Racism Is Inherent in Anglo-Israelism
Lonnie Hendrix
Many of the adherents of Anglo-Israelism have expressed their disbelief that anyone would have the audacity to characterize their teaching as being inherently racist in nature. “It’s not about race!” they indignantly declare. “Ephraim and Manasseh were the product of a mixed marriage (their mother was an Egyptian),” they remind their critics. “Yes, Herbert Armstrong and the old Worldwide Church of God did introduce some racist ideas and policies into the mix,” some of them will admit; but they insist that they have moved beyond such past ignorance and mistakes in their application of the teaching.
As a consequence, I thought it might be instructive to try and explain why the teaching is racist in nature and cannot be redeemed with improved window dressing. To do this, we must first summarize the teaching to understand how it could be racist.
Anglo-Israelism is the notion that the English-speaking peoples of the world represent the modern manifestation of the Israel of the Bible. More specifically, that the British Commonwealth is synonymous with the tribe of Ephraim, and the United States is synonymous with the tribe of Manasseh. According to the proponents of the teaching, these nations are the heirs of the promises of material wealth and power promised to Abraham so long ago, and their preeminent position in the modern world is the evidence that this is true.
So, how could that possibly be considered racist in nature? They reason that God is the source of this wealth and power – that HE gave these things to the English-speaking peoples to fulfill HIS promises to their ancestor Abraham. The problem with this reasoning is that it excuses a whole lot of racist behavior on the part of these people!
Take a moment to think about the history of the rise of these people to the position they have occupied on the world stage. After all, the expansion of British influence around the world was part of the larger movement of European colonialism which resulted in the subjugation of native peoples and the appropriation of their lands. Likewise, it has resulted in the exploitation of the resources and labor (in the form of the institution of slavery) of weaker nations. Moreover, the Americans and British have used their wealth and power to maintain their advantages over other nations. And, finally, all of this has given rise to the notion that their culture, institutions and beliefs (religious and political) are superior to all of the other nations and peoples of the earth.
In the United States, this gave rise to beliefs that God’s saints were planting His kingdom in the wilderness, and that it was the Manifest Destiny of these people to occupy all of the land between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Thus, Native Americans could be butchered and pushed off of their lands, and African slaves could be used to build the infrastructure of a great republic.
Thus, Anglo-Israelism legitimizes all of this clearly racist behavior because it all happened to fulfill God’s promises to Abraham! Moreover, supporting things like the Black Lives Matter movement and immigration from Latin America to the United States and Muslims to Great Britain threatens to change the very nature of the nations who have inherited these blessings and destroy their Israelite character!
Look at the encyclopedic and dictionary definitions of racism and tell me that this teaching isn’t inherently racist in nature! No, Anglo-Israelism is not benign and harmless. By its very nature, without embellishment or overt expressions, it glorifies some of the most racist behaviors and policies ever inaugurated in human history!