The Scientology-Nation of Islam Alliance: Sideshow or Armageddon?

For several years now some of us in the press have been bringing up the strange relationship that has grown up between Scientology and the Nation of Islam. Most recently, Eliza Gray did a wonderful job looking at Louis Farrakhan’s embrace of L. Ron Hubbard in The New Republic.

It’s been fascinating to watch Farrakhan explain in videotaped lectures how he’s managed to fall under the spell of the whitest man who ever lived. And it’s true that he’s asked many of his followers to get trained in Dianetics and to get training as auditors. But on this Saturday, we’d like to open up the blog for discussion of a question we have about this strange relationship between such unusual groups.

For whatever reason, Farrakhan has decided to embrace the ideas in Hubbard’s books, and to make sure a large number of his followers get trained in order to benefit the Nation of Islam. But we wonder, is there really all that much cross-pollination going on in the other direction? What we mean is, are these NOI members actually becoming active members of the Church of Scientology and gaining positions of authority in it under David Miscavige?

Tell us what you think: is the Nation of Islam embrace of L. Ron Hubbard just a weird sideshow, or is Miscavige really allowing Scientology to tie its destiny to Farrakhan?