Christian Extremism in the United States

http://omeka.lib.fsu.edu/files/original/b28a79fe741ed33249e3f5bdc63c7eac.pdf

PDF of essay on Christian

extremism in the United States

By Susannah M. Haase, Spring 2016

My final project for Introduction to World Religions was an academic essay discussing different groups within a religion. For my essay I chose to discuss different Christian extremist groups that have formed in the United States, and how they defended their actions with the Bible. I was able to explain how these groups connect to Christianity by explaining the origins of Christianity and sin, then explaining how over time changes in the world have shifted these ideas. I discussed Christian Extremist groups that are exclusive to the United States, and how changes in American culture lead to the creation of these groups. The emergence of new technology and a growing media presence has played a major role is publicizing terror events, which is how the Ku Klux Klan and the Army of God because feared Christian extremist groups to Americans.

Both of these terror groups tie into a radicalized view of sin in the Bible because they justify their violent actions by saying it’s the victim’s fault. These groups believe that if another person supposedly committed a sin, that they deserve to be attacked. These groups are both still active today, but neither have caused much attention since the 20th century.