Superconspiracy theories can fuse political plots with theology to enlarge the plot’s scale

Evidence

Among the earliest descriptions of a superconspiracy was Des Griffi n’s Fourth Reich of the Rich, which appeared in 1976. While Griffi n accepts and builds on the work of Robison, Barruel, and Webster, he gives their traditional attack on the Illuminati a signifi cant theological twist, for he projects the origins of the Illuminati back to before the creation of the world. He accomplishes this by fusing the original idea of an Illuminati conspiracy with the far older story of Lucifer’s rebellion against God. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 299

Categorization

• DEFINE: Illustrates what a ‘superconspiracy’ is by showing how a mere Illuminati plot gets expanded through cosmic fusion.
• XREF: connects to: Television and computers gave Antichrist writers new control-capacity themes — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 258; Conspiracy theories evolve toward complex multi-organization superconspiracies — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 349; Superconspiracy theories function as totalizing systems of all knowledge. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 476 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Conspiracy theories evolve toward complex multi-organization superconspiracies #expands (0.85) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 349
• New World Order theory united religious and secular conspiracy audiences #exemplifies (0.82) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 397
• Superconspiracy theories function as totalizing systems of all knowledge. #expands (0.80) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 476
• The enemy fuses theological love-object and political target into one problem #expands (0.78) — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 199