"The Radical Restaurants of Father Divine, Founder of Peace Mission"
October 31, 2018 2:23 PM   Subscribe

The case was brought to Justice Lewis J. Smith, who sentenced Divine to a year in prison. But four days after the sentencing, the 55-year-old judge died of a sudden heart attack. When journalists asked for Divine’s reaction, his brazen response made headlines, and helped turn the cult leader into a media phenomenon: "I hated to do it," he reportedly said.
Heaven Was a Place in Harlem by Vince Dixon, about "the radical tableside evangelism of Father Divine — equal parts holy man, charlatan, civil rights leader, and wildly successful restaurateur".
posted by Kattullus (7 comments total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
Divine’s widow, the second Mother Divine, expelled Jones and his followers from the banquet, then banned him from the Peace Mission outright.

There are huxters and then the worse than huxters.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:09 PM on October 31, 2018 [1 favorite]


That was a great story. I'd heard of Father Divine but didn't know he haf actually fed people. A really fascinating bit of history.
posted by layceepee at 4:56 PM on October 31, 2018 [1 favorite]


Yeah Father Divine until now held a vague and modestly unsavory association in my mind (was he mentioned in some satirical 60s ditty, Alan Sherman or Tom Lehrer?) This was a good little introduction.

Cults are so intriguing, and people's willingness to join them and hold such bizarre beliefs. But like lots of other cults, you can so see the appeal and positive sides of this one.
posted by latkes at 8:18 PM on October 31, 2018 [1 favorite]


Yeah Father Divine until now held a vague and modestly unsavory association in my mind

I think it's the Jim Jones connection. When I got to that bit, I though "Oh... that's why this sounded vaguely familiar."

It's an interesting contrast with Father Riker who was running essentially a fascist white supremacist cult in California around the same time (really a bit earlier).
posted by hoyland at 5:33 AM on November 1, 2018 [4 favorites]


Whoa, that sent me down a Google hole. I can't believe I never heard of father Riker given how close to me his enclave was in the Santa Cruz mountains. I would go on a road trip to check out the remains of his Holy City but it looks like the property was, fittingly, just purchased by some Scientologist pharma billionaire!
posted by latkes at 6:31 AM on November 1, 2018 [2 favorites]


Wow, what a cool cult leader. I mean, lot of the same deep problems with what and how he did it, but at least along the way he actually championed good causes and fed hungry folks.
posted by GoblinHoney at 12:09 PM on November 1, 2018


I remember eating at the Peace Mission cafeteria in Seattle in 1970. You could get a square meal for around a buck fifty ($1.50).
posted by y2karl at 1:10 PM on November 1, 2018 [3 favorites]


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