Conclusion
What will be the results of Steven Anderson’s Holocaust denial? Why discuss Anderson’s
111 Anderson, Did the Holocaust Really Happen?, 00:31:30-00:32:20.
112 Ibid., 00:34:40-00:34:55.
113 Ibid.
114 Genesis 12:3, KJV.
115 Sean Durbin, “‘I am an Israeli’: Christian Zionism as American redemption,” Culture and Religion 14, no. 3 (2013), 341, accessed July 10, 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004385009_008.
116 Wittenberger, Marching to Zion, 00:31:31-00:32:17.
117 Anderson,* Israel Moments,* 11-20.
118 Gregory H. Stanton, “The 10 Stages of Genocide,” Genocide Watch, 1996, accessed July 30, 2019, https://www. genocidewatch.com/ten-stages-of-genocide.
Holocaust denial at all?119 Anderson does not intersect prominent Christian circles and he is rigidly uncompromising in his theological views. It is presently unlikely, though not impossible, that his theologically-centered Holocaust denial will gain traction in broader Christian movements, denominations, organizations, or churches, let alone make headway into the wider American culture. However, the networks he intersects—the New IFB and theocentric Christian conspiracist communities—have been constructing a fairly robust infrastructure over the last decade. Both networks give Anderson an expanded platform as he seeks to influence a much larger section of the Christian populace. Will Christians run to Anderson’s “loving” embrace? Probably not. Regardless, Anderson has perhaps made Holocaust denial more palatable for some believers. The bigger threat, however, is that with Holocaust denial cut loose from the figureheads and institutions of a prior generation of Holocaust deniers, Anderson and fellow antisemitic theocentric Christian conspiracists might open an avenue for spiritual arguments to become more widely accepted in Holocaust denier circles and among internet conspiracists. Particularly if the antisemitic theocentric Christian conspiracist infrastructure can continue expanding and adapting, and such conspiracist deniers can remain united by their family resemblances, they might become a significant group within Holocaust denial.
The spiritual significance Anderson gives Holocaust denial has already circled back into Holocaust denier spaces in some interesting ways. In the CODOH forum mentioned above, forum participants affirmed that Anderson is onto something in emphasizing the Jewish control of American Christianity. The aforementioned Rmbrmb21 wrote about a pastor at their church who holds to replacement theology but “still buys into the holocaust [sic].” In seeking to influence their own pastor and other Christian religious leaders, Rmbrmb21 then said, “Hopefully, we can reach more religious people in America. If you could convert half of American Christians to reject the holocaust [sic] as a fact, and embrace that it’s a myth, you would be converting about 1/6th of the population.” Rmbrmb21 continued their post by emphasizing the value of theology in Holocaust denial and the demonization of Jews, “I understand a lot of people will be very disinterested in reading about theology, it is important to our cause as Christianity is being excessively curbed in order to support the Jewish agenda.”120 Another regular contributor to the forum responded, “If this rotten situation is to be turned around, and this Holohoax is to be exposed, we need more people like Pastor Anderson in the Christian evangelical community who have the courage to look into the evidence and speak out about it.”121 Anderson’s Holocaust denial, therefore, returns to the already faithful and reenergizes them in new ways. They now have explicitly religious arguments and a religious advocate/“authority” for spreading Holocaust denial.
Table of Contents
- Theocentric Christian Conspiracists and Holocaust Denial on the Web
- Framing the World, *Marching to Zion*, and Texe Marrs
- “What’s the real Holocaust?” - Steven Anderson’s Holocaust Denial
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Bibliography