The two Catholic women who do not wish to be named reached out to Cathnews after reading an article in the NZ Herald about four neo-Nazis identifying as traditional Catholics at the Posie Parker rally last Saturday.

They say they feel aggrieved because their faith has no relationship to what the neo-Nazis stand for.

"Antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia and Islamophobia have nothing to do with the 10 Commandments, nor the Beatitudes," one said.

"The Gospels and Jesus Christ are positive guides to good living," said the other.

As traditional Catholics in a Synodal Church, they want to make a stand and distance themselves from the suggestion in the article.

Before the rally in Auckland, the four neo-Nazis had covered their faces with skull masks and were pictured flashing Nazi salutes.

They wore symbols of the Azov Battalion - a far-right ultra-nationalist regiment of the Ukrainian military - and an American far right group called the Boogaloo Boys.

Although British activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, aka Posie Parker, calls neo-Nazis "abhorrent", her rallies seem to attract them.

There were several far-right groups among the 150-200 people who showed up to support her Let Women Speak event. They included right-wing populists, Christian fundamentalists and a selection of neo-Nazis.

Paparoa is a body of researchers focusing on Aotearoa-New Zealand's extremist organisations. They are also concerned the emerging so-called traditional Catholic neo-Nazi group promotes extreme antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia and Islamophobia.

The Paparoa researchers say also among the far-right protesters at the rally was Sam Brittenden. He's a member of the white nationalist group Action Zealandia.

In 2020 Brittenden allegedly made an unproven threat against the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch. He was previously found guilty of disorderly behaviour for making anti-Muslim slurs while a student at the University of Otago.

Researcher Byron Clark says the far-right individuals were mostly on the fringes of the rally.

While most Parker supporters aren't on the far-right, Clark says the far-right sees them as a group they can find an audience with.

Transphobia had become a large part of the far-right's ideology, he says.

"They see it as a kind of deviation from the ideal of a straight, cisgender white person, in the same way they see homosexuality and disability as being deviated from this ideal.

"It's become prominent because it's still something of a more socially-acceptable prejudice, more so than racism, so they can use this as the thin edge of the wedge to gain an audience among the more mainstream conservative crowd."

After around 2,000 protestors drowned out Parker's and she abandoned her tour, citing safety concerns.

Source

• NZ Herald

Critic Te Arohi's undercover investigation into Action Zealandia, the largest white supremacist group in Aotearoa, revealed information including the organisation's recent activities, internal membership structure, links to other neo-Nazi groups, and strategic plans for the future. The group has been active for just over two years.

This week, in an attempt to claim August 9 as "White Lives Matter Day", the group's leaders demanded that all of its chapters do banner drops and poster runs in the days leading up to August 9.

Action Zealandia members attempted to plaster "White Lives Matter" and "Kyle Rittenhouse Was Right" posters in the Dunedin City Centre in June, but fled the area after they were approached by members of the public. (Kyle Rittenhouse was a 17-year-old American charged with shooting and killing two protesters at a Black Lives Matter protest in Wisconsin in 2020).

Action Zealandia does not currently have a Dunedin presence — but it has in the past, and it wants to become more active in the city. Read more

The yellow cloth stars stitched to the front and back of his jacket are identical to the ones Jews were forced to wear during the Nazi regime.

It was only in June that Joel told Rolling Stone magazine he prefers to avoid political commentary.

However, the rise in neo-Nazi sympathizers and national "Unite The Right" rallies, like the one earlier this month in Charlottesville (and President Donald Trump's limp response to it) seem to have changed his mind.

Joel, whose parents are Jewish, lost all his father's family in the Holocaust. His father was the only member of his family to escape Nazi Germany.

Model and actress Christie Brinkley, who is Joel's former wife, and daughter Alexa Ray have praised him for taking a stand.

"And on the day of the Solar Eclipse a yellow star appeared on the jacket of another kind of star with a clinched fist that seemed to be gripping painful, no excruciating, memories of loved ones who wore that star to their death," Brinkley wrote in the caption of a photo featuring Joel wearing the star on stage.

"May that star also remind you today of the gold stars pinned to the jackets of soldiers for their bravery and valor for fighting an evil so hideous even the gold stars in the sky were afraid to shine."

"Thank you, Billy for reminding people what was ...so it may never ever be again." she added.

Source

• Billboard
• CNN
• Independent
• Image: People

"It really felt like every step you take could be your last," she said, later adding: "With each step, I just kept holding on to the call to love."

Talk of love was hardly the dominant narrative in Charlottesville on Saturday, when white supremacists and Nazi sympathizers organized a "Unite the Right" rally to oppose the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in the heart of city.

Instead, media coverage has largely focused on the hateful vitriol spouted by white supremacists, as well as their violent clashes with anti-fascist protesters (often called "Antifa").

The street fights—which witnesses say occurred without adequate police intervention—left several hospitalized, and the whole event culminated in tragedy: An Ohio man who authorities say came to support the white supremacists has been charged with mowing down a group of counter-protesters with a car, wounding 19 and killing one woman.

But among the many untold stories of the harrowing day is the account of hundreds of religious leaders like Harper who descended on Charlottesville to resist white supremacy.

While images of prayerful resistance are often less eye-catching than bloody fists, spiritual protesters were still a crucial part of both the counter-protests and relief efforts.

Many stood arm-in-arm while staring down white supremacists—and plan to do it again.

Trapped in a church
The work of faith groups in Charlottesville began weeks ago. Rev. Seth Wispelwey, a United Church of Christ (UCC) minister based in the city, said local clergy started mobilizing earlier this year after the college town endured two other demonstrations by white supremacists.

The result was Congregate CVille—a group formed only five weeks ago—that called for 1,000 clergy to come and resist racism at the Unite the Right rally. Continue reading

Source and Image

• ThinkProgress article by Jack M Jenkins, Senior Religion Reporter for ThinkProgress.