In light of the arrest of several members of a Michigan militia group that was preparing for battle against the Antichrist and plotting to kill police officers and have now been charged with “seditious conspiracy, attempted use of weapons of mass destruction, teaching the use of explosive materials, and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence,” maybe we should revisit the “controversy” the Religious Right ginned up last year over the Department of Homeland Security report “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” [PDF].
As we noted repeatedly, the report warned:
DHS/I&A assesses that lone wolves and small terrorist cells embracing violent rightwing extremist ideology are the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States. Information from law enforcement and nongovernmental organizations indicates lone wolves and small terrorist cells have shown intent—and, in some cases, the capability—to commit violent acts.
But the Religious Right seized on a reference in a footnote to the fact that among potentially violent extremists might be “groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration” and launched a full-blown crusade to claim that the report was really an attack on conservatives, thereby intentionally equating themselves with violent extremist groups … leading, ultimately, to the absurd situation where groups like the Liberty Counsel began selling these:
These are still for sale on the LC’s website, by the way.
So now we get to look forward to seeing things like this where the Religious Right tries to claim that the Michigan militia is not really “Christian” and is in no way representative of the conservative movement … after they have spent the last year claiming that the DHS report on right-wing extremists was really an attack on the conservative movement.
