When Cults Collide

What happens when the similarities are no longer enough?

Recently someone brought to my attention an article written in 2018 on the Clarion Project’s website entitled Nation of Islam and Scientology: Their Dangerous Alliance, by Ryan Mauro and Alex VanNess.

—https://clarionproject.org/nation-of-islam-and-scientology-their-dangerous-alliance/

Their opening statement; “The Nation of Islam and Scientology would seem to have nothing in common, yet they have formed a bizarre and dangerous alliance” really made me stop and think. There had to be some attraction to bring two such groups together.

Birds of a feather are known to flock together.

Are Scientology and the Nation of Islam truly as different as one might be inclined to think?

Elijah Muhammad was the original leader of the NOI. Like Louis Farrakhan, Muhammad’s ideology was radical and racist against whites. Upon his death in 1975, Elijah Muhammad’s sixth son, Wallace who now goes by the name Warith Deen Mohammed was chosen as Supreme Minister.

In 1978 Farrakhan, unhappy that the new leader was trying to move the Nation of Islam away from the separatist and racist teachings of his father and toward the more orthodox sect of the Sunnis, broke away and formed his own group, also called the Nation of Islam. Under Farrakhan’s leadership the radical black nationalism and anti white sentiment embraced by Elijah Muhammad have strengthened and grown.

While David Miscavige did not overtly break away from Scientology, the results of the coup he staged in the aftermath of L. Ron Hubbard’s death have achieved the same thing. Miscavige‘s takeover of COS included the removal and silencing of the remaining Hubbard family members much as Farrakhan’s rejection of his founder’s offspring. Since his treacherous obtaining of the crown, Miscavige’s position as head of the RTC has allowed him to slowly make his own “adjustments” to the writings of LRH thus bringing them more in line with his own, even more vicious personality.

Both men seized the reins of power from their former leaders and have proceeded to remake their cults according to their own perverted and distorted ideologies.

Hubbard’s teachings have always had an underlying foundation of anger, fear and intolerance which Miscavige has also embraced and nurtured. LRH was condescendingly racist towards Asians and blacks as well as misogynistic.

Hubbard believed and taught that a woman’s place was in the home raising the children, writing in Scientology: A New Slant on Life; “We have, in the woman who is an ambitious rival of the man in his own activities, a woman who is neglecting the most important mission she may have. A society which looks down upon this mission and a society in which women are taught anything but the management of a family, the care of men, and the creation of the future generation is a society which is on its way out.”

Apparently David Miscavige is convinced that a woman should neither be seen nor heard as his own wife has been missing from the public eye for more than 10 years.

Farrakhan’s NOI also believe that a woman’s fundamental purpose is the bearing and raising of children. It is the men who are responsible for maintaining the discipline within the family and their word is law.

Both Scientology and the Nation of Islam are homophobic, with COS believing that homosexuality is a crime and Islam that it is degenerate behavior and against God’s plan.

Miscavige‘s slow, subtle squirreling of Hubbard’s teachings have only served to further the “get them before they get us” mindset. Like Farrakhan who took his leader’s intolerant mindset and nurtured it further creating followers blinded by anger and fear, Miscavige used Hubbard’s original teachings as a springboard to slowly reshape Scientology into the darker and angrier image of his own.

Both the NOI and Scientology use fear and intimidation, both are intolerant towards anyone who refuses to conform to their belief system.

Scientology and the Nation claim to be religions, yet they consistently show by example their complete misunderstanding as to what a religion truly is.

