Summary of Derek Holland Interview

The following is a response by Matt Anger, creator of Fringe Watch. Mr. Anger is a former acquaintance of Derek Holland, the European nationalist writer and intellectual, who has just been interviewed on the subject of the Middle East by Judith Sharpe of the "In the Spirit of Chartres" (ISOC) committee (see previous post).

Judith Sharpe speaks of "allegations" about Derek Holland. Well, there are the facts, which aren't alleging anything. Derek Holland was Chairman of the National Front (NF) and later a leader of the International Third Position (ITP). He still associates himself with the Political Soldier book, published originally by the NF and recently reprinted by Mr. Holland's associates in the European neo-fascist movement. A new Swedish version has been released with his approval.

The only part where "allegations" come in, perhaps, is where we refer to these activities as extremist. Let's leave off that label for a moment. It is safe to say that the ITP—as well as its predecessor and successor movements—publicly identifies itself with fascism, national socialism (Nazism), and similar ideologies. They are frequently sympathetic to Marxism as well. This is obvious in the case of Final Conflict (with the interesting domain name of politicalsoldier.net), a belligerent skinhead fanzine set up by the ITP in the early 90s. The Third Position movement endorses political revolution, youth cults/cultural subversion, and racialist policies. I think it's safe to say that most people (not just "a few," as is claimed) draw the proper inferences.

If there are any allegations, they come from Mr. Holland. He derides opponents as "cowardly" for being anonymous. This is an interesting attitude. Third Positionists often write under pseudonyms. Mr. Holland has authored some major works of radical nationalist literature under the name of Liam Connolly. I also recall that it was standard practice in the ITP never, or very rarely, to disclose names. Anyone going back through their old publications will be struck by the lack of bylines or the use of fake names.

But why don't we address the topic of the Middle East? Actually, it's Mrs. Sharpes' fault. She does Holland a disservice by mentioning the political controversy up-front, and so one finds it odd that they spend so much time defending Holland's right to discuss foreign policy views before they even tell us what they are.

Should we listen to the message, rather than the messenger, as Holland asks us to? The problem is that Holland and John Sharpe, and their comrades, have never been particularly candid about their other activities. Yet neither will they disavow them. There is the Legion of St. Louis, set up by John Sharpe, promoting its anti-Semitic views (see related commentary). The site is now anonymous. Perhaps Holland will complain to his friend about this.

Mrs. Sharpe and Derek Holland lament the current controversy, saying there is no need for it. But controversy doesn't "just happen." People go looking for it. As for the stated foreign policy and economic positions of John Sharpe and Holland, we're not really interested in them. After all, there are plenty of other non-controversial anti-war commentators and proponents of Distributism we have never bothered to criticize. We we do criticize is the attempted marriage of Catholic faith and oddball political hobbies. If Sharpe, et. al should decide to drop the pretense of advocating Catholic Social Teaching, then we will, quite simply, drop the subject.

Upcoming Derek Holland interview with the "Spirit of Chartres Committee"

The "In the Spirit of Chartres" Commmittee announces on their website an upcoming interview (April 1, 2008) with "Derek Holland/D.L. O'huallachain", on "The Middle East Tragedy from a Catholic, Political, and Historical Perspective: Understanding the Reasoning Behind Mass Murder."

The "In the Spirit of Chartres Committee" (SPCC) was founded by John Sharpe’s parents, John, Sr. and Judith, in 1998. The committee sponsors two annual events in Phoenix, AZ: a “Spirit of Chartres” Pilgrimage modelled on the annual SSPX event in France and a Catholic Restoration Conference.

Among the books promoted by the SoCC: Andrew Hitchcock's The Synagogue of Satan, which "provides a chronological account of the invisible world government operating from within the worldwise Jewish community" (Excerpts from the book can be found here), Michael Hoffmann's Judaism's Strange Gods, Msgr. Jouin's The Holy See and the Jews, the notorious forgery The Protocol of Zion, along with the usual roster of books by Fr. Denis Fahey.

John Sharpe to speak at the 2008 Saint Benedict Center Conference

John Sharpe will be speaking at the twelfth annual Saint Benedict Center Conference, billed as the "the largest gathering of Catholic traditionalists in the United States" held in Richmond, New Hampshire.

For more information on the 'Saint Benedict Center', see Russ Provost's SBCWatch.blogspot.com. In a response to an inquiry last year, Edward J Arsenault, Moderator of the Curia, Manchester NH responded:

The Saint Benedict Center has no permission or authority to exercise any Ministry on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church in New Hampshire. Bishop McCormack has and will continue to do all that he can to encourage people to refrain from participating in any of the spiritual exercises at the Saint Benedict Center.

For my part, I will continue to make it clear that Saint Benedict Center has no affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church in any way.

E. Michael Jones / John Sharpe's appearance at Catholic U. opposed by SPLC

Catholic University nixes lectures, by Julia Duin. Washington Times February 13, 2008:

Catholic University abruptly canceled an 11-part lecture series, "Building Catholic Communities," on Monday, after the Southern Poverty Law Center complained that two of the scheduled lecturers are anti-Semites.

The university released a statement yesterday saying the lecturers "appear to espouse views that are contrary to the mission and values of Catholic University. In light of this development, the dean of the school decided to cancel the lecture series," referring to Randall Ott, dean of Catholic's school of architecture.

Mark Potok, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project, called the school to complain about the participation of E. Michael Jones, editor of the South Bend, Ind.-based Culture Wars magazine, and John Sharpe, founder of the Norfolk-based IHS Press and the Legion of St. Louis, an Internet-based forum.

"We were surprised that Catholic University was allowing two raging anti-Semites on their campus," said Mr. Potok. "A simple Google search will show you the frightening ideology of these men."

"These are not the Latin Mass traditionalists," Mr. Potok said. "These are the people who reject Vatican II reforms. They are out of [actor Mel Gibson's father] Hutton Gibson's world, in saying that the Jews are destroying the world."

Some thoughts:

• The prospect of "building Catholic communities" as a bulwark against secular culture (and presumably along with it the distributist theories of Chesterton and Belloc) seems innocuous enough. However, given John Sharpe's questionable ideological ties and views on the Jews (as one might gather from past online investigations), together with E. Michael Jones' own contributions, I agree that Catholic University of America is right to be cautious about the involvement of these men with any project.
  
• That said, I also think the Southern Poverty Law Center -- being inexperienced in the doctrinal nuances of Catholicism and what constitutes "traditionalist Catholicism" -- really does more harm than good in addressing these matters, in that they tar 'traditionalist Catholics' with a wide brush. Not every "traditionalist Catholic" -- even those within the SSPX -- need be necessarily equated with its worst anti-semitic elements.
  
