"If we are on the
outside, we assume a conspiracy is the perfect working of a scheme. Silent nameless men
with unadorned hearts. A conspiracy is everything that ordinary life is not. Its the
inside game, cold, sure, undistracted, forever closed off to us. We are the flawed ones,
the innocents, trying to make some rough sense of the daily jostle. Conspirators have a
logic and a daring beyond our reach. All conspiracies are the same taut story of men who
find coherence in some criminal act." Some people spend decades - perhaps their entire lives - trying to prove the existence of things like flying saucers or evil forces in the Bermuda Triangle. They devote SO much energy looking for a way to 'connect the dots', thinking that they are the very first person in the history of time to identify a link that everyone else has overlooked. Ignoring the fact that they're repeating - sometimes word for word - the theories of other conspiracy theorists on the very same topic, they become angered if everyone else fails to see their genius. A few of these folks actually become obsessed with the belief that these forces are really conspiring to focus this evil energy directly towards them personally. It's as if they've been hand-selected by the 'forces of evil' for this rough treatment. Curiously, they can't quite explain why such powerful forces wouldn't just immediately silence them so as to protect the 'secret' that's being exposed. Then again, logic is often the very first victim in these situations. Such behavior is not new. From the dawn of civilization, people feared and worshiped things that they couldn't rationally explain. Whether it's solar eclipses or wheat circles, they'll concoct explanations, often with foreboding overtones. Today it continues with those who try to link Freemasonry with their evil world domination theories! The lurking concept of conspiracy constantly interweaves with reality-based political thought and sometimes even dominates it. The American revolution, some historians now argue, was rooted in a pandemic of persecutory delusions. Barely 75 years had passed from the time of the Salem Witch Trials to the stirrings of the Revolution and there were those who would have heard the tales from parents and grand parents who had lived through that period. Paranoid fantasies suffuse American history in particular: the Illuminati conspiracy and anti-Masonry (of the 1820-1840 period), anti-Catholicism, "the Gallic peril", slaveholders' conspiracies, baby-killing and dismemberment by Indians, the Yellow Peril, the Great Red Scare of 1919-20, reefer madness, the fluoridation poisoning fear, the Red Nightmare and McCarthyism in the fifties, JFK assassination theories, the TriLateralists, the Gemstone File, cattle mutilation, the Satanist conspiracy, and so many more.
Fortunately, not all unexplained events become grist for the conspiracy theory mill: the Loch Ness Monster of Scotland or his smaller friend, Champ, of Lake Champlain, Vermont, USA are a couple of examples where a long-running theories doesn't seem to involve a nefarious conspiracy. For a number of folks, though, those Wheat Crop Circles which we now know to be an elaborate ruse, were linked to the arrival of extraterrestrial beings that world governments surely knew about but weren't telling. (Why crop circles in the 1990s? Why not when they were building their landing strip in Mexico or during their famous visits to the US during the 1950s? Ignore what doesn't fit the theory....) Time and again, the conspiracy theorist is proven wrong (a good example is found at this web site where many so-called 'US Federal Reserve conspiracies' are debunked) but despite it all, the conspiracy theories continue to appear and reappear in slightly different guise. Their proponents seem to spend their every waking hour trying to alert an unsuspecting public to their own paranoia. While we believe it's healthy to have some skepticism (and certainly, there are cases of deceit bordering on a conspiracy ala Richard Nixon's "I am not a crook!"), the concept of an over-arching world domination conspiracy (particularly one which is several hundred years old yet has still not succeeded in its goals) is - by all rational indicators - totally foolish. Combine the supposed 'secrecy' of three centuries of Masonry (and be sure to ignore the hundreds of exposes and about a hundred thousand books on the subject), toss in ONE supposed murder (180 years ago? With 'facts' still unproven despite exhaustive investigation....), stir in some "bloody oaths" along with some secret symbols and PRESTO: you've got yourself a Masonic conspiracy. Because those who are not Masons see a numerical degree system (4-33 degrees) within one of the appendant bodies of Freemasonry, they conclude (despite protests of Masons to the contrary) that the higher the degree, the more important in 'rank' that Mason is. Truth doesn't fit with their theory that only 'high-ranking Masons' know about these world-domination plans and the simple explanation that no Freemason is 'higher' than another is totally discarded. (Check out our page showing that 33rds Rule!) When you add these things together with the other 'shadowy' groups (like the Bildeburgers, CIA, Trilateral Commission, OTO, and any others you might think of), it's so very easy to create - THE CONSPIRACY!!! An organization which challenges populist conspiracism, Private Eye, has said "In the best of times, conspiracism is a pointless diversion of focus and waste of energy. Conspiracism promotes scapegoating as a way of thinking; and since scapegoating in the US is rooted in racism, anti-Semitism, ethnocentrism, and xenophobia, conspiracism promotes bigotry. In periods of social or economic crisis, populist conspiracism facilitates the spread of fascist and para-fascist social movements because they too rely on demagogic scapegoating and conspiracist theories as an organizing tool." But regrettably, we cannot prove to you that there is no Masonic conspiracy. The simple yet oft-overlooked fact is that there's no way to prove a negative. Using common sense, however, how likely does it seem that a group of men who have for decades devoted themselves to the ideals of friendship and fraternity would suddenly become infused with the desire for world domination? We'd ask too: what are the credentials of those who are making these claims? Have they ever been on the 'inside' of anything - or are they people with hyperactive