Characteristics of the Expository Essay

1. 1. The text discusses the "Third Position." What is the text talking about? What do Third Positionists believe?

Third Position is a radical autonomist political philosophy that magnifies its disagreement to communism and capitalism equally. Third Position gained some stride in Europe during the 1990s. This sweep eventually reached the United States. According to Southern Poverty Law Center (2011), “The American Third Position exists to represent the political interests of White Americans” (American Third Position, para. 2).

Third Positionists believe it is a third option to socialism and capitalism. Advocates of Third Position politics generally represent his or herself as far from the left and right.   However, they do assert to militant ideas from both ends of the political scale. They are generally against globalization and are pro-environment. In practice, Third Positionists are patriotic and intoxicated with racism and anti-Semitism. Their perceived major enemies are Jews, African Americans, and immigrants.

2. What were the Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord? Who was its leader? What did the organization stand for? What crimes did its members commit?
The formation of the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA) went into effect in the 1970s. by an ex- San Antonio fundamentalist minister James Ellison in southern Missouri near the Arkansas border. This paramilitary survivalist group operated in disguise as a religion, prone to violence, racism, and anti-Semitism. James Ellison purchased land from the Campus Crusade For Christ church to establish his own community. The storage of large amounts of food and weapons were accumulated and training for military and survival procedures were conducted on this secluded land. CSA has been linked with other White supremacist groups inside of the United States, like the Aryan Nations. Ford (2011), "Followers of this ideology support hostility against any form of government above the county level,...