• Many questions here: One being the question of academic freedom and whether a controversial figure with questionable views on the Jews ought to be permitted to speak on a topic other than that involving the Jews? To what lengths does "academic freedom" extend? (The same questions might pertain to Columbia University's invitation to Iranian president to address their university when he visited New York, with his own questionable background).
  
• Another question: should Catholic University have done its homework on vetting those speakers at a conference before agreeing to be its host? Instead of cancelling at the last minute in such a manner as to appear to be "the lapdog to the SPLC"?
  
• Another question: is it hypocritical of Catholic University to take this measure against figures deemed anti-semetic and not to do likewise with promoting (or hosting) other speakers/productions with anti-Catholic elements? (Georgetown Law School now funds student internships at abortion rights groups, and the controversial “Vagina Monologues” has been performed (or approved) on more than 100 Catholic campuses, including Notre Dame).
  
• In his response to the fiasco (Anti-Semitism and Thought Control at Catholic University Culture Wars April 2008), E. Michael Jones remarks:

  When CUA president Daniel M. O’Connell meets with Notre Dame professors in private, he likes to brag about how orthodox and Catholic his university is in comparison to theirs. However, the recent cancellation of the Building Catholic Communities lecture series at CUA shows that there is no essential difference between these universities when it comes to compromising both academic freedom and the Catholic character of the university when subjected to pressure by groups like the SPLC. Father O’Connell, in fact, espouses what might be called the Jenkins doctrine of academic freedom: Vagina Monologues, Si! Oberammergau, No!
  

  The doctrine gets its name from the hapless president of Notre Dame University, Rev. John Jenkins, CSC, who as one of his first acts in office articulated a position on academic freedom which would allow the performance of the obscene Vagina Monologues but would ban a performance of the Oberammergau Passion Play. Which group thinks that obscenity is a protected form of expression but Passion Plays are not? If you’re answer to that question was the Jews, you have come a long way toward understanding how commissars like Mark Potok can impose Jewish forms of political correctness on Catholic institutions like CUA and Notre Dame. In his book, The Jewish Century, Yuri Slezkine opined that in becoming moderns we had all become Jewish. The same verdict applies a fortiori to Catholic academe in America. Combine the internalization of Jewish values that Slezkine mentioned, as manifested in the mind of John Jenkins, with the normal intellectual cowardice that one finds in Catholic academics and administrators, and you will find a situation where Catholics are eager to denounce other Catholics in a way that would make Stasi informers blush with shame.

  So, it would appear that according to E. Michael Jones (who insists "there is nothing anti-Semitic about anything I have ever said"), 'dem Jews are really to blame after all?
  
• It does nothing to bolster Jones' case when forum posters, rushing to his defense, proclaim: ""Southern Poverty Law Center is a communist jew organization. That guy who runs it name Morris Deed is a Jew. Most likely this is another arm of the ADL" (and when the same forum thread -- predictably -- degenerates into a discussion of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion).
  

Update on the Investigation of John Sharpe by U.S. Navy

Officer denies accusations of anti-Semitism, by Andrew Scutro - Staff writer. Navy Times March 20, 2007:

Sharpe acknowledges that he operates the Web sites [Legion of St. Louis and IHS Press], but denies the charge that he is anti-Semitic.

“I am just trying to be a good Catholic as I see it,” he said in an interview.

Kudos to the Navy Times for getting Sharpe to acknowledge his involvement / ownership of the Legion of St. Louis. When I had confronted him in February 2006, he would only maintain:

I write on behalf of IHS Press as the editor. You should contact the Legion of St. Louis for information on their status or activities. IHS Press is not connected to the Legion of St. Louis. [Sharpe to author, February 25, 2006]

The Navy Times continues:

Heidi Beirich, a law center investigator who has focused on Sharpe, said he is a “radical traditionalist Catholic” who believes that Jews, Masons and others have conspired to undermine the Roman Catholic Church for the past 300 years.

She called a 2005 speech she saw [sic] Sharpe give “quite the anti-Zionist screed,” and said she witnessed him selling books at a gathering of a group, known as “American Renaissance,” that welcomes activists to “help the cause of whites,” according to its Web site.

Sharpe admits to attending the gathering but claims little knowledge of the group, describing it as perhaps “the white man’s version of the NAACP.” He defended his selling books at the event, and added that he has sold books at a meeting of progressive Democrats.

Beirich scoffed at Sharpe’s apparent ignorance of American Renaissance.

“Literally next to him, in the next booth, was a guy selling ‘White Power’ T-shirts,” Beirich said. “You had to be an idiot not to know where you were.”

Count me among the skeptics as to Sharpe's feigned ignorance of the nature of the American Renaissance conference. For an inkling as to what it was about, see Searchlight's coverage of the 2006 event (BNP leader embraced by top US nazis", by David Williams. April 2006):

. . . Perhaps the largest stall belonged to Light in the Darkness (LID) Publications run by J. Forrest Sharpe. LID is an imprint of the IHS Press founded in September 2001 “to bring back into print the classics of last century on the Social Teachings of the Catholic Church”, many of which are distributed in Britain by the International Third Position organisation. Also present was “Patriotic Flags” based in Charleston, whose catalogue includes numerous Nazi standards and neo-Confederate flags dedicated to Nathan Bedford Forrest, first Grand Wizard of the KKK in 1867. The Canadian stall disseminated mountains of reprints of old racial science and eugenic tracts originally published in the 1960s . . .

See further coverage in the Washington Post: Promoting 'Preservation' Of Whites in Suit and Tie, by Michael Laris. February 26, 2006.

Now, in the interest of fairness, one should distinguish between ideological commmitments and motivations: the American Renaissance characterizes itself as "white preservationist" -- its founder, Jared Taylor, has adopted an "open tent" approach to all who have an interest in "preserving" the white race, going so far as to welcome Jewish-racists into the fold.

The topic of the 2006 conference attended by IHS Press was on "The Global Crisis", the speakers addressing such issues as non-white immigration and the threat of Islam to those of "white, European Christian" descent. Stormfront's forum carried a list of featured speakers / addresses -- including Andrew Fraser on “Reversing the Racial Revolution: Reinventing a Responsible Ruling Class"; Philip Claeys - “Crushing Democracy: The Struggle for Flemish Nationalism,” and Jared Taylor on "“The White Man’s Disease: The Fantasy of Egalitarianism." So anti-semitism was not exactly the central theme of this event.

