Phineas priests believe they are justified in murdering people who, they say, "disobey God's laws" by performing abortions, marrying someone of another race, or being a homosexual. They rely on the biblical story of Phineas, recounted in Numbers 25, to add God's blessing to their heinous beliefs and violent actions.Paul Hill, the man convicted of the abortion clinic murders of Dr. John Britton and his escort, James Barrett, encouraged his fellow anti-abortion extremists to commit "Phineas actions." He used the same Old Testament passage to justify such actions. The far right publication Jubilee referred to Hill as a Phineas priest.In Polson, Montana, a couple years ago, Network director Ken Toole was challenged for his comments about hate groups while speaking at a public meeting. That's not unusual. What caught Toole's attention when he spoke to the man later, was the large belt buckle bearing the symbol of the Phineas Priesthood.In Idaho Falls, Idaho, members of the Unitarian Fellowship found Phineas Priesthood flyers on their cars after church last April. The fliers warned that homosexuals would be executed. The Unitarians believed they were targeted because they planned to bring in a well-known speaker to talk about white supremacist groups.The Idaho Falls flier concluded with these frightening words, "In cities and towns all over America, names and addresses of law violators are being compiled. Six-man teams are forming across the nation. Soon, the fog that comes from Heaven will be accompanied by the destroying wind of a righteous God . . . Beware all ye who violate Yahweh's laws."

The "six-man teams" sound ominously similar to a tactic promoted by white supremacists and militia organizers called "leaderless resistance." They envision small, independent cells, fed by a common ideology of hate, but without public leaders to avoid detection by law enforcement.The Phineas Priesthood came to the attention of human rights activists in 1991 when Bryon de la Beckwith was retried for the 1963 murder of civil rights activist, Medgar Evers. A prospective witness told the press he was afraid to testify because he might become a target of the Phineas Priesthood. "You don't know when they're going to strike. There is nothing quite so dangerous as a religious fanatic who thinks he's doing the Lord's will."Richard Kelly Hoskins wrote in Vigilantes of Christendom in 1990, "As the kamikaze is to the Japanese/ As the Shiite is to Islam/ As the Zionist is to the Jew/ So the Phineas priest is to Christendom. . . it makes little difference whether you agree or disagree with the Phineas Priesthood. It is important that you know that it exists, is active, and in the near future may become a central fact in your life." He identified, as Phineas priests, members of The Order who murdered Jewish talk show host Alan Berg.Hoskins' book has been for sale at gun shows around Montana

The Phineas Priesthood is a Christian Identity movement that opposes interracial intercourse, mixing of races, homosexuality, and abortion. It is also marked by its anti-Semitism, anti-multiculturalism, and opposition to taxation. It is not considered an organization, because it is not led by a governing body, there are no gatherings, and there is no membership process. One becomes a Phineas Priest by simply adopting the beliefs of the Priesthood, and acting upon those beliefs. Women are not generally permitted to become members. Members of the Priesthood are often considered terrorists for, among other things, planning to blow up FBI buildings, abortion clinic bombings, and bank robberies.The Phineas Priesthood took the name after the Israelite priest Phinehas, grandson of Aaron. Phineas killed an Israelite man and a Midianite woman while they were having intercourse in the Tabernacle, sticking a spear through the two. In the Bible, Phineas is commended for having stopped Israel's fall to idolatric practices brought in by Midianite women, as well as stopping the desecration of God's sanctuary. Today, members of the Phineas Priesthood use this deed as a justification for using violent means against interracial relationships and other forms of alleged immorality.The origin of the term appears to sit with author, Richard Kelly Hoskins who introduced the name and concept in his 1990 book, Vigilantes of Christendom: The Story of the Phineas Priesthood.

This is a glaring defect in the Old Testament that, with the prodigious growth of Fundamentalism, has become a deadly problem. When numerous examples of outright evil are presented as righteous behavior, we should not be surprised when further such incidents by unrepentant fanatics occur in the future. As for the rest of us, who are not in any nut group, the challenge posed by the Old Testament is simple: either we recognize it as morally deficient, or we debase our moral sensibility in order to conform to it. The former course leads towards a steadier pace on the road to becoming truly civilized, but the latter will ultimately destroy civilization in an insane orgy of bloodlust and paranoid delusion.*Numbers 25:6-136 "And behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his breathern a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.7 "And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;8 "And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.9 "And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.10 "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,11 "Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.12 "Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:13 "And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel."

Three men with ties to a shadowy underground white supremacist group were arrested by the FBI on October 8 for two bank robberies and three bombings in Spokane. Notes left at the crime scenes referenced the Phineas Priesthood, a group which uses the Bible to justify the murder of homosexuals, interracial couples, and abortion doctors.The men, Charles Barbee, Robert Berry, and Jay Merrill, were arrested just after they attempted to rob another bank in Portland, Oregon. The FBI, already on their trail, notified the bank which hastily closed its doors. The three were arrested as they stopped for gas on their way back toward Sandpoint, Idaho where they live.The saga began last April 1 when a blast rocked a branch office of the Spokane Spokesman Review. Minutes later, a nearby bank was robbed and bombed by four militia-clad men. As the robbers fled they shouted support for Montana's Freemen, who were engaged in their standoff with the FBI.They also left behind letters bearing the mark of the Phineas Priesthood and containing numerous references to "Yahweh." This English rendering of the Hebrew name for God is found frequently in the literature of the Christian Identity movement. Christian Identity is a racist religion claiming that whites are God's chosen, blacks are non-human, and Jews are the children of Satan.Three months later the Spokane offices of Planned Parenthood were bombed, just prior to another robbery at the same bank. No one was injured in any of the bombings. All together, the robbers made off with nearly $100,000. Anti-racist groups speculated that the money would be used to fund more bombings by far right, anti-government groups.When bank officials offered a $100,000 reward for information, they received a letter from the Phineas Priesthood threatening retaliation if they didn't rescind the reward. The bank responded by increasing the reward by $15,000.

The accused men, in Freemen style, are refusing to cooperate with the courts. They would not stand when the judge entered the court and refused to sign their names acknowledging that they understood their constitutional rights. "Yahweh is my defense," said Merrill, one of the suspects.Merrill has been a featured speaker at America's Promise, a Christian Identity church. Pastor Dave Barley acknowledged that he was familiar with all three suspects. Merrill has also written articles for the leading Identity newspaper, Jubilee.Barbee has admitted he belongs to a "patriot" group, preparing to battle the federal government. "We have to be ready to conduct guerrilla warfare," he told the Spokesman Review. "That's how it will be won." He and Berry were jailed for a month last year for possession of marijuana and carrying concealed weapons. Police said their vehicle was loaded with all kinds of weapons and military gear.Barbee quit his $50,000/year job with AT&T about two years ago. "It's not a moral company," he claimed. "Half the people I worked with were women. They were working instead of being help-mates to their husbands, as God requires."