Some thoughts on the Illuminati …
Well, when it comes to a secret society, the Illuminati haven’t done a very good job of staying a secret in recent years, have they?
As far as history is concerned, I think it is true to say that the Illuminati were a secret society, said to have formed in the late 18th century in Bavaria; well, if we are trying to be correct, a date of 1776 has been proposed. It is difficult to reconstruct a meaningful history of this ‘society’, as the whole subject has been tainted with mis-referenced conspiratorial paranoia, pseudo-historical analysis, and the odd fraud. (deception) or two.
Starting with the choice of name, Illuminati, it appears that the society professed to be in line with some kind of information or approach that made its members “enlightened.” It is likely that they had a republican political agenda that included the abolition of monarchies. It is further suggested that they attempted to bring about change through subterfuge, secrecy and conspiracy, including infiltration of other organizations. They were not very successful and were destroyed, or at least outlawed, within fifteen years of their origin (Pipes 1997).
The founder is reputed to be Adam Weishaupt of the University of Ingolstadt and it seems that the aims of the society were closely linked to the ideas of the Enlightenment, that is, to combat religious thought and to promote and encourage rationalism. Wieshaupt was an anti-monarchist and secularist who obviously informed the nature of the society he created. In 1777, Karl Theodor became ruler of Bavaria and, in 1784, his government banned all secret societies, including the Illuminati, and they disbanded (or maybe they were imprisoned, ‘destroyed’, or otherwise sent!)
There is no empirical evidence that this society survived the 18th century.
What we hear today is a mixture of conspiracy theories that have at their core the notion of some kind of elite, powerful and probably wealthy “secret society” behind the veils of other “secret” or at least “underground” groups. .
Like an onion skin, although conspiracy theorists would prefer the image of a pyramid, the outer layers are the lowest levels of moving and shaking the New World Order and at the center are the Illuminati.
We are sometimes told that this inner core of is run by a number of key families (13 are often cited for effect rather than genealogy) whose ‘bloodlines’ are linked and perhaps manipulated by visitors from another world.
This inner core of people is so secret that families are named on various websites … Their existence is so dark that they insist on leaving symbols of their own existence for mere mortals to discover …
So these are the real Illuminati!
It seems they are not doing a good job keeping their manipulative presence hidden!
I mean stop for a moment to consider some simple ideas.
It is very likely that the lineages of the monarchy and the aristocracy are linked in any case, with marriage being the vehicle by which alliances were established. Such links do not require organizing agents of “secret” human societies, much less interference from some passing extraterrestrials, or am I wrong?
Of course, there are “symbols” that seem to survive and repeat themselves from time to time and from place to place. As a species we are very good at creating symbolic language and meaningful patterns (you are reading some right now) … And of course some ‘magic symbols’ will be part of our everyday society as they have been part of our psyche. for a long time. Assuming that these symbols must have some other meaning is a bit of a stretch. The ‘Great Seal’ on American currency is often cited as having Masonic or Illuminati origin, having been designed by the Illuminati, or at least by high-grade Freemasons. If you really check out this story (see Skeptoid), there are more than enough questions that serve to challenge key assumptions in the rhetoric of conspiracy theorists.
What do governments do?
They govern, plan, organize, fight, assert sovereignty!
It is not necessary to imagine a global conspiracy to explain the actions of governments.
Now, this is where there is, perhaps, an element of truth in all the conspiracy theories you’ve ever heard. It seems obvious to me that governments cannot tell us the truth all the time, the truth, after all, is a relative concept, and there are things that must be based on the need to know. More importantly, some major governments have been shown to be involved in somewhat shady deals, and certainly the people within governments are not above corruption, error, and simply being wrong.
The mere fact that “the truth comes out” of some of these accidental, and not so accidental, cover-ups seems to disprove the existence of the ability to “keep” secrets of any real magnitude.
Perhaps there is a general rule of thumb worth exploring: the more people that need to participate in any form of cover-up or covert action, the LESS likely it is possible.
Sending
Google returns more than 34,000,000 results for a search in Illuminati and just 1,000,000 for a search in Illuminati + Skeptic. That sure suggests something!