In fact, the presence of David Duke himself causing something of a stir and distraction. The Forward reports on the curious dilemma of attendence by racist Jews AND the neo-nazi fringe, and the inevitable tension that developed (White Nationalist Conference Ponders Whether Jews and Nazis Can Get Along ):

The events Saturday, February 25, passed without major incident. But then, late Sunday morning, none other than former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke approached the microphone on the floor during the question-and-answer session for French writer Guillaume Faye. After congratulating Faye for stirring remarks that “touched my genes,” Duke asked if there weren’t an even more insidious threat to the West than Islam.

“There is a power in the world that dominates our media, influences our government and that has led to the internal destruction of our will and our spirit,” Duke said.

“Tell us, tell us,” came a call from the back of the room.

“I’m not going to say it,” Duke said to rising laughter.

But Michael Hart, a squat, balding Jewish astrophysicist from Maryland, was not amused. He rose from his seat, strode toward Duke (who loomed over him like an Aryan giant), spit out a curse — “You f…ing Nazi, you’ve disgraced this meeting” — and exited.

As it happens, only a few minutes earlier Hart, a mainstay of American Renaissance conferences, had been trying to reassure Herschel Elias, a first-time attendee from suburban Philadelphia, that he should not let his observation that the meeting was “infiltrated by Nazis and Holocaust deniers” ruin his impression of American Renaissance.

Now, I do not think Sharpe is motivated by white-racism nor racial anti-semitism. Nor do I consider many of the publications of IHS Press itself to be particularly objectionable. Sharpe's not the only Catholic who favors distributism as an economic model and possesses an appreciation for G.K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc. And a good many Catholics, myself included, are greatly concerned about the encroachmment of Islam on Europe and the threat posed to Western civilization.

On the other hand, it boggles the mind how John Sharpe can protest that he's "just trying to be a good Catholic as I see it," -- and likewise maintain IHS Press' appearance as a "traditional Catholic publisher" -- and market his wares at political events of this nature. The 'American Renaissance' isn't a local gathering of a parish social justice committee or "liberal Democrats" or even MoveOn.org. (The latter being a radical anti-war group that, while objectionable to some, would nonetheless be a suitable vehicle for promotion of IHS Press' Neo-Conned series).

The 'American Renaissance', by contrast, is a gathering of "white preservationists" with an ideological agenda of a far more radical nature.

Moving on, the Navy Times' article finds Sharpe engaged in some rather incredible verbal gymnastics on the Jewish question:

The Legion of St. Louis site contains several essays Sharpe says he wrote. They include a series of commentaries about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and an article titled “Judaism and the Vatican: Part II,” in which he wrote: “On the socio-political front, do those leading the Church realize that to preach against anti-Semitism — on Jewish terms — is not to condemn irrational hatred based on race or creed?” The article concludes with the admonition from one of Sharpe’s intellectual heroes [Fr. Denis Fahey], who said that “every sane thinker should be an anti-Semite.”

About Sept. 11, he wrote: “Anti-terrorism would not be a question of a better luggage X-ray machine, but ... better still, how to declare war on Islam and wage at the same time a war of independence on behalf of the U.S. government and the world financial system against international Judeo-Masonry.”

“I had my own take on the whole World Trade Center thing,” he said. “It’s nothing I can say I am ashamed to have written. It’s all things I think. It’s very valid.”

In an interview, Sharpe disavowed any interest in the Holocaust.

“I’ve tried to avoid it like the plague because it’s an area of interest I don’t want to get into,” he said.

But in the same article referenced above, he wrote: “That event, dubbed The Holocaust, is the focal point for the Jews insofar as it can be used to ensure that Christian civilization will never rise again ... because of the unacceptable consequences of its previous existence.”

Yet while denying that he espouses anti-Semitic theories, Sharpe stands by his articles.

“All I can say is what I’ve written is what I believe,” he said.

Additional Coverage:

• "The Story Unfolds . . .", by Tom Robotham. Portfolio Weekly March 20, 2007. "Two weeks ago, an inquiry from one of our writers triggered an official investigation into a naval officer’s conduct. The full story has not yet been told."
  
• Extremist coverage: David Duke has picked up the news, as also OverThrow.com and the CatholicVoice.co.uk.
  
• Jared Taylor sparred with FrontPageMag's David Horowitz in 2002 -- see American Conservatism: an Argument with the Racial Right FrontPageMag.com. August 27, 2002.
  

John Sharpe Investigated by United States Navy

From the Navy Times (Carrier PAO relieved pending investigation Sunday March 11, 2007):

NORFOLK, Va. — The public affairs officer for the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson has been temporarily relieved of duty following allegations that he was involved in supremacist activities.

Lt. Cmdr. John Sharpe was relieved of his duties Wednesday pending the outcome of an investigation, according to Jim Brantley, a spokesman for Fleet Forces Command.

Brantley said the Navy began a formal investigation after receiving an inquiry from Jenny O’Donnell of Port Folio Weekly, a Hampton Roads alternative newspaper, asking about Sharpe and “alleging his involvement in possible supremacist activities.”

Sharpe could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

“Evidently he’s affiliated with an anti-Semitic group, and that’s illegal in the U.S. Navy,” Brantley said. Brantley cited Navy Regulation 1167, which states, “No person in the Naval Service shall participate in any organization that espouses supremacist causes.”

Brantley said Sharpe reported aboard the Vinson in June 2006; he is on administrative leave during the investigation.

The Vinson is currently undergoing a refueling and complex overhaul at the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks white supremacists and hate groups, Sharperuns two “radical traditionalist” Catholic organizations that espouse anti-Semitic views, the Legion of St. Louis and IHS Press.

Read what the Southern Poverty Law Center had to say about Sharpe.

See also:

• Navy officer relieved of duty amid anti-Semitic accusations, by STEVEN G. VEGH, The Virginian-Pilot March 10, 2007:

  . . . "What do you mean, anti-Semitic? Have I advocated harming people because they're Jewish, hating people because they're Jewish, having any attitude to them because they're Jewish or any other religion? Absolutely not."
  

  He said IHS is principally a publisher of old titles by Catholic writers such as Hilaire Belloc and G.K. Chesterton.
  

  Sharpe said he founded the Legion seven years ago as a Web-based forum for discussion on how Catholicism related to contemporary social and economic issues. He said the site has been inactive since 2002.
  

  According to its Web site, the Legion's goals include "permeating society with the Faith" and combatting "the Judeo-Masonic tendencies of the modern social order."

