Aryan Nations

aka Church of Jesus Christ Christian

Aryan Nations (AN) was one of the most prominent Christian Identity-based hate groups active in the 1980s. During that time, AN developed a strong network with neo-Nazi, skinhead, Ku Klux Klan (KKK), white supremacist, and militia groups, many of which congregated and networked at the former AN compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho.

The roots of the AN date back to the 1940s and the increased popularity of the Christian Identity movement in the United States. Christian Identity adherents believe that white Aryans are the “chosen people,” that blacks are subhuman, that Jews are descendents of the devil, and that the world is moving toward a race war. In 1970, Richard Girnt Butler, newly ordained by the American Institute of Theology (AIT), which reflects Christian Identity beliefs, took over a large Christian Identity congregation in Lancaster, California, after its leader, ...