NeW WoRLd OrDeR (cont...)

Illuminati

The Order of the Illuminati was an Enlightenment-era secret society, founded on May 1, 1776, in Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria), by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt (d. 1830), who was the first lay professor of canon law at the University of Ingolstadt. The movement consisted of militant freethinkers, secularists and republicans recruited in the Masonic Lodges of Germany. In 1785, the order was infiltrated, broken and suppressed by the Bavarian government for allegedly plotting to overthrow the monarchies and state religions of many European states.^[15][16]

Since the late 18th century, many reactionary conspiracy theorists speculate that the Illuminati survived their suppression and became the masterminds behind major historical events such as the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Russian Revolution. The Illuminati are believed to be orchestrating a world revolution in order to create a secular humanist, anarcho-communist utopia. During the 19th century, fear of an Illuminati conspiracy was a real concern of European ruling classes, and their oppressive reactions to this fear provoked the very revolutions they sought to prevent.^[16]

By the mid-20th century, the demonization of the Illuminati was so successful that both far-right and far-left conspiracy theorists from the middle and lower classes have come to use the term “Illuminati” to describe any pyramid-structured secret society or aristocratic bloodline, which they suspect of plotting to rule the world. Some, however, speculate that the Yale University-based fraternity Skull and Bones is in fact an incarnation or continuation of the historical Bavarian Illuminati but with a synarchist agenda.^[17]

[edit] Freemasonry

Many Anti-Masons believe that “high-ranking” Freemasons are involved in conspiracies to create an occult New World Order. These conspiracy theorists claim that some of the Founding Fathers of the United States, such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, had Masonic symbolism and sacred geometry interwoven into American society, particularly in the Great Seal of the United States, the United States one-dollar bill, the architecture of National Mall landmarks, and the streets and highways of Washington, D.C.. They speculate that Freemasons did this in order to mystically bind their planning of a government in conformity with the divine plan of the Great Architect of the Universe whom, they are said to believe, has tasked the United States with the eventual establishment of an hermetic "Kingdom of God on Earth" and the building of the Third Temple in New Jerusalem as its holiest site.^[18]

Freemasons rebut these claims of Masonic conspiracy. They assert that Freemasonry, which promotes natural theology through esotericism, places no power in occult symbols themselves. It is not a part of Freemasonry to view the drawing of symbols, no matter how large, as an act of consolidating or controlling power.^[19] Furthermore, there is no published information establishing the Masonic membership of the men responsible for the design of the Great Seal or the street plan of Washington, D.C.^[20] Lastly, Freemasons argue that, despite the symbolic importance of the Temple of Solomon in their mythology, they have no interest in rebuilding it, especially since "it is obvious that any attempt to interfere with the present condition of things [on the Temple Mount] would in all probability bring about the greatest religious war the world has ever known".^[21]

More broadly, Freemasons assert that a long-standing rule within regular Freemasonry is a prohibition on the discussion of politics in a Masonic Lodge and the participation of lodges or Masonic bodies in political pursuits. Freemasonry has no politics, but it teaches its members to be of high moral character and active citizens. The accusation that Freemasonry has a hidden agenda to establish a Masonic government ignores several facts. While agreeing on certain Masonic Landmarks, the many independent and sovereign Grand Lodges act as such, and do not agree on many other points of belief and practice.^[22]

Also, as can be seen from a survey of Freemasons who were great men, individual Freemasons hold beliefs that span the spectrum of politics. The term "Masonic government" has no meaning since individual Freemasons hold many different opinions on what constitutes a good government, and Freemasonry as a body has no opinion on the topic.^[22] Ultimately, Freemasons argue that even if it were proven that influential individuals have used and are using Masonic Lodges to engage in crypto-politics, such as was the case with the illegal Italian Lodge Propaganda Due, this would represent a cooptation of Freemasonry rather than evidence of its hidden agenda.^[23]

[edit] Protocols of the Elders of Zion

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is an antisemitic canard, published in 1903, alleging a Judaeo-Masonic conspiracy to achieve world domination. It propagandized the idea that a cabal of Jewish masterminds, which has coopted Freemasonry, is plotting to rule the world on behalf of all Jews because they believe themselves to be the chosen people of God.^[24] The Protocols has been proven by scholars, such as Christian theologian Göran Larsson, to be both a hoax and a clear case of plagiarism. There is general agreement that the Okhrana, the secret police of the Russian Empire, fabricated the text in the late 1890s or early 1900s by plagiarizing it, almost word for word in some passages, from The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu, a 19th century satire against Napoleon III of France originally written by Maurice Joly, a French Legitimist lawyer.^[25]