  
  
• Naval officer accused of activity in hate groups Richmond Times Dispatch March 11, 2007.
  

On IHS Press / Legion of St. Louis' political extremism

Possession of Belloc and Chesterton hardly counts as incriminating evidence. On the other hand, the Legion of St. Louis' distribution of Michael Hoffmann's Judaism's Strange Gods, Prainaitis' The Talmud Unmasked and Henry Ford's The International Jew is a tad more disconcerting.

Likewise, it is curious why a website that was, according to Sharpe, "inactive since 2002", would remain online and active in 2007. One would think if you're distancing yourself from politically extremist and compromising ties one might take it offline, rather than renew the domain name and pay for the hosting.

While IHS Press has sought to present itself as a "Catholic publisher", Sharpe certainly hasn't explained to anybody's satisfaction how his friend and co-founder of IHS Press Derek Holland was a featured speaker at a nationalist convention of the German NPD, or more recently, IHS Press' prominent booth at a white nationalist convention in 2006? Question: Why would a Catholic publisher even seek to peddle his wares to this crowd? Evangelization?!?

Is the U.S. Navy's Investigation Warranted?

Consider some excerpts from one of many articles recently published on Neoconned's website:

Iraq now is occupied and we feel that Iraqis have the legitimate right to resist the occupation. The Baath Party is the leader of the Resistance that will liberate it from the Anglo-Saxon Zionist occupation. We feel that the liberation of Iraq will be achieved very soon and a very progressive leadership will be born that will lead the Arabs to liberate historic Palestine. As a result Arab Unity will be closer to being realized.

Yes indeed we support Saddam Hussein because he is the legitimate President. He is a prisoner of war and those who are living in four square miles - the so-called “Green Zone” - are both traitors and illegitimate because they are the puppets and agents of the occupiers. In no way do they represent the people of Iraq or our ambitions...

Saddam Hussein represents the hope for freedom, unity and liberation. He is a firm believer in the liberation of Palestine, and, therefore, he deserves our support. [...] My opinion is very clear: the Resistance is legitimate and those who are part of the occupational political process are traitors and enemies of the Iraqi people. They should be treated as such.

Source: (An Interview with Ibrahim Ebeid Neo-Conned Blog. IHS Press. May 6, 2006.

Now, there is a line between "principled religious opposition" to the war in Iraq -- of which one can point to many examples, even good Catholics who contributed to the Neo-Conned volumes themselves -- and another to publish and promote propaganda clearly advocating the murder of U.S. forces abroad and members of the Iraqi government. That this interview was published on a radical website run by Lieutenant Commander of the United States Navy -- who may very well be called into military service -- should give one pause.

While FringeWatch's original dispute centered on the extremist ties of the founders of IHS Press, it is my opinion that Sharpe's involvement in this project merits the concern of the U.S. Navy.

John Sharpe: Admits Nothing....Confirms Everything

In an interview earlier this year with The Distributist Review, John Sharpe (head of IHS Press and publisher of Neo-Conned) attempted to deflect criticism of his ties to extremist groups. But he inadvertantly acknowledged that people are taking notice and distancing themselves from his ideologically-laden "Catholicism." He begins by complaining that

...these “attacks” – as distinguished from the reasonable questions from people of good will, all of which I have answered in all cases – are a distraction.

Apparently the truth is distracting. Unfortunately, Sharpe is never candid in public (though he says much more when speaking privately). Still, amid his verbal wriggling he leaks enough details to confirm the main charges – that IHS Press has been tied to political extremists since the beginning. Speaking of his entrance into politics, Sharpe says

I was in Italy, stationed there in the late 90s... when I met an Irishman, who is now a good friend and partner in IHS Press, at the traditional Mass in Naples. Deric and I began a correspondence and friendship....

The "Deric" referred to is Derek Holland, a veteran British neo-fascist with ties to militant Arab and Muslim regimes who was active in the racist National Front as early as the 1970s. He is listed on IHS publications as Deric O'Huallachain (the Gaelic version of his name on his Irish passport). Mr. Holland is also one of IHS Press' corporate directors.

Sharpe admits to getting chummy with Holland/O'Huallachain in the 1990s when the latter was the acknowledged intellectual leader of radical nationalism (and co-founder of the International Third Position – ITP). This says a lot about his own philosophical formation. As it turns out, Holland was actively speaking at racist conferences in 2002, a year after IHS was set up. But that's not surprising, since IHS Press was an offshoot of Sharpe's own Legion of St. Louis, which was the American side of the ITP's St. George Educational Trust (SGET), a neo-fascist front group.

When asked about the ITP, Sharpe gives the predictable double-talk:

I have little to say about any "charges" in this area because IHS Press and the ITP have nothing to do with one another [in the way that Moscow had nothing to do with Alger Hiss - ed.], despite what our critics might say. But I will offer some general observations.

My co-founder, Deric, was involved with the ITP some years ago. Many people make an issue out of this [a curious admission - ed.]. I do not: firstly because IHS does not have to endorse Deric's entire life or all his actions... it has nothing to do with any of that, and only to do with doctrine [presumably Marxism and Nazism are just "doctrines," and we should ignore what their followers do - ed.]. Secondly, from a doctrinal standpoint there is nothing I'm aware of that Deric believed or did while he was associated with the ITP which was not acceptable in light of the Faith, at the very least according to his point of view at the time, if not in plainly objective terms.

Is the ITP bad and, if not, why do you mind being tied to it? And how could Mr. Holland's views be bad now but acceptable in the past? Or is that meant to imply that they were never really objectionable? As for Deric/Derek Holland, he has never repudiated views that he publicly advocated for thirty years, and apparently still advocates (albeit more subtly) via Sharpe's IHS Press.

From my memory the ITP never advocated violence or armed opposition to anything. If I’m wrong on that, then so be it – again I’m neither a partisan nor a “member” (if such things even exist), nor is IHS Press in any way whatsoever connected with whatever the ITP was or currently is – but we ought to operate in the realm of fact and not fiction.

