White Supremacist Shut Out of Y2K Family Fair
A former Montana resident and self-proclaimed Nazi, Chris Temple, was asked to not show up at a speaking engagement scheduled at the Family Preparedness Fair in Spokane on October 8-10.
After hearing about Temple's beliefs from the Seattle-based Coalition for Human Dignity, two participants threatened to withdraw from the event if Temple was associated with it. Businessman Blake Carlson, who put on the fair which was apparently aimed at helping families prepare for Y2K, withdrew his invitation to Temple. "We did this because of what Chris Temple stands for," Carlson said.
Temple, who publishes a financial newsletter called the National Investor, had planned to talk about investment strategies for Y2K. Apparently, conference organizers were not aware that Temple describes himself as a Nazi. "I am very much a national socialist," he said in May 1997 in front of a sociology class at the University of Montana.
Temple shot back an angry letter to Carlson after he was canceled from the program. He implied that because his 1997 presentation was in an academic setting and his message was "well-received," he should not be held accountable for the statement. He said his statement was made in the context of the economic programs of national socialism, and it in no way made him "a supporter of World War II-era Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, etc." He claimed his presentation was "highly critical of both the Christian Identity Movement . . . as well as the Aryan Nations, various militia groups and others." Temple assured Carlson that his "friend," sociology professor Rob Balch, would back him up on that.
In fact, a review of the transcript of his 1997 speech shows that Temple spoke uncritically of Christian Identity, the Aryan Nations, and the militia/freemen movements. (Christian Identity is a racist theology claiming that Jews are the offspring of Satan and people of color are the non-human "mud" races.) In the presentation, Temple mentioned he wrote for the Christian Identity publication, The Jubilee, had attended events at the Aryan Nations, a white supremacist compound, and was asked by his "very close personal friend" Richard Butler to take over leadership of the Aryan Nations. He said he had no interest in doing so because it was a poorly run organization. He did not offer any criticism of Butler's adoration of Adolph Hitler or the racist tenets of Butler's Christian Identity theology. Temple spoke in a positive manner about Kingdom Identity Ministries and Identity Pastor Pete Peters, who advocates that gay men and lesbians be put to death.
In his letter to Carlson, Temple noted that Montana Human Rights Network "operatives" were present at his Missoula appearance and asked to record the class. He concluded that MHRN had given a tape to the Coalition for Human Dignity. Temple tried to discredit the Network by claiming, "one of their biggest legislative efforts in Montana in recent years has been to push legislation that would not only legalize sodomy, but even BESTIALITY! [sic] [emphasis in the original]. It seems that if this misnamed "human rights" type groups [sic] had their way, my friends would be male homosexuals, spiced with an assortment of barnyard animals."
Chris Temple will not be able to talk his way out of this one by name calling and hyperbole. In addition to his close associations with Christian Identity and the Aryan Nations, Temple has regularly conducted workshops with Louis Beam. Beam is a former Grand Dragon of the Texas Ku Klux Klan and remains a major figure in the white supremacy movement.
In addition, Temple was a key player in the formation of the militia movement. In his presentation he implied that he had helped organize the 1992 "Meeting of Christian Men" in Estes Park, Colorado, which he characterized as the birthplace of the militia movement. He also worked with Beam and John and David Trochmann of Noxon, Montana, to form the United Citizens for Justice, a support group for white supremacist Randy Weaver, immediately following Weaver's tragic standoff with federal agents at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. United Citizens for Justice later became the Militia of Montana.
Temple's run-in with the Y2K fair is not the first time he has attempted to attach his name to mainstream issues, only to have his racist views exposed. In 1994 he attempted to work through a group called "Project 94, Heal Montana," a conservative voice in Montana's debate on healthcare reform. When MHRN staff saw articles by Temple in the group's newsletter, they contacted Heal Montana and expressed concern that Temple would use the association to build his own credibility, and eventually gain support for his more extremist causes. Although the organization initially tried to defend their association with Temple, his articles did not reappear.