Hi All. I’ve recently started doing a historical investigation for one of my school projects, and I decided to investigate the impact of the Beatles on the landscape of the 1960s. When I researched their religious impact, i found that the KKK threatened reprisals for their “More popular than Jesus” statement. Yet, when I go on their Wiki page, it says they are both anti-Catholic and “Christian Terrorism”. With this in mind, is it still acceptable to call them a Christian extremist group, or is there a better term to label them with religious connotations?
It largely depends on what Ku Klux Klan era/group you are referring to. What is referred to as the second wave of KKK resurgence in the United States in the 1920s would fall under the category of a Christian extremist group. Given the political, economic, and immigration situations at the time of the second resurgence of KKK terrorism, their motivations were different from that of the original founding in Pulaski, Tennessee shortly after the Civil War. If you are doing any historical research for a school project, I would recommend expanding on the history of the KKK as a whole, as the resurgence of KKK groups differentiates them from the last. Historically, there would be three groups, that being the initial founding of the KKK after the Civil War, the resurgence post-reconstruction in the early 20th century, and the third wave during the Civil Rights Movement until modern times. The original founding of the Klan was not focused on issues of immigration, Protestantism, or moral issues. It was focused more so on returning white supremacy to the south. Reconstruction faded and Jim Crow succeeded and the federal government withdrew from the south.
Que the second wave of KKK terrorism, this time intermixed with more politically relevant ideals more applicable to the early 1900s-- that being anti-immigration, anti-Catholic, what they deemed as pro morality, and still extremely racist. This would be the resurgence that you could classify as Christian extremists. Given the influx of Catholic migrants during this time period from Europe, the resurging KKK broadened their hate to include Catholics. Today, the KKK is not as powerful or influential, despite the rise of right-wing terrorism within the United States. As such, it would be necessary to include this history into your research, as the KKK has changed over time from the 1860s, but it would not be incorrect to label the second resurgence as Christian and Protestant Extremism.
For additional reading and sources:
Eric Foner Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877
Linda Gordon The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition
Michael Newton The Ku Klux Klan: history, organization, language, influence and activities of America's most notorious secret society.