Mr. Sharpe operates in the realm of surrealism. He should quit while he's behind. As for advocating violence, the ITP was tied to political violence in Italy and was a staunch advocate of anti-Israeli violence. Third Positionists like Derek Holland supported Ayatollah Khomeni's Iran and Gaddafi's Libya in the 1980s, and Iraq during the First Gulf War – all promoters of international terrorism. So John's memory is as faulty as it is non-committal. Yet he continues to lament:

I don't know what's wrong with these groups. To my knowledge all the St. George Trust ever did was reprint some books.... [tofu cookbooks? children's coloring books? -ed.] To my recollection, there has always been a traditional priest as a trustee and a number of other priests who have been involved in one way or another with the St. George Trust. None of them had any misconceptions about the political activities and beliefs of those in the Trust. Deric, as far as I know, was never a trustee or any other kind of official person with the group. I am aware that the St. George Trust and the Legion are said to be or have been in some way "front" groups for ITP, which, as I said, may or may not even exist at this point: I just don't know.

The Legion collaborates with St. George Educational Trust (SGET) in the sale of racist works like Henry Ford's International Jew, A. K. Chesterton's New Unhappy Lords, and Michael Hoffman's Judaism's Strange Gods. In closing, Mr. Sharpe is the sort of suspect who gives himself away by his insistent denials.

Legion of St. Louis Website: Some More Facts

Despite the political liability, John Sharpe continues to maintain his Legion of St. Louis site. An obvious smoking gun is his booklist (which includes such strange titles as Henry Ford's International Jew, The New Unhappy Lords, by British neo-fascist A. K. Chesterton, and Judaism's Strange Gods by anti-Semite Michael A. Hoffman II) and his outrageous 9-11 commentary (part I, II and III), which includes quotes from anti-Semites like Ernst Zündel and Michael Hoffman.

To reiterate, the LSL site was in place in October 2001. The IHS Press site went up no later than November of that same year, demonstrating that while Mr. Sharpe was promoting "Catholic Social Teaching" he was peddling anti-Semitism and neo-fascism with the LSL. As noted on this blog, Derek Holland, veteran British neo-fascist, is a member of the IHS Press board of directors and was openly involved in extremist activities even after IHS Press was founded.

More Legion/extremist connections:

FringeWatch has just located this copy of a Final Conflict NewsEmail dated March 20, 2001 which includes a note posted by LSL (presumably by John Sharpe) which says: "Anyone interested in pursuing this line of thinking further or in just having a chat can contact us at info@legionofstlouis.com." For those not aware of it, Final Conflict is the racist nationalist skinhead fanzine put out originally by the International Third Position (ITP) and now by its PoliticalSoldier.net spin-off. This connection comes as no surprise since the Legion was affiliated with the same ITP.

Another item of interest is this endorsement of the Legion's 9-11 commentary by Canadian neo-Nazi Ernst Zündel's ZGram for September 12, 2001. The fact that the Legion also cross-referenced Zündel's publications (in his original 9/11 commentary) shows that John Sharpe never hesitated to associate his "Catholic Action apostolate" with extremists.

As discussed in a previous post, the LSL partnered with the ITP's St. George Educational Trust (noted here and discussed in the Telegraph), selling books like Catholic Action, Uses, Abuses and Excuses, which had the same mailing address as the ITP's openly racialist and neo-fascist "Legionary Press" outfit.

Strange Ecumenism: The Pagan/Christian Fascist Front

In the early 1980s a radical nationalist journal called Rising was published by Third Positionists associated with the British National Front. Though authored anonymously, it was heavily promoted (and likely written) by Roberto Fiore and Derek Holland. It drew its inspiration from the Italian radical nationalism of Terza Posizione which, in turn, was influenced by the esoteric fascism of Julius Evola and the neo-pagan philosophy of Oswald Spengler. It involves a gnostic belief in a "higher spiritual tradition" which underlays all religions, from which radical nationalists try to derive a "moral" justification for their apocalyptic fantasies.

A re-issue of Rising is now sold by the International Third Position (ITP) and its offshoots (PoliticalSoldier.net and the England First movement). The ideas expressed in the series were also the direct inspiration for Derek Holland’s Political Soldier, which is considered the handbook of the Third Position movement. What is overlooked is that even as Holland and Fiore targeted "traditional Catholics" with their brand of neo-fascism, they continued to endorse views that these normal Catholics would find repugnant. It is also noteworthy that the ITP's Legionary Press shares the same address as the St. George Educational Trust—Forest House, Liss Forest, Hampshire, GU33 7DD, England. The St. George Trust is a sister organization to the Legion of St. Louis.

Excerpts from Rising: A Booklet for the Political Soldier (collected essays, nos. 1-5, published 1981-2, reprinted by the Legionary Press, 1998):

Our revulsion at the sight of mixed race couples is an indication of an instinctive “racial awareness.” We must be careful, however, not to let this question go only so far as our initial physical revulsion. [We must have] a racial doctrine based upon spiritual and political thinking... (p. 8).

It is clear that Spengler’s philosophy of history is immensely valuable to the ideological pillars of Nationalism, for it becomes obvious that a peaceful and harmonious world is contingent on recognizing that the human species is divided into a variety of widely differing and contradictory Cultures—frank and sincere acceptance of these differences necessarily leads to understanding and mutual, cultural respect: the highest form of Nationalism involves reciprocal, cultural respect (p.40).

As Julius Evola makes clear in The Aryan Doctrine of Fight and Victory.... It is the power of ideas, essentially spiritual, that motivate the finest peoples’ to build.... the militancy of Islam contributed greatly to the seventh century Arab civilization.... Spirituality can take on diverse forms as pantheistic ancient Greece demonstrates (p. 51).

At a higher level than the cultural, the spiritual is by definition something which does not die or pass away. It is something divine that is to be found in Man. It is something hidden, which must be rediscovered and purified, and which once rediscovered cannot be destroyed.... According to all traditions—Roman paganism, Christianity, Islam—this spirit is eternal.... Each race has a way through religion, tradition and customs to rediscover its roots and its spirit. If these paths are mixed, confusion ensues; the search for the Way becomes difficult if not impossible, and men are lost... (p. 61).

The struggle which engages us is a total struggle.... No quarter may be given, no quarter will be given.... Even if the Army of Political Soldiers that fights a rearguard defence of Britain and of Europe were to be reduced to but one National Revolutionary, yet would we live, for each and every Political Soldier embodies a Spiritual Ideal that defies the agents of Death to the point of Death (p. 62).

This sort of bizarre political ecumenism is not surprising if one considers that fringe Catholics subordinate faith and morals to radical agendas while seeking political alliances at any cost.