Farrakhan recently claimed he was the Messiah saying; “God does not love this world. God never sent Jesus to die for this world. Jesus died because he was 2,000 years too soon to bring about the end of the civilization of the Jews. He never was on a cross, there was no Calvary for that Jesus. Early one Saturday morning, our Saviour taught us, when he found out that he was 2,000 too soon to end the civilization of the Jews, he decided that he would give his life for the truth that he taught. And, his name would live until the one that he prefigured came into existence…The real story is what I tried to tell you from the beginning. It didn’t happen back there. It’s happening right while you’re alive looking at it. I represent the Messiah. I represent the Jesus and I am that Jesus. If I am not, take my life.”—Louis Farrakhan, Saviours’ Day keynote address, February 17th, 2019

Hubbard wrote; “For those of you whose Christian toes I may have stepped on. let me take the opportunity to disabuse you of some lovely myths. For instance, the historic Jesus was not nearly the sainted figure has been made out to be. In addition to being a lover of young boys and men. he was given to uncontrollable bursts of temper and hatred that belied the general message of love, understanding and other typical Marcab PR. You have only to look at the history his teachings inspired to see where it all inevitably leads. It Is historic fact and yet man still clings to the ideal so deep and insidious is the biologic implanting”. —HUBBARD COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE Saint Hill Manor. East Grinstead, Sussex, HCO BULLETIN OF 5 MAY 1980, LIMITED DISTRIBUTION ISSUE I OT VIII Course Students

Interestingly, Scientology and the Nation of Islam both have science fiction tales in their belief systems.

For the Scientologist there is the tale of Xenu and his space planes. For the uninitiated this story is that 75 million years ago a galactic overlord named Xenu decided to address his planetary overpopulation problem by rounding up and blowing up millions of his citizens, loading what was left of them into planes, flying them to various volcanoes around earth and then blowing them up again.

Leader Elijah Muhammad taught that a “Mother Plane”, a UFO that the prophet Ezekiel speaks of in the “Book of Ezekiel”, in the Hebrew Bible was used to create the mountains on the earth. He said the plane

“… is made like the universe, spheres within spheres. White people call them unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Ezekiel, in the Old Testament, saw a wheel that looked like a cloud by day but a pillar of fire by night. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that that wheel was built on the island of Nippon, which is now called Japan, by some of the Original scientists. It took $15 billion in gold at that time to build it. It is made of the toughest steel. America does not yet know the composition of the steel used to make an instrument like it. It is a circular plane, and the Bible says that it never makes turns. Because of its circular nature it can stop and travel in all directions at speeds of thousands of miles per hour. He said there are 1,500 small wheels in this Mother Wheel, which is a half mile by a half mile [800 m by 800 m]. This Mother Wheel is like a small human-built planet. Each one of these small planes carry three bombs.”

—Louis Farrakhan, The Divine Destruction of America: Can She Avert It?

The reason for these bomb laden planes making mountains?

“Have you ever tried to balance a tire? You use weights to keep the tire balanced. That’s how the earth is balanced, with mountain ranges.”

—ibid

Scientology’s planes brought Thetans to earth, where they were bombed on the banks of volcanoes and subsequently rose to animate meat bodies and exist on a hamster wheel of never ending lives.

The Nation of Islam’s planes are loaded with bombs that create mountains to balance the earth.

Farrakhan believes he is the Messiah, Miscavige believes that only COS can save the Planet.

Both men are angry, driven by whatever created their inner demons, perhaps for David Miscavige his insecurities from his youth and for Farrakhan the fact that his mother raised him and he now has father issues?

Farrakhan preaches violence, Miscavige approves of Fair Game and he beats and abuses those under him.

Both men have millions at their disposal.

Is it really that far fetched that two cults that share so much dysfunction, that are so grounded in hate, fantasy and abuse would be drawn together?

The real question is not how they have come together but rather how they are going to continue to coexist.

Their similarities, what has drawn them into a relationship are also land mines waiting to be tripped.

With two such damaged, narcissistic personalities needing to be in charge, it is only a matter of time before cracks begin to appear.

David Miscavige grasps pennies so tightly he has Lincoln imprinted on his thumbs. Farrakhan’s followers tithe their portions to the NOI.

What happens when the followers begin feeling the financial pinch between their leaders?

How will two leaders make decisions for followers who are now members of two “religions”? Is one a Scientologist or is one a member of The NOI?

One Man cannot serve two masters, as the saying goes.

Whose doctrine will win out?

When the bloom is off the lily how will two racist, intolerant groups, both convinced they are right, going to get along?

There is a divorce coming in the future.

It’s just a matter of time and it is going to be ugly.