There is currently a good deal of nervousness under those white hoods. The “hacktivist” group Anonymous has declared its intention to reveal the identities of around a thousand Klan members in the US, threatening to expose many clandestine racist militants. Who knows but that this measure might not finally kill off that once formidable White Giant?
But focusing on the racist element makes us forget another, critical, aspect of Klan history, and one profoundly relevant to religious believers. Yes, the Klan was always centrally concerned with suppressing African Americans and enforcing White supremacy. But at its height of strength and popularity, during the 1920s, it attracted several million followers in the US, most of whom were at least as concerned with fighting Roman Catholics. For a few heady years the movement enjoyed its greatest successes in northern industrial states like Pennsylvania and Indiana, rather than the Deep South, and much of its appeal lay in its anti-Catholicism.
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