Kenneth Goff
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Goff was a Christian Identity
minister and anti-Communist crusader. He was the 1944 national chairman of Gerald L. K. Smith
's Christian Youth for America. According to his biographical material, he was a member of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) from May 2, 1936, to October 9, 1939, when he testified before the Dies Committee. He claimed that while in the CPUSA he infiltrated youth organizations and worked for Communist front organizations, maintaining links with Communist leaders both in the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., in order to lay the groundwork for Communist revolution in the United States. He also claimed that his testimony before the Dies Commission led to the dismissal of 169 federal employees.
Goff later made numerous speaking tours and was the author of 28 books, numerous tracts and several periodicals, including from 1962-1967 The Pilgrim Torch. In his 1954 book, Hitler and the Twentieth Century Hoax, Goff claimed that Hitler was a Communist agent and hinted he was Jewish and also that Hitler was still alive and would reappear to advance Communism. He also claimed that both hippies and desegregation were part of a Communist plot. He told the Dies Committee that the Communists were in favor of water fluoridation
, because they intended to take over water treatment plants and threaten to poison the water supply with fluoride if Americans did not surrender.
Goff's main influence on Christian Identity came through his leadership of the Soldiers of the Cross Training Institute, located in Evergreen, Colorado, which trained Christian Identity ministers, including Dan Gayman of the Church of Israel
. The Institute provided courses on Christianity, politics, survivalism and other subjects.
In his 1970 book, The Hoaxers: Plain Liars, Fancy Liars and Damned Liars, Morris Kominsky
claimed that Goff was the author of Brain-Washing
, a book that purported to be a condensation of a work by Lavrentiy Beria
, the Soviet secret police chief.
Goff has also been attributed with creating the "strangled to death quote", which he falsely attributed to the CPUSA leader, Gus Hall
. The purported quote was:
, who wrote in 1733, "I should like to see...the last king strangled with the guts of the last priest". The evangelist Jerry Falwell
used the false quote as late as 1980.
In 2011, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
released a 1960 letter from Goff to the anti-Communist writer Pat Walsh, which claimed that Canadian socialist leader Tommy Douglas
had been active in Communist circles in the 1930s. According to Goff, "Premier Douglas was a preacher in Chicago about the time I was a member of the Communist Party and he attended party rallies on the University campus presided over by Claude Lightfoot
and Morris Childs".
Christian Identity
Christian Identity is a label applied to a wide variety of loosely affiliated believers and churches with a racialized theology. Many promote a Eurocentric interpretation of Christianity.According to Chester L...
minister and anti-Communist crusader. He was the 1944 national chairman of Gerald L. K. Smith
Gerald L. K. Smith
Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith was an American clergyman and political organizer, who became a leader of the Share Our Wealth movement during the Great Depression and later the Christian Nationalist Crusade...
's Christian Youth for America. According to his biographical material, he was a member of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) from May 2, 1936, to October 9, 1939, when he testified before the Dies Committee. He claimed that while in the CPUSA he infiltrated youth organizations and worked for Communist front organizations, maintaining links with Communist leaders both in the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., in order to lay the groundwork for Communist revolution in the United States. He also claimed that his testimony before the Dies Commission led to the dismissal of 169 federal employees.
Goff later made numerous speaking tours and was the author of 28 books, numerous tracts and several periodicals, including from 1962-1967 The Pilgrim Torch. In his 1954 book, Hitler and the Twentieth Century Hoax, Goff claimed that Hitler was a Communist agent and hinted he was Jewish and also that Hitler was still alive and would reappear to advance Communism. He also claimed that both hippies and desegregation were part of a Communist plot. He told the Dies Committee that the Communists were in favor of water fluoridation
Water fluoridation
Water fluoridation is the controlled addition of fluoride to a public water supply to reduce tooth decay. Fluoridated water has fluoride at a level that is effective for preventing cavities; this can occur naturally or by adding fluoride...
, because they intended to take over water treatment plants and threaten to poison the water supply with fluoride if Americans did not surrender.
Goff's main influence on Christian Identity came through his leadership of the Soldiers of the Cross Training Institute, located in Evergreen, Colorado, which trained Christian Identity ministers, including Dan Gayman of the Church of Israel
Church of Israel
The Church of Israel is a denomination that emerged from the Church of Christ in the Latter Day Saint movement and is now affiliated with the Christian Identity movement, a charge which its leader, Dan Gayman, denies.The Church of Israel was first organized in 1972...
. The Institute provided courses on Christianity, politics, survivalism and other subjects.
In his 1970 book, The Hoaxers: Plain Liars, Fancy Liars and Damned Liars, Morris Kominsky
Morris Kominsky
Morris Kominsky was the author of The Hoaxers: Plain Liars, Fancy Liars and Damned Liars .-Biography:...
claimed that Goff was the author of Brain-Washing
Brain-Washing (book)
Brain-Washing , sometimes referred to as "The Brainwashing Manual", is a book published by the Church of Scientology in 1955. It purports to be a condensation of the work of Lavrentiy Beria, the Soviet secret police chief. Its true authorship remains unclear, the three common hypotheses being:...
, a book that purported to be a condensation of a work by Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was a Georgian Soviet politician and state security administrator, chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus under Joseph Stalin during World War II, and Deputy Premier in the postwar years ....
, the Soviet secret police chief.
Goff has also been attributed with creating the "strangled to death quote", which he falsely attributed to the CPUSA leader, Gus Hall
Gus Hall
Gus Hall, born Arvo Kustaa Hallberg , was a leader and Chairman of the Communist Party USA and its four-time U.S. presidential candidate. As a labor leader, Hall was closely associated with the so-called "Little Steel" Strike of 1937, an effort to unionize the nation's smaller, regional steel...
. The purported quote was:
“I dream of the hour when the last congressman is strangled to death on the guts of the last preacher-and since the Christians seem to love to sing about the blood, why not give them a little of it? Slit the throats of their children [and] draw them over the mourners’ bench and the pulpit and allow them to drown in their own blood, and then see whether they enjoy singing those hymns."The quote can actually be traced to Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
, who wrote in 1733, "I should like to see...the last king strangled with the guts of the last priest". The evangelist Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
used the false quote as late as 1980.
In 2011, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
released a 1960 letter from Goff to the anti-Communist writer Pat Walsh, which claimed that Canadian socialist leader Tommy Douglas
Tommy Douglas
Thomas Clement "Tommy" Douglas, was a Scottish-born Baptist minister who became a prominent Canadian social democratic politician...
had been active in Communist circles in the 1930s. According to Goff, "Premier Douglas was a preacher in Chicago about the time I was a member of the Communist Party and he attended party rallies on the University campus presided over by Claude Lightfoot
Claude Lightfoot
Claude M. Lightfoot was an African-American activist, politician, and author. In 1955, during the McCarthy era, he was indicted based on the Smith Act and put on trial...
and Morris Childs".