Transcript
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On November 20th of 1932 in Detroit, Michigan, a man named James Smith was led into a room by a man named Robert Harris. In that room were Harris's wife and children, as well as 12 other adults and an altar. What followed was a ceremony that Smith apparently believed was his initiation into a new religious sect. He was asked if he would be willing to die for the organization, and upon confirming that willingness with a nod, Robert Harris suddenly drove a knife into the chest of James Smith. The shocked and bleeding man didn't die, not right away. That required Harris grabbing a conveniently located piece of a car axle and bludgeoning him with it. The neighbors called the cops and during his confession, under questioning, Harris claimed to be enacting a ritual sacrifice based on the teachings of his spiritual leader, who promised in return a reward in the afterlife. That teacher's name was Wallace Fard, and he, along with another senior member of the religious community, were the subject of a Detroit manhunt. They denied any affinity for human sacrifice, but after being questioned by a psychiatrist, were installed into straitjackets and locked in a padded cell. The man who had wielded the knife and the car axle, Robert Harris, would five days later be found guilty and based on his courtroom behaviour, be declared mentally ill. He died three years later in a hospital prison for the criminally insane. Wallace Fard was released on condition that he leave Detroit and never come back. His associate, whose name was Ugan Ali, was released on condition he promised to disband the religious sect. These were the events that would lead Wallace Fard to relocate to Chicago, where he would officially begin a hugely influential religious organization today called the Nation of Islam. It turns out that while he and Ali were confined in their padded cells, another man named Elijah Poole would lead a group of over 200 in protest at the courthouse. And it took the police the entire day to clear them out. Elijah Poole would later come to be called Elijah Muhammad. The group they were involved with at the time was called the Allah Temple of Islam. By 1933, the now renamed Nation of Islam boasted 8,000 members in Chicago. And Wallace Fard would then mysteriously disappear, leaving Elijah Muhammad as his successor. Elijah would go on to preach that Allah had come to earth in the form of Wallace Fard to bring salvation to his followers. And Fard, meanwhile, had a fascinating history. He appears to have based his teachings on a synthesis of beliefs from the Jehovah's Witnesses, Freemasonry, Shia Islam, the black nationalism of Marcus Garvey, as well as the antisemitism of the Protocols of the Elders of Zionism and something called Moorish science, which we'll get into in a bit. We haven't even talked about the alien Mothership or the evil scientist Yaqub yet, but it's coming welcome to Conspirituality. I'm Julian Walker and I'm back again with the latest installment in my Roots of Conspirituality series, which has so far traced the history of new religious movements from about 1840 through to today. Their doomsday prophecies, paranormal claims, and eventual synthesis with Orientalist reimaginings of Hindu Buddhist tropes and spiritualized science fiction to produce what is now known as the New Age. So prone to conspiracy theories in today's world. Don't worry, you don't have to have heard all eight previous episodes to be able to understand and enjoy this one, but the they can all be found under the Collections tab once you've joined us@patreon.com conspirituality if you've been listening to.