Lobster in a Bucket

Kinists, like Chemists but for Kin

Today I've taken a little excursion into the world of kinists. Kinists are a special flavor of white supremacists that borrow a healthy portion of reformed theology and get caught up in voyages of self-discovery through biographies of Stonewall Jackson and Ty Cobb, definitely not Atticus Finch. But condescension aside, there is a thing or two about these kinists that I do take seriously.

First, they are racists. They don't seem to spend a lot of time tearing down african american virtue like many racists, but they do worship white virtue and purity in a way that pretty clearly puts whites at the top of the proverbial pile. In a society as diverse as America, we can't live together peacefully with such unabashed racism. So kinists deserve the fullness of our social opprobrium.

Secondly, the emotional response I have to this kind of stuff is really fascinating. I find kinists loathesome and pitiable at the same time. Loathesome because if nothing else kinism is a series of abstract ideas taken way too far. I definitely see a weakness in myself to live in abstraction, so consequently I really want to lash out at these guys. But there is something almost pitiable to me about the people espousing this kinist doctrine. In all our beliefs we tend to espouse the stuff that makes us feel righteous and good about ourself. There is a way in which kinism is a radical attempt by a few white people to show themselves some love.

In another life, I think I could just have easily given into similar, if not the same efforts of self-justification. So I certainly understand the emotional genesis of these guys, if totally, completely, hating their beliefs.