The Political Soldier: Part II

Mr. Holland’s second book in the projected Political Soldier trilogy (mentioned in previous post) was published in 1989 as Thoughts on Sacrifice and Struggle. Never as successful as its predecessor, the second volume appears to have been suppressed, for reasons that are not entirely clear. It is, however, a continuation of the same theme with a more detailed development of the intellectual basis of Third Positionist/National Revolutionary ideology. Like Marxists, the Political Soldiers treat the "capitalist" as the chief culprit in their neo-fascist politics of envy. As conservative thinker Kenneth Minogue puts it:

The ideologist distinguishes himself from the generality of mankind in his role as a critic of society. Others are intermittently critical of vice, abuse and injustice, but the ideologist engages in a continuous process of criticism of the very rules and conventions [of society].... [T]he ideological critic discovers oppression where the generality of mankind finds only an accepted condition of things (Alien Powers: The Pure Theory of Ideology).

Mr. Holland’s idea of "spiritual struggle" is reminiscent of the Marxist inspired Liberation Theology phenomenon of the 1970s—a fuzzy pseudo-mysticism. The quasi-religious themes are distinctly reminiscent of the immanentist millenarian creeds discussed by conservative philosopher Eric Voegelin, which place the eschatological struggle for good and evil here on earth (in that respect being akin to Communism). "To the Political Soldier," says Holland, "it must be said: we stand before the Apocalypse! Gird yourself and prepare for battle!"

The materialists and relativists, the tyrants of the modern world, fear Death because for them Death is the End. But for us, revolutionary warriors, Death is not the End, but the Beginning. It is the doorway through which the Political Soldier alone can pass, for it leads to the world of the Elect - of those who fought on the Way of Truth, who sacrificed and struggled, and who merited their Just Reward.

As a point of interest, Derek Holland did not originate the concept most closely linked to his name, though he undoubtedly perfected it. The terms "Political Soldier" and "New Man" come from the syncretist and pantheistic fascist writings of Julius Evola, transmitted to British nationalists like Holland by Roberto Fiore and the Italian Terza Posizione movement. A recent follower of Evola helps put Holland's political "traditionalism" in clearer context:

[P]rimordial Tradition can be applied to all or nearly all existing religions if you do not focus on the dogmas, but rather on the way the fighting spirit is to be embodied. Christian chivalry does not differ much from the Jihad fighters or the Samurai, outside of the large distinctions in their religious mythology ("Tradition, Religion, and Modern Europe: Synthesis Interviews Martin Schwarz," Synthesis, 2001).

The Political Soldier: Part I

This is a continuation of Fringe Watch's study of neo-fascist infiltration of Catholic and paleoconservative circles, last mentioned in the post on "The Third Position: The New Nationalism and the New Racialism."

Derek Holland's Political Soldier has been a best-seller in radical nationalist, Third Positionist circles since it first appeared in 1984. The 24 page pamphlet is crucial to understanding the pseudo-spiritual direction in which neo-fascists have trended, including their desire to co-opt Christian (including Catholic) social issues through a strategy of infiltration.

An energetically written piece of agitprop The Political Soldier paints an exciting picture of a "spiritual struggle" for "national revolution." The Political Soldier borrows occasional phrases from religious authors like G. K. Chesterton and Thomas à Kempis. Nevertheless, what is not said about religion is just as important. In 1994, Derek Holland added a new preface to the tenth anniversary edition, dropping in references to "sin," "faith," and "God." Yet nowhere does he discuss the Christian faith itself, since he clearly so much at odds with it.

The following excerpts are illustrative:

[W]hat is needed above all else is a fundamental shift in attitude towards struggle, towards life, towards destiny; that there cannot be, and will not be, any serious change in the overall direction taken by the countries of Europe until the New Man, like a giant on the horizon, capable of moulding and inspiring a New Social Order...

... Europe does not have a monopoly on Political Soldiers and all peoples and cultures have the potential to produce this type of man, each fitted to his peculiar circumstances. Take for example the Islamic Revolutionary Guards in the Iran of the Mullahs.... Their belief in their Cause is so strong that they will run through minefields unarmed to attack enemy positions.... This power drove the Yankee war machine out of the Lebanon - whilst U.S. troops were fighting for job security, a wage packet and a pension, their opponents in the Revolutionary Guards were fighting for an Ideal, an independent Iranian Iran.

It is the task of the Political Soldier to promote the Will to live by revealing the true nature of life - as opposed to the materialist nightmare of this century which is mistakenly taken to be "life" - and by living this life. In order to do this the Political Soldier must undergo a Spiritual Revolution, an inner revolution which guides, directs and pervades his life.

The last public pronouncement by Holland on the Political Soldier appears in the March 2002 issue of Deutsche Stimme, the journal of the NPD (a rough translation of "Theory and Strategy: The Path of the Political Soldier" is available via Google). He remains connected to Third Position politics via the St. George Educational Trust which was founded by the ITP in the early 1990s and which is affiliated with the Legion of St. Louis.

More on Derek Holland and IHS Press

This blog has examined the extremists connected with John Sharpe's Legion of St. Louis (LSL) and IHS Press. Already mentioned is the fact that the LSL offers anti-Semitic titles, and that International Third Position (ITP) leader Derek Holland, a sympathizer with anti-American Arab governments – who traveled to Libya in 1988 and Iraq in 1990 – is a member of IHS Press's board of directors.

It was not simply that Derek Holland and John Sharpe found themselves to be kindred spirits when they met up in Europe in the late 1990s. The ITP has long been involved in a scheme of Marxist style "entryism" – with the aim of co-opting groups which profess non-mainstream views (not extremist per se) in the hopes of bringing them under their neo-fascist umbrella. For years they made little headway.

But a breakthrough came with the ITP's St. George Educational Trust (SGET) set up in the early 90s as a "Catholic charity" organization (an investigation of the group by the UK Charity Commission took place in 1997). It has to be understood that within European "revolutionary nationalism" there are two trends: one, professedly neo-pagan and even anti-Christian; the other, espousing a selective religiosity (not unlike the Klan and "Christian Identity" racialists in the US). But when push comes to shove, all such extremists put aside personal differences to unite in their hatred of Jews, non-whites and the United States. It is the totalitarian tendency which trumps everything else.

The problem with Sharpe's activities is not just a question of overlapping ideas, but of overlapping resources. A look at my library shows that the SGET, whose books are sold by the LSL, has the same mailing address as the ITP’s Legion Books at Forest Place in Hampshire, England.

The SGET/LSL pamphlet Catholic Action: Uses, Abuses and Excuses is written by Derek Holland under the pen name of "Liam Connolly." The article "Why Catholics Are Cowards" by Liam Connolly was published by the LSL and SGET in the booklet Faith and Fear. It first appeared in the Christmas 1998 issue of Candour, an anti-Semitic newsletter run by the ITP (now operating in the UK as "England First").

