No, Blue, the original Illuminati were for real. "The Order of the Illuminati" was a Masonic secret society founded in Bavaria in 1776, by one Adam Weishaupt, and banned in 1785, The structure of the society was modelled after its worst enemies, the Jesuits, but its purpose was to spread the ideals of the Enlightenment.
The "Illuminati" were not unique. In Continental Europe, Masonic lodges were often "hotbeds" of "revolutionary" thought. Others, like the Rosicrucians, were extremely "reactionary."
The Jesuits & the Rosicrucians raised such a hysterical brouhaha about the Illuminati "conspiracy" that the Myth of the Impious Illuminati lived on years after the real ones were all dead and gone. I was amazed to see that it still lives on, in this country!!
Let me refer you to a good summary of the development of Freemasonry & Illuminism in the 18th century (and don't let the fact that it appears on the official web page of the American Atheists scare you off <<gg>>):
atheists.org
Incidentally, like you, I don't believe in any hidden conspiracies. That is, I don't believe in effective ones. People may and do try to start them, but sooner or later somebody will blab, or somebody will do something really stupid and get caught...My motto is, never underestimate the power of human stupidity!
People who tend to believe in conspiracies are people who are looking for something that "makes sense", that can explain all the chaotic reality they are looking at. And I think that they find comfort in the idea that there are some immensely powerful super-intelligent super-daddies sitting behind the scenes and controlling everything, to achieve their own wicked but rational ends.
I think it more likely that there are some powerful stupidos out there, trying to control things, but making the usual mess out of it. <gg>
Joan |