Responsible for feeding the antisemitic and anti-Masonic hysterias of the 20th century, The Protocols is widely considered to be influential in the development of other conspiracy theories (such as the notion of a Zionist Occupation Government), and reappears repeatedly in contemporary conspiracy literature. For example, the authors of the 1982 controversial book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail concluded that The Protocols was the most persuasive piece of evidence for the existence and activities of the Priory of Sion. They speculated that this secret society was working behind the scenes to establish a theocratic "United States of Europe" (politically and religiously unified through the imperial cult of a Merovingian sacred king, who occupies both the throne of Europe and the Holy See) which would become the hyperpower of the 21st century.^[26] The Priory of Sion, itself, has been exhaustively debunked by journalists and scholars as a hoax.^[27]

[edit] Round Table

English businessman Cecil Rhodes advocated the British Empire reannexing the United States of America and reforming itself into an "Imperial Federation" to bring about a hyperpower and lasting world peace. In his first will, of 1877, written at the age of 23, he expressed his wish to fund a secret society (known as the Society of the Elect) that would advance this goal:

To and for the establishment, promotion and development of a Secret Society, the true aim and object whereof shall be for the extension of British rule throughout the world, the perfecting of a system of emigration from the United Kingdom, and of colonisation by British subjects of all lands where the means of livelihood are attainable by energy, labour and enterprise, and especially the occupation by British settlers of the entire Continent of Africa, the Holy Land, the Valley of the Euphrates, the Islands of Cyprus and Candia, the whole of South America, the Islands of the Pacific not heretofore possessed by Great Britain, the whole of the Malay Archipelago, the seaboard of China and Japan, the ultimate recovery of the United States of America as an integral part of the British Empire, the inauguration of a system of Colonial representation in the Imperial Parliament which may tend to weld together the disjointed members of the Empire and, finally, the foundation of so great a Power as to render wars impossible, and promote the best interests of humanity.^[28]

In his later wills, a more mature Rhodes abandoned the idea and instead concentrated on what became the Rhodes Scholarship. Its original goal was to foster peace among the great powers by creating a sense of fraternity and a shared world view among future British, American, and German leaders by having enabled them to study for free at the University of Oxford.^[28]

British official Lionel George Curtis, architect of the Round Table movement, wrote a book in 1938 called The Commonwealth of God in which he advocated the creation of an Imperial Federation known as the Commonwealth of Nations, which would be presented to Protestant churches as being the work of the Christian God to elicit their support.^[29][30] Prior to the book's publication, Curtis had founded the Royal Institute of International Affairs in June 1919. Two years later its sister organisation, the Council on Foreign Relations, was formed in the U.S.^[31]

Many conspiracy theorists believe that the Council on Foreign Relations (itself alleged to be a front for the international bankers of finance capitalism, as well as, it is claimed, the inspiration for the founding of many think tanks such as the Trilateral Commission) is behind the New World Order conspiracy. They fear that an international banking cabal is planning to eventually subvert the independence of the U.S. by subordinating national sovereignty to a strengthened Bank for International Settlements with the intent to “create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole”.^[7]

American banker David Rockefeller joined the Council on Foreign Relations as its youngest-ever director in 1949 and subsequently became chairman of the board from 1970 to 1985; today he serves as honorary chairman. In 2002, Rockefeller authored his autobiography Memoirs wherein, on page 405, he wrote:

For more than a century ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents ... to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as 'internationalists' and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure - one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.

Although a copious measure of skepticism should be applied regarding this statement, it is taken at face value and widely cited by conspiracy theorists as proof that the Council of Foreign Relations is the most influential front for the Round Table as a tool of the Anglo-American Establishment plotting from 1900 on to rule the world. The research findings of historian Carroll Quigley, author of the 1966 book Tragedy and Hope, are taken by right-wingers and left-wingers to substantiate this view, even though he argued that the Establishment is involved in a plot to achieve ultra-imperialism rather than one-world government.^[32]

Although the Round Table still exists today, its position in influencing the policies of world leaders has been much reduced from its heyday during World War I. Today it is largely a ginger group, designed to consider and influence the policies of a powerless Commonwealth of Nations. As for the Council on Foreign Relations, critics argue that it is in fact a mere policy discussion forum which supports a super-imperialist approach to American foreign policy. It has nearly 3,000 members, far too many for secret plans to be kept within the group. All the council does is sponsor discussion groups, debates and speakers. As far as being secretive, it issues annual reports and allows access to its historical archives. Historical studies of the council show that it has a very different role in the overall power structure than what is claimed by conspiracy theorists.