Another fact that puts Sharpe's Neo-Conned anti-war series (put out by IHS Press/Light in the Darkness publications) into perspective is that Derek Holland, through the ITP, is associated with the neo-nazi German NPD (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands). Holland spoke at their events in 1999 and 2000. It turns out that the NPD is also linked to al-Qaeda via Ahmed Huber, a Swiss extremist who converted to Islam in the 1960s (see Financial Times story). The ITP and its cronies actively sympathize with violent activity against the US.

The Third Position: The New Nationalism and the New Racialism

Key to understanding the post-war political fringe re developments that took place in Britain in the 1980s. Specifically, these developments grew out of the British National Front (the activities of NF leaders, Derek Holland and Roberto Fiore, have been noted earlier). These developments helped set the "new nationalists" apart from the Nazi political dinosaurs who, to the young Turks of the movement, droned on endlessly about immigration and the cranial capacities of difference races. The achievement of the intellectually inclined nationalists seemed meager at first. In terms of sheer numbers, the NF membership plummeted. But over time the self-styled national revolutionary elite proved the most successful in breaking into new circles, especially those with religious affiliations.

The Third Positionists of the National Front wanted the student youth support hitherto monopolized by the Marxists. "Social Justice, Ecology and Racial Purity" were called the three pillars of the "new nationalism." The NF even took up the cause of militant "animal liberation." The party advanced a remarkably eclectic program drawn from such sources as the Distributism of Chesterton and Belloc, the agrarian utopian-socialism of William Morris, Muammar Qaddafi's Green Book, the Romanian fascist Iron Guard, and Strasserite National Socialism. Despite the confusing permutations over the years, certain key concepts have remained in steady use—"national revolution," "against capitalism and communism," "beyond left and right," etc.

NF theorists formulated strategies that have become commonplace amongst other far right groups. They can be largely credited with the "new racialism" whereby neo-fascists sought to shed an overtly Nazi racist image. They no longer advocated "race hate" but "racial separatism." In 1987, under the direction of the triumvirate of Derek Holland, Nick Griffin and Pat Harrington, the NF provoked shock and interest with headlines proclaiming solidarity with "black nationalists" like Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam. Little came out of it and the NF could only garner the backing of some insignificant, three-man organizations like the Pan-African International Movement. Part of the problem was that black separatists could be as bigoted as their white counterparts, and they may have felt white nationalists were just angling for good copy.

By the mid-1980s the NF had gone through a number of purges. In 1980, NF Chairman John Tyndale was ousted, and over time the old-guard neo-Nazis were eliminated in favor of the more radical revolutionary nationalists. The period 1985-6 saw a further split between the "ideologues" and the "street activists." For a time this led to a confusing state of affairs in which there were actually two rival NFs. But the smaller and more elite "Political Soldier" wing eventually came out on top. Even after the NF collapsed in 1989, giving rise to the International Third Position (ITP), the Political Soldiers set the tone for neo-fascist subversion in the years to come.

John Sharpe's Ties to Holland and Fiore

Our last post looked at the anti-Semitic propaganda of John Sharpe, whose IHS Press has published two anti-war books: Neo-Conned and Neo-Conned Again!, which are being heavily promoted in paleo-conservative and paleo-liberterian circles by the uninformed.

Starting in the 1980s the British National Front (NF) was the premier "revolutionary nationalist" and racialist movement, before its implosion in 1989. Out of that collapse emerged an even more radical outfit called the International Third Position (ITP) headed by Derek Holland and Roberto Fiore.Both Holland and Fiore have received considerable treatment in works on European extremist nationalism, including Fascism: A History by Roger Eatwell (1997) and Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (2002).

As Chairman of the NF, and later the ITP's chief ideologue, Holland exerted a decisive influence. He authored The Political Soldier, which is the Koran of militant nationalists throughout Europe. In many places it invokes the imagery of Muslism fanatics as nationalist "martyrs." He has been a supporter of radical Arab regimes, visiting Libya in 1988 and Iraq in 1990 (photo and information on the Libyan trip is available online).

Given these credentials it is hardly surprising that Holland should back the Neo-Conned anti-war series as a director of IHS Press. Some people may be misled by the fact that Holland now operates under his Irish Gaelic name, Deric O'Huallachain (having relocated to Ireland from the UK a few years ago). However, earlier copies of the Virginia SCC certificate for IHS Press shows it as Derek Holland.

From the moment that IHS Press was established in 2001, people expressed concern, but were reassured (as was this writer) that Holland had put his extremism "behind him." Apparently that didn't stop him from being guest speaker at the February 2002 racial nationalist Nationaldemokratisk Ungdom (NDU) in Sweden. In March of that year the German neo-nazi Deutsche Stimme (German Voice) featured his essay, "Theory and Strategy: The Path of the Political Soldier." An overnight transition from political radicalism to religious orthodoxy seems improbable. And his activities in Ireland have covered as recently as 2005 in the Brandsma Review.

Roberto Fiore, Holland's close collaborator, was a member of the political wing of the Armed Revolutionary Nuclei which claimed responsibility for the 1980 Bologna bomb attack which claimed 85 lives. In 1997 Fiore came out of hiding in the UK to head the openly fascist Forza Nuova party in Italy.

What is the link to Neo-Conned? Fiore, as part of the ITP, helped set up the St. George Educational Trust (more here) which is the UK counterpart to, and collaborator with, Sharpe's pseudo-Catholic Legion of St. Louis.

John Sharpe's Legion of St. Louis

In our last entry we revealed the disturbing extremist connections of John Sharpe's IHS Press, publisher of two anti-war books: Neo-Conned and Neo-Conned Again!. If it is argued that we "can't shoot the messenger" it is also true that we needn't believe the messenger when he cites dubious authorities.

This is not about Mr. Sharpe's political past. It is about his political present. And while otherwise respectable individuals (deceived by Mr. Sharpe) have contributed to IHS Press volumes, the fact remains that neo-fascist propagandists, with whom Sharpe collaborates, have adopted an "entryist" Marxist-style means of infiltrating conservative circles to their own advantage – and the obvious disadvantage of their unwitting allies. For now, we'll concentrate on the hard evidence of John Sharpe as a far-right mole.