imaginations, using this to garner attention and/or sell things? During the 1960s, a group of people convinced that a Cold War holocaust and that the US might soon be overrun with Communist troops moved to "Sherwood Inn", a large former hotel in quiet Epsom, New Hampshire. There, on the side of the road, they had a ten foot high 'Trojan Horse' along with a mock cemetery containing crosses for each of the countries which had been 'killed' by Communism. They truly believed, it appeared, that there was a horrid conspiracy afoot and that the U.N. was going to somehow rule the world. They'd also readily sell you the books to convince you of it. In the early years of the 21st century, some city governments in the Western part of the US were passing resolutions banning the UN from 'their' town! Times change but the boogey-man mentality seems to go on forever.... And they're all happy to sell you books which usually point to the Freemasons as somehow involved in whatever fantasy-du-jour they're promoting. Although we doubt that the Masons of Epsom whose meeting hall was barely two miles away gave them any notice, these folks persisted in their 'cause', branching out into areas like 'government intervention' (i.e., taking of a piece of property for a highway) and other matters. Like so many ill-conceived ideas though, history has passed them by. The U.N. exerts precious little power except for what moral authority they can muster from time to time, the building was sold to a new owner, and the little white crosses were removed a couple of years after the Berlin Wall fell and the evil specter of Communism was essentially gone. The Trojan horse remained for several years, the wood rotting in the harsh reality of New Hampshire weather. The dire warnings and predictions were for naught: they were wrong! History is filled with such examples of conspiracy theorists and we need to only look at 1999 when there were daily raves from people about Bill Clinton going to establish martial law and the outspoken population rounded up and taken to prison camps. Remember it? Just another example of conspiracy theory run amok. The conspiracy mind still exists, often - but certainly not always - that of the lonely, the psychotic, the attention-seeker, the easily persuaded.... Like those who built the wooden horse in Epsom, New Hampshire, in a couple of decades they too will be a forgotten footnote of history, shamed by the total foolishness which they espoused! Freemasonry notwithstanding, still survives! Want to read a great 'Letter to the Editor' by New York Times Writer George Johnson? Click here for a humorous and realistic commentary. In addition, here is an excellent story from the BBC outlining a number of conspiracies. Although Freemasonry isn't mentioned, you'll note that several of the theories mentioned (Hitler's paranoia, Drumont's ravings, etc.) all involved Freemasonry. Be sure to read it here. Things are not always what they seem; most of us learn that as we get older. A healthy skepticism is fine but knowing with absolute certainty that there are monsters under the bed is something which should have been left behind in childhood. And when someone has these extreme delusions of world-wide conspiracy which include the Masonic fraternity, it's all too easy to stop, listen, and perhaps even believe their tales, despite the tortured 'proof' riddled with lies, omission, and deceit! Although they won't admit it, the paranoid and fearful are easy prey to accepting and transmitting hate and lies about Masonry. While creating this site, we found an ostensible list of all of the "Elites" of the world including members of the Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, Bildeburgers, Rhodes Scholars, Yale University's Skull & Bones Society and, of course, those evil Masons! Out of the 329 persons listed, only 12 were identified as Masons - and three of those they claimed were Masons simply were not. So, in the final analysis, out of 329 "elites", they had only named NINE MASONS! Pretty impressive: less than 3% of the 'Elites' (.027% to be exact) and yet we Masons wield SO much power! Check out that 'power' list right here. Now the irony which we hope you'll appreciate is that anyone fearful of a great Masonic conspiracy would be well-advised to not let anyone know that they hold this terrible knowledge. After all, if the conspirators found out that they knew, one never knows what evil might befall them! Needless to say, this irony is lost on the Conspiracy Theorist who proudly parades their fanciful claims. Have any of them been 'done in' by the Great Masonic conspiracy? Not a one.... How COULD we let them get away with giving away these secrets? Why someone might catch on....
It's very liberating to believe in Conspiracy Theories: it gives one the freedom to not take responsibility for their mistakes and failures in life and provides a convenient scapegoat to show that, whatever happens, "It's not my fault!" If it isn't the New World Order it's the Bildeburgers and if it isn't them, it's the Jews and if it's not them, it's the CIA or the ADL, and if they're not the ones then it's the 'higher degree Masons' or something else. It's just GOT to be some conspiracy.... Curiously too, we find the claims that President George W. Bush knew of the 9-11 attack before it occurred. This - the President they had ridiculed both before and after for his blunders and ineptness - had somehow managed to mobilize secret forces around the world to kill thousands of his own citizens. Truly amazing. Don't miss the "Skeptic's Dictionary" with their description of and many links about the mother of all conspiracies: the Illuminati! And you might also want to visit our page listing famous non-Masons who've been alleged to have been members of the fraternity - because someone thought they were in 'cahoots' with some impropriety.... Want to see the other categories of those who don't care for Masonry?
|
|
Just click on "Prince, the Search Dog" to find things on our site. He's on every page and he'll take you directly to our search form where you can see if we've written about whatever it is you're interested in. Prince has a great memory; he always remembers where things are! This site and its contents are © (copyright) 1998-2014 by Edward L. King (Ed King). All rights reserved. All comments and opinions are mine personally. Got some thoughts or reactions?
We'd be interested in your comments - within reason of
course.
|