Brian Birmingham interviews Jitarth Jadeja

BB: How long were you involved?

JJ: I was a full fledged QAnon believer from January 2018 to June 2019, so 1.5 years.

BB: Why did you stop?

JJ: There’s no single answer to this. First of all, my circumstances changed, I was diagnosed and received medication for Bipolar-2 which in combination with my ADHD treatment shifted my mindset. This was followed by a reduction in my social isolation because of my chaotic mental state.

This then led me to question a few things I had previously accepted without consideration. But it was also inconsistencies within Q’s own rules that they had set out. It started with a piece by Mike Rothschild discussing the sealed indictments Q touted. Which snowballed into eventually coming across a video debunking the last and most significant Q proof I had which was the ‘tip top tippy top shape’ phrase used by Donald Trump.

BB: Did you believe in other things labeled conspiracy theories before QAnon? What were those other conspiracy theories?

JJ: When I found Q I was deep into a conspiracy rabbit hole. That fall really started with Trump’s election and spiraled quickly into Pizza-gate and interdimensional aliens amongst many others.

BB: What do you think now about those conspiracy theories?

JJ: I hate conspiracies. I don’t even want to discuss them; I can’t stand any of them and looking back they’re so idiotic and complicated with bigger more grandiose conspiracies needed to explain initial conspiracies. I hate that.

BB: What drew you into the world of conspiracy theories?

JJ: I needed to feel special, I wanted answers, I wanted to mean something, be significant in some way, to know that despite being a consummate failure in every aspect of my life from career, education and relationships, that there was still some way I could not feel like someone on the lowest rung of the social hierarchy that I was.

BB: Do you think there is a type of person drawn to conspiracy theories?

JJ: I don’t know, I don’t think so, there’s correlation factors like say mental health or social isolation but these are correlations. The overwhelming majority of people with mental health issues don’t fall into QAnon. Ditto with social isolation. Just because they were factors for me doesn’t mean they would be for anyone else so it’s not possible to build an archetype of such a person with any certainty.

BB: Do you think Info Wars and Alex Jones is a scam?

JJ: No. I think he genuinely believes in what he says. He’s even been correct about a few things such as Bohemian Grove [sic]. And even his products that he sells, maybe it’s just placebo but they do work as advertised so no I don’t think it’s a grift. I think he’s connecting dots and making assumptions where he shouldn’t.

No one is more indoctrinated than the indoctrinator.

BB: Have you lost money through believing in conspiracy theories?

JJ: Not really but then I never had money to begin with or I’m sure I would have. I lost time, which is something you can’t buy.

BB: How do you think believing in conspiracy theories hurts people?

JJ: I think when you perceive the world that is so juxtaposed to the one that others see, not slightly, not a small shift, but almost completely opposite it changes your behavior and your actions. That is the real damage of such conspiracy theories, it’s not the beliefs really, it’s the behavioral change that occurs.

BB: What advice would you give to people caught up in conspiracy theories right now? What do you think they must consider? Why?

JJ: You must always genuinely consider the fact that you could be wrong. If you are sure you’re not wrong, then you have a problem.

BB: What advice would you give to someone that has a family member or friend caught up in conspiracy theories?

JJ: I wouldn’t know, it depends on the person, their actions and behaviors. Some I would say to focus on their change as a person and remind them that their beliefs are not an excuse to behave badly towards others.

To others I would say distract them, get them a hobby, find a way to get them to spend less time-consuming conspiracy related media.

And to others I would say run, run as far as you can, as quickly as you can, the person you knew is dead, they are gone and they are never coming back.

BB: Do you think QAnon will ever end? Will it go on indefinitely?

JJ: Everything ends, of course it will end. As long as Trump is around and in the picture it won’t though and before it ends, ironically there will almost be a personal reckoning, a “great awakening” of a different kind that will need to be grappled with. There will be fallout, people will get hurt, people will hurt themselves, hurt others, that cannot be stopped. We’ve crossed the Rubicon, there’s too many people in it now.

BB: Why do you think people often hop from one conspiracy theory to another?

JJ: It’s almost like a drug, the first time you read something that makes your head explode released a massive amount of dopamine. It’s like people keep needing that hit, that mind blowing effect and keep looking for it with other conspiracies. But at the same time, they need a bigger and bigger hit so they find bigger and bigger conspiracies.

BB: Do you think that you are done with the world of conspiracy theories? Why?

JJ: 100%

I hate them, I hate them all, from Epstein to UFOs, I don’t care, I don’t want to talk about it, I don’t want to know about it, I don’t want anything to do with it.

BB: Did believing in conspiracy theories make you happy? Did it make you sad? Anxious and paranoid?

JJ: It made me all of that and more. It gave me hope that somehow, we could build a better future for all of humanity of we just ousted the bad guys. It also made me sad that people couldn’t see the truth I could. I was agitated, anxious, paranoid, aggressive and almost manic in my behaviors. I couldn’t talk about anything else to anyone, it was like being possessed.

BB: Is it healthy to believe in conspiracy theories or can it lead to extreme paranoia and anxiety?

JJ: I don’t know what that means to “be healthy,” I don’t think you can proscribe such a description to a belief. Beliefs are irrelevant, it’s the behavior that changes that is either healthy or unhealthy. You can believe anything you want but it’s your actions that come after which is what does damage. Why does one person who believes the same thing as another, not behave in the same way? End

Note: Jitarth Jadeja is a former follower of QAnon who now speaks out against the movement. Brian Birmingham is a cult researcher and graduate of the University of Massachusetts in Boston with a BA in Psychology and Sociology.

