Rudolph, Eric Robert (b. 1966)

Eric Robert Rudolph, the convicted bomber of Atlanta's Olympic Park, provides an interesting example of the Christian justification for violence as a response to globalization and multiculturalism. Like many Muslim terrorists who are members of isolated groups that do not represent the Islamic tradition as a whole, Roberts expresses an extreme position in Christianity that is not embraced by most other Christians.

On April 13, 2005, Rudolph pleaded guilty to the Olympic bombing in Centennial Park on July 27, 1996; bombings of abortion clinics in Atlanta and Birmingham; as well as the bombing of a gay and lesbian nightclub in Atlanta. He was sentenced to four consecutive life terms. Born in 1966 in Merritt Island, Florida, he served in the 101st Airborne Division of the army and trained at the Air Assault School. Rudolph has ties to Protestant antiabortion activists and perhaps the Christian Identity movement, though he considers himself a Catholic.

Rudolph continues to develop and disseminate his critique of contemporary American civil society and American government through his writings from prison and publications on the web. “Eric Rudolph's Homepage” is hosted by The Army of God, known for its religious justification of violence in the fight over abortion, as well as for its secrecy: “Members” remain anonymous in their writings.

Rudolph made sentencing statements in both Atlanta and Birmingham. The Atlanta statement asserts that his ineptitude and poor planning resulted in “innocent civilians” being hurt and killed. He claims that his goal was to disrupt the Olympics, costing multinational corporations huge sums of money and embarrassing the U.S. government. He also claims that he had intended to give sufficient warnings to ensure that people would be evacuated but in the confusion failed to do so. While asserting that he still believes in the “justice of [his] cause,” he concludes with an apology, saying that he “would do anything to take back that night.” In the Birmingham statement, Rudolph develops his justification of violence against persons by elaborating the category of “innocent civilian.” He explains that the deaths of two abortion clinic employees were the legitimate result of their own actions and that abortion being murder, “deadly force is indeed justified to stop it.”

More broadly speaking, Rudolph's various essays include an assertion that he is not an anarchist opposed to government in general but, rather, a critic of the current U.S. government. His hope is for a government in line with what he regards as the virtues of a Christian society. He details some of his survivalist exploits while in hiding and discusses his essentialist views of gender and feminism, which he claims are the basis for a stable civil society.

Many will dismiss Rudolph's views, claiming that they are the views of one man, an example of a rarefied combination of Christianity and conspiratorialism, which finds no place in “authentic” Christianity. It is therefore perhaps most interesting that he evaded capture for 5 years, living in the Appalachian wilderness around North Carolina, relying on, it is suspected, a rather broad network of supportive sympathizers.

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