Christian Identity and Its Dangers

This chapter examines the extremist ideology of Christian identity that redefines God's chosen people as white Europeans, exploring its violent historical context and ongoing effects on democracy. It also analyzes the formation of a fraudulent grand jury that targeted a president and highlights the troubling rhetoric surrounding January 6th, raising alarms about the normalization of criminal justifications in society.

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Arrested Democracy, Part 1

In 2010, conspiracy theorists around the country were convinced that Barack Obama was not the rightful president. Some of them filed lawsuits. Some of them tried to have the President indicted. And when none of that worked, some of them took matters into their own hands and tried to arrest the county court employees they thought were standing in their way. In the first half of this story, Walter Fitzpatrick unsuccessfully storms the courtroom in Madisonville, Tennessee. The outcry over his arrest would motivate Oath Keeper Darren Huff to rally supporters for a second attempt.

Original air date: 11/14/24

Arrested Democracy, Part 2

When Oath Keeper Darren Huff returned to Madisonville, Tennessee on April 20, 2010, he was planning to take control of the courthouse. It didn't quite work out that way. He didn't even see the inside of a courthouse until his own arrest a week later.

Original air date: 11/21/24

Part 1 Sources:

Jardina A, Traugott M. The Genesis of the Birther Rumor: Partisanship, Racial Attitudes, and Political Knowledge. The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. 2019;4(1):60-80. doi:10.1017/rep.2018.25

Josh Pasek, Tobias H. Stark, Jon A. Krosnick, Trevor Tompson,
What motivates a conspiracy theory? Birther beliefs, partisanship, liberal-conservative ideology, and anti-Black attitudes, Electoral Studies, Volume 40, 2015

Hughey, M.W. Show Me Your Papers! Obama’s Birth and the Whiteness of Belonging. Qual Sociol 35, 163–181 (2012).

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/birther-movement-founder-trump-clinton-228304