Tabernacle of Hate: Seduction into Right-Wing Extremism, Second Edition (Religion and Politics) - Softcover

Kerry Noble's terrific book is a uniquely insightful look at how a community of spiritual seekers can become infected with radical doctrines that lead directly to political violence.--Mark Potok, Southern Poverty Law Center Noble's book is a rich and important empirical, almost ethnographic, account of what actually took place within the boundaries of one particular extremist movement.--Anthropology Review Database

In the summer of 1984, Noble was within seconds of committing what would have been the largest domestic terrorist act in U.S. history at that time. As one of the founders of the Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord (CSA), a cult paramilitary group, he carried a bomb into a gayaffirming church, intending to murder over seventy individuals. In Tabernacle of Hate, Noble provides an unprecedented first-person account of how a small spiritual community progressed from mainstream religious beliefs to increasingly extreme positions, eventually transforming into a domestic terrorist group. Written after his release from prison, the author's cogent narrative reveals the deceptive allure of extremist movements and the unmatched power of charismatic leadership.