Jeffrey Kaplan

North Carolina · connected1954–2025

American academic on extremism

Died in Charlotte

university teacher, political scientist, religious studies scholar

Quotations with a citation

Radical right-wing groups — from the survivalists to the neo-Nazis, the Klan — tend to draw people who don't fit well into organizations. They would never make it in the Middle Eastern terrorism game. They are constantly arguing with each other, constantly splitting and forming new groups and changing ideologies.

Apocalyptic millenarianism starts with a dream. It is a dream of a past that never was and of a future that may never be—a dream, in a word, of perfection. This dream, moreover, seeks to link a past golden age with a future promise of a world governed by a sinless elect under the benevolent rule of the Savior himself. The millennial dream has for two thousand years served as a beacon of hope to all, and as a call to action to a few.

Christian Identity eschatology is clearly no "pie in the sky" set of speculations. Rather, it is closely matched to the everyday lives of its adherents, who in turn live each day as if it were their last. How could it be otherwise when proofs of the End are so abundant?

It is an accepted truth that in every age and in every corner of the globe, small groups of people have become unalterably convinced that the processes of history are coming to an end. Although such groups of seekers invariably adopt an oppositional stance to the perceived pattern of changes in their respective societies, seldom are these movements catalyzed from the typical response of selective withdrawal from the dominant culture to a violent determination to act on the belief that the final drama has begun.

But I found something else as well, and it took a considerable amount of time before I was able to fully understand it's import. What I found most puzzling was that the monsters of terra incognita, upon closer examination, were not really monsters at all. They held political views which were repugnant, and religious views based on fantastically eccentric interpretations of sacred text. But whatever their belief structure, these were not monsters. They were not the violent and hate filled people I had expected to find. [...] Far from monsters, these strange and isolated people seemed, if anything, to feel too much and understand too little. In their words and deeds they harmed mainly themselves and their families.

Before considering these real world consequences however, it is important to note at this point that none of this is said to condone racism as "just another idea" or, more subtlety, to rationalize evil. Rather, this is to suggest that all human beings can be approached on a human level. That contact can be made. This human contact will in turn invariably neutralize the caricatures which skew scholarly analysis and distort the historical record. [...] The demonization of the radical right ill serves us when now, more than ever before, it is vitally important to know all we can about this esoteric milieu's nature and potentialities.

In the libraries

Open Library Encyclopedia of White Power: A Sourcebook on the Radical Racist Right · 2000 View library record ↗ Open Library Encyclopedia of religion and nature · 2008 View library record ↗ Open Library Millennial Violence · 2002 View library record ↗ Open Library Nation and race · 1998 View library record ↗ Open Library Terrorist Groups And The New Tribalism Terrorisms Fifth Wave · 2012 View library record ↗ Open Library The Cultic Milieu · 2002 View library record ↗

Read Jeffrey Kaplan

Nation and race 1998 Find a copy The Cultic Milieu 2002 Find a copy Millennial Violence 2002 Find a copy Encyclopedia of religion and nature 2008 Find a copy Terrorist Groups And The New Tribalism Terrorisms Fifth Wave 2012 Find a copy Encyclopedia of White Power: A Sourcebook on the Radical Racist Right 2000 Find a copy