Sharpe heads up the Legion of St. Louis (LSL), though his name no longer appears on the site. But it can be verified from other sources, such as this article published in 2002. On the LSL booklist page we find the following for sale:

1. Henry Ford's International Jew, a pseudo-historical study in anti-Semitism used by Hitler and other extremists to justify their conspiratorial view of Jews and, ergo, their desire to eliminate them.
2. The New Unhappy Lords, the "Mein Kampf" of British neo-fascism by A. K. Chesterton. Chesterton founded the racialist National Front, which was the direct predecessor of groups involved in the establishment of the Legion of St. Louis and IHS Press.
3. Judaism's Strange Gods by the conspiracy-obsessed Michael A. Hoffman II. Mr. Hoffman is a promoter of Holocaust revisionism. For a sampling of Hoffman's rhetoric, see "The White Separatist FAQ."

While John Sharpe's proclivities have yet to receive widespread coverage, they are documented by Searchlight magazine ("Faith-based fascists bridging the waters") – a UK liberal source, as well as the conservative Irish Catholic journal The Brandsma Review.

If that's not enough, consider the absurdities posted by Mr. Sharpe in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks (the LSL news page). He sounds more like Michael Moore than an advocate of traditional conservatism. There is the assertion that "America wasn't attacked. America isn't the World Trade Center, nor is it the Pentagon. At least those things don't represent our America, nor should they for our readers." Sharpe made the presumptuous claims early on that Bin Ladin had nothing to do with the attacks – a point that not even al Qaeda debates now. If you're Mr. Sharpe, it seems anything's better than the mainstream media.... Unfortunately, as with his Neo-Conned series, it's a false alternative – an ideological equivalent of "out of the frying pan and into the fire."

The Real Con Job: John Sharpe's "Anti-War" Series

On November 9, 2005, LewRockwell.com posted " The Case Against This Monstrous War," a glowing endorsement of two anti-war books: Neo-Conned and Neo-Conned Again!. They are put out by the IHS Press, under its Light in the Darkness imprint. As the review opines, IHS "has assembled one of the most impressive lineups of scholars and commentators. . . ever seen on any subject." The bi-partisan authorship spans the entire political range from paleo-conservative Pat Buchanan to Marxist Noam Chomsky. Some contributors are entirely reputable. However, beneath the superficial respectability of IHS Press there lies a web of connections that conservatives should find disturbing.

The problem with the Neo-Conned series is more than impassioned rhetoric, it's a matter of caveat emptor. Unsavory politics lurk beneath the surface. Consider that the founder, CEO, and editor of IHS Press is John Sharpe. The following points should send off alarm bells among his target conservative audience:

1. John Sharpe has a long record of sympathy with anti-American Arab regimes and tries to downplay the horror of 9/11 by blaming it on Israel and the US itself.
2. He promotes socialist/leftist economic theories, through the works of IHS Press' Sheffield Hallam University Press series and the works of the eccentric British "guild socialist" Arthur Penty.
3. He disseminates anti-Semitic publications through a subsidiary called the Legion of St. Louis (LSL).

If it is thought that this last charge is an exaggeration, consider Mr. Sharpe's argument for "sane" anti-Semitism:

Finally, let us not fear the epithet "anti-Semite" as it is used by the enemies of the Faith and of the West. . . . [W]e all then have the courage to respond with the words of Fr. Fahey: "In that sense, every sane thinker must be an anti-Semite" ("Judaism and the Vatican," The Angelus, June 2003).

The LSL is an ostensibly Catholic organization which pitches to traditionalists. But a perusal of the Legion's eclectic offering of books turns up such titles as The International Jew (admired by Adolf Hitler), the writings of British fascist A.K. Chesterton and an anti-Jewish screed by self-proclaimed "white separatist" Michael Hoffman.

To sum up, this exposé is not meant to discuss the merits of the Iraq War. Whatever one's views, it is possible to be concerned about ideological radicals exploiting sensitive issues for their own benefit. What is the upshot? First, political radicals (tied to neo-Nazis) gain the credibility they have long coveted by collaboration with well-known and respected individuals. Second, dissenting conservatives, understandably scandalized by the insanity of mainstream culture, are sidetracked from their real work and are ethically compromised.

Brandsma Review on "Catholic" Extremist Infiltration

In 2005 the Irish journal The Brandsma Review published an insightful analysis of the new hybrid extremism which, among other things, is attempting to link up religious tradition with its own agenda. In particular, the UK neo-fascist International Third Position (ITP) and its affiliates have tried to subvert Catholic groups in Europe on many social issues. The article (offline), "Strange Bedfellows on the Ultra Right" is by Peadar Laighléis, a veteran Catholic journalist.

...[G]roups on the far right have always looked toward the East for inspiration rather than to Judaeo-Christianity and they distorted Indo-European studies to create a neo-paganism based on Hinduism, also drawing on Buddhism and other oriental belief-systems. This, among other aspects of Nazism, was condemned by Pius XI in Mit Brennender Sorge. However, this encyclical and other ecclesiastical critiques of Nazism and Fascism have not deterred some traditional Catholics from taking that road. Indeed the ultra-right has its own ecumenicism – traditional Catholics mix with neo-pagans, neo-gnostics, atheist/agnostics, some strains of Protestant fundamentalist and converts to Islam and other eastern religions....

Laighléis mentions the major British racial nationalist party, the National Front, out of which the ITP emerged. He also discusses their ideological roots in the New Age fascist thinking of Julius Evola.

The National Front might well have been a talking shop for a few proverbial dinosaurs had they not sold their message to skinheads. In 1989, the movement went two ways – Derek Holland and Nick Griffin founding the International Third Position (Griffin later left to join the British National Party) and Pat Harrington founding the Third Way....

At this time, Holland and [Italian ITP leader] Fiore rediscovered their Catholicism, though keeping faith with Evola’s ideas. The International Third Position differs remarkably from its predecessor in that it has a lot of issues on its platform which are distinctly Catholic, for example in regard to abortion, the family and homosexuality. It also uses a lot of Catholic symbolism and language. However, the movement goes much further and embraces a very racist form of nationalism that goes beyond what Catholics can accept. The International Third Position targeted a lot of pro-life and traditional Catholic movements in Ireland (including the Brandsma Review) from 1992.......

Fiore and Holland made a number of attempts to set up Catholic villages in France and Spain which would implement the Third Positionist vision. Third Positionists have particularly insinuated itself into traditionalist Catholic company.... The St. George Educational Trust has reprinted much of the Catholic material referred to above and disseminates it with new prefaces – British charity officials have denied this group charitable status because of its links with the International Third Position. In the United States, the Legion of St. Louis works in the same way. In 2002, the IHS Press, of which Holland is a board member, was set up to reprint Catholic books relating to social teaching and Catholic action.