About a year ago I hosted Peter Bell of the Sons of Patriarchy podcast to discuss Welcome to Leith. To me, a lot of what the film covers feels wildly prescient in every respect, extremely unfortunate in many others, and undeniably exhausting in totality. The film chronologizes the heinous plight of Craig Cobb (notorious white supremacist for whom you can read about here) to take over Leith, North Dakota with the hopes of creating a neo-nazi utopia. In our episode, I note how Douglas Wilson’s Christian Nationalist hopes for Moscow, Idaho mirrored these same desires for Craig Cobb; to legitimize an ideology through empirical means.
I think what haunts me about this film is that very little has changed since it released a premiered a decade ago. Everything that made figures like Craig Cobb possible are now easier than ever to get your hands on through social media, enragement-bait algorithms, and the hateful rhetoric of racism, bigotry, misogyny, and everything in between now branded as an identity. Worst of all? It’s celebrated as brave, authentic, or, “just sayin’ it like it is.” when someone speaks their mind. The reality is that its the unfettered evil of an individual’s pride, malice, and violence toward their fellow man, and Welcome to Leith shows that all it takes is one person’s sinful determination (and obvious delusion) to disrupt a community of <30 people (as Leith at the time had somewhere between 20-30 people in its population).
Craig Cobb wanted to take over Leith by having other racists move in so they could vote in local elections, influence local law, and create a “white utopia”. Douglas Wilson and his entire pagan ideology, for which the Sons of Patriarchy podcast takes to task, seeks a similar purpose in Moscow, Idaho. Draw like minded figures in, influence local government, create a utopian society. This now has influence even to the capital as it stretches its hands across Pete Hegseth’s shoulders, a man whose pastor comes with his own baggage (allegations of serious child abuse and domestic violence, for which you can hear his own mother recount in this episode). Cowards seek to build a nation for themselves. Christians know they have a nation not of this world (John 15:19, Philippians 3:20, Ephesians 2:19, Hebrews 11:10)
Peter severed the ear of a man to defend Christ from being abducted. Peter likely thought, as many Israelites at the time thought, that the coming Messiah the prophets spoke of was a cultural Messiah, and eventually the time would come when Rabbi Jesus would take arms and rebel against the Greco-Roman empire, thus bringing freedom back to the Promised Land. But Jesus was clear in His rebuke to Peter’s violence, and He was also clear about His power and influence.
Matthew 26:52-53 NIV
[52] “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. [53] Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
The question is a rebuke; do you not yet know who I am and what I am doing?
Meanwhile, 1st Samuel 5 showcases how little the Lord needs men to do His work. After the Philistines steal the Ark of the Covenant, God Himself brings plagues, famine, darkness, and tumors against any foreign nation that held him. So much so that these nations passed the Ark around like a hot potato, terrified what the God of Israel may do to them.
Utopianism, or the idea of creating some perfect coexistence, is wholly unreachable. Ideals are undoubtedly good, and ideals are a great benchmark for progress and success, but true goodness does not annex its fellow human, nor does it demean them for their skin color, gender, etc. (Genesis 1:27). We know, as all of humanity can plainly see, that such ideas are meaningless. Time and time again there have been attempts at such social experiments predicated on the aggressive abuse of others – disguised as forceful suggestions – rather than building a community on earnest kindness, love, and a passive pursuit of coexistence. In actuality what figures like Douglas Wilson and Craig Cobb surmise as good is actually evil, and what they assume to be evil, often times, is quite good (Isaiah 5:20). Their hearts are sick above all things, wholly in service to their own delusions (Jeremiah 17:9). They are enslaved to their ego, incapable of goodness, and showcase the depths of worthlessness the human spirit can obtain (Romans 3:10-18). Truly only an encounter with Jesus Christ could bring change in their hearts, but they are too busy fashioning a golden calf to see their messenger on the mountain (Exodus 32).
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Melvin Benson is the Founder, Editor-In-Chief, and Lead Host of Cinematic Doctrine. Whether it’s a movie, show, game, comic, or novel, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s rich, he’s ready and willing to give it a try! His hope is to see King Jesus glorified as far as the east is from the west!
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