By Brian Birmingham

I once knew an older gentleman who lived near Mobile, Alabama. He called himself a “Christian” and he refused to read or study from any Bible other than a King James Version. He was retired, and he studied the Bible every day for hours. He was friendly and generous. We became Bible study partners and friends.

After weeks of study together, he began to share some of his personal beliefs and opinions.

That’s when it became evident that he was a racist.

But all of his racism was justified through interpretations of the King James Bible.

“Everything” he said was somehow explicitly spelled out and justified biblically, he claimed.

First there is the “Curse of Cain” (Genesis 4:15), which he interpreted as a premise for black slavery and servitude. Then he claimed that Acts 17:26 laid the foundation for biblically mandated segregation. He later told me that that Jeremiah 23:25 was the basis for denouncing Martin Luther King, Jr. as a “false prophet.”

He rejected all my arguments and insisted that “God” had commanded that the races must live separately and that black people specifically must be subservient to white people.

Within the world of “cults” these same racist sentiments are expressed by certain groups, who also insist that such pronouncements are solely based upon “God’s Word” in the Bible.

There is a group called “Twelve Tribes,” founded by Eugene Delbert Spriggs, that preaches Biblical justifications for holding racist beliefs. But Spriggs simply copied his teachings from other racists.

We often call groups that harbor such sentiments “White Supremacists.”

Now on the other hand what many don’t know is that there are also Black Supremacists.

The Ku Klux Klan marching on parade.

Black Supremacists often manipulate the bible too, much like the Ku Klux Klan and my old white racist friend from Alabama. The only difference is, which race is considered preeminent.

For example, the so-called “Black Hebrews” or “Black Israelite” movement, which includes “Israelites United in Christ” (IUIC) led by Nathaniel Ray of New York, also known as “Nathanyel Ben Israel.”

The IUIC represents just one faction, within the larger context of Black Hebrew or Black Israelite movement. But in many ways the IUIC is not unlike the Klan concerning their insistence upon ordained racial superiority.

By the way, the IUIC is hardly original. Just like the Twelve Tribes its beliefs are largely derived from earlier groups such as the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge (ISUPK), which is arguably even more militant.

Would Martin Luther King be considered a “false prophet” by such groups due to his philosophy of non-violence and peaceful resistance?

Years after my studies with the man from Alabama I came across a street preacher on a sunny Spring Day in downtown Dallas. He was accompanied by several supporters. The preacher blasted his message through a bullhorn, while his companions passed out flyers to pedestrians. They wore dark, tunic-like uniforms. Some had headpieces and they all carried Bibles. They were Black Israelites.

I stopped to listen and read one of their flyers. It was published by Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge (ISUPK). The message was hardcore Black Supremacist doctrine. All about how African Americans, and other people of color, are the true descendants of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. How Christianity is a “false religion” and white people are “devils.”

Hate speech is still free speech in America. And the ISUPK preacher shared a racist and anti-Semitic message based upon a twisted interpretation of the Bible.

Were they so different from the Klan or the White Supremist Christian Identity Movement or any other supposedly Bible-based hate group?

Scripture twisting, after all, is characteristically done by both.

Black Israelites preaching

FYI — The Anti-Defamation League provides a very good history of ISUPK and related groups on its website, in an article titled “Extremist Sects Within the Black Hebrew Israelite Movement.” It explains how the ISUPK and IUIC have the same ideological roots, beginning with a preacher named Frank Cherry.

I stood and listened to that street preacher, which apparently drew his attention. He said, “If you are truly sorry for all the evil done by white people, bow down and kiss my boot.” He explained, “Talk is cheap and action speaks louder than words. Humble yourself before this descendent of slaves that your ancestors tormented and exploited. Kiss my boot.”

So, I did it.

All the Black Israelites clapped as I rose to my feet and shook the hand of the preacher, who seemed genuinely surprised.

I was interested in his reaction and how my act of contrition might affect him.

Would this change his opinion of me or about white people?

“I didn’t think you would do it,” he said.

And then he put his arm around my shoulder like a friend.

Then he said, “After the race war, which is coming, I will make sure that you are a well-treated slave.”

We talked for a while after that, but he never really changed his mind about me or white people. There was nothing I could do or say to persuade him. He was just
as rigid as my old white Bible study partner.

Today there are many hate groups online recruiting new members. Some have been banned on social media, while others have not.

YouTube has policies concerning hate speech.

However, groups like the IUIC, led by Nathaniel Ray, operate with impunity, using social media to spread hate, recruit and raise money. The IUIC is on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok and uses the app Clubhouse.

Nathaniel Ray IUIC

See the IUIC YouTube channel and the many indoctrination videos available there. For example, the one titled, “Let’s talk Israel United in Christ” by IUIC founder Nathaniel Ray. Ray explicitly calls whites and Jews the “Devil” at the 14-minute mark.

Ray provides a very concise explanation of the basic beliefs of the IUIC. He says that European Jews are “Edomites” and are themselves the “Devil.”

I have no regrets about my brief encounter with the ISUPK or boot kissing. It helped bring some clarity about the nature of all hate groups and how rigidly they hold onto their hate, whether someone kisses their boot or whatever.

When someone has hate in their heart it’s hard to change them. They see the world in black and white, “us vs. them.” And this distinction isn’t about race, it’s about the dichotomy and limits of their thinking and the rigidity of their mindset.

Note: Brian Birmingham is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts in Boston with a BA in Psychology and Sociology. He is a native of Dallas.

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