. Jack Levin, Ronald McAllister, Christine Gailey, Herman Gray (now at the Univer• sity of California, Santa Cruz), Susan Setta, and Alan Klein were instrumental in the development of my interest in the sociology and anthropology of millenarian movements. Other colleagues and associates who have contributed important suggestions include Arnold Arluke, Wilfred Holten, Debra Kaufman, Maureen Kelleller, the late Pat Golden, Thomas Koenig, and Judith Perrolle of Northeastern University; Bill Kuehn, David Ellenbrook, Luther Brown, Natalie Duany, Linda Olsen, Brad Hunt, Ann Bartol, Victoria DeRosia, Paul Cohen, and Joe Mark of Castleton State College; Henry Paar of Springfield College; John Forster of SUNY, Cortland; Robert Granfield of the Univer• sity of Colorado, Denver; Christian Appy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Thomas Robbins; Augie Diana; Bob Quinn; Joe Cultrera; and Henry Ferrini. I also acknowledge the research assistance of Hermino Miranda, whose skill in navigating the Internet provided a wealth of important data for this book; CSC librarians Sandra Duling, Frank Moulton, and Nancy Luzer; Jean Blair, Mary Giordano, and the Leavenworth secretarial staff of CSC; Ennis Duling of CSC's Office of Public Information; Andrew Bacchi, Gayle Morris, Charles Davis, and Ritika Rao of Computer Serv- ix x MILLENNIUM RAGE

ices; the Castleton State College Alumni Fund for research sup• port; and the many students I have had over the years at Castle• ton and Northeastern University who contributed in many ways to the evolution of my sociological perspective and the ideas that appear in this book. Finally, I wish to thank my children and most of all, my wife and best friend, Whitney, who endured the many hours I spent away from our family with great cheer and selfless love and sup• port, as well as insightful commentary on'the manuscript. This book is as much hers as mine. An earlier version of Chapter 3-"Tribulation: Survivalists and Soldiers of Fortune," appeared in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, with the title "Millennialism in the Mass Media: The Case of Soldier of Fortune Magazine." Any errors that may be found in this book are mine.

Dedicated to the memory of my parents, Louis and Cecelia. Chapter 1 Millennium Rage 1

Chapter 2 Apocalypse: A History of the End of the World 31

Chapter 3 Tribulation: Survivalists and Soldiers of Fortune 63

Chapter 4 Dragons, Beasts, and Christian Soldiers 91

Chapter 5 Antichrist: The Myth of the Jewish World Conspiracy 115

Chapter 6 "Babylon Is Fallen": America at Century's End 135

Chapter 7 Messiah: "Many Will Say They Are Me" 159

Chapter 8 Armaggedon: "Kill Them All, Let God Sort Them Out" 193

Chapter 9 Millennium: New Age Harmony or New World Chaos? 219

Chapter 10 Conclusion: A Fractured Millennium 253

Notes 269

Index 287 xi