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Article: The Jesuit Myth: Conspiracy Theory and Politics in Nineteenth-Century France.
- Article from:
- Theological Studies
- Article date:
- March 1, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Theological Studies, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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This densely written book considers the phenomenon of anti-Jesuitism in 19th-century France as a case study in conspiracy theory. Similar studies can be done about anti-Semitism or Masonic conspiracy. The common denominator would be that they have little or no relation to the living, breathing Jesuits or Jews or Freemasons who lived during the period studied. Those living embodiments of the species are curiously irrelevant to those who indulge their paranoia about imagined groups of conspirators. Cubitt amply demonstrates this, using the Jesuits as an example.
"Jesuits" in this context need not be from the 19th century; any example from the past will do. Nor must the ...