The Ku Klux Klan – Pieper (and PBS), Part 1

In 1922, Franz Pieper reported on the Ku Klux Klan in the November/December issue of Lehre und Wehre, vol. 68, pages 346-347:

The Ku Klux Klan in the north of our country.  The original home of this secret society is the south.  They are also now entering the north.  From Milwaukee it is reported:

"The first public appearance in Milwaukee of the Ku Klux Klan, called the 'Invisible Empire', was held on Thursday evening in the auditorium.  The assembly received a special complexion by the address which national organizer C. Lewis held before an audience of about 700 people."

I suspect that Pieper (or the newspaper) made an error on the name of this "national organizer" since a google/wikepedia search shows no "C. Lewis" but rather "Charles Lewis Fowler" who shows up here ,  here , and here.  He was a sect (Baptist) preacher.  Pieper continues:

The main speaker gave as a purpose of this secret society to disclose the deception which the Roman priesthood plays on our country.  The order honors Negroes and Jews as a race.  But the Negro should not be allowed social and [page 347] political equal rights because the white race (the white race where it was Anglo-Saxon) deserved world domination.  So that Anglo-Saxons remain the rulers in this country, immigration must be better controlled.  The Order in this respect is against the Jews when they do not want to acquire things by their own work, but rather acquire things through others by finance operations.  The Klan is consistent with what Ford [Henry Ford] has against the International Jew.  The speaker successfully defended the secret nature of the Order with the argument that 'What is allowed for others should not be prohibited to us.'  He pointed out that

"among the ten million Negroes of the country are found 51 secret societies, and that the B'nai B'rith was one of the most important Jewish organizations, and the Catholic organizations would not be behind them." 

Concerning the spread of the Ku Klux Klan, the following information was provided:

"Who are the members of the Ku Klux Klan?  Many of them are members of Congress, governors of 19 states have joined them, and judges in various courts in the hundreds, ministers, lawyers, bankers, business men, yes, the most prominent banker in Chicago is a member and leader of the 50,000-strong force.  The total number of members is four million.  The field is not limited to a group of states, but to the whole Anglo-Saxon race."

The Ku Klux Klan wants to spread "democracy", but in such a way that the Anglo-Saxon race controls this country and the remaining world.  That's exactly the "democratic" spirit of the people who wanted the great war [World War I] to make the world safe for democracy and the people to gain self-determination.  The Apology of the Augsburg Confession is right when it says:

"The power of lustful desire is such that people more often obey evil inclinations than sound judgment (natural reason).  The devil, who is powerful in the godless, does not cease to stir up this weak nature to various offenses, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:2.  For these reasons even public righteousness is rare among people. (Mueller, pg 218, parag. 71) [Of Free Will, Apology to Augsburg Confession, Article XVIII, paragraph 71: Triglotta, pg 334-335, McCain's edition Concordia, pg 198]

F.P.

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Some comments on Pieper's article:

• He passed over commenting on the Roman priesthood and the Jewish B'nai B'rith since he comments  on these subjects on many other occasions.  But although Pieper also wrote against them, yet Lutherans (and all true Protestants, Christians) have no alliance with the Ku Klux Klan.
• Pieper pointed out the similarity between Henry Ford's position of Ango-Saxon supremacy and the KKK.
• The use of "democracy" by ideologues, i.e. "make the world safe for democracy", is the same spirit that the Ku Klux Klan used – and was the spirit that spearheaded World War I.
• Pieper's main comment on this article is against those who would hold themselves higher than others, especially by the "Anglo-Saxon" race... and thus proved he was the true Christian commenter of our modern world... of the Twentieth Century.

Pieper's comment about the use of "democracy" is a real eye opener for those who want to understand history, both American history and World history.

In the same year 1922, Pieper had another brief article that included further comments on these American societies.  I will present it in the next Part 2.  (The PBS angle will come in Part 3).