| on 24-09-2007 04:52
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Published in : , Politics |
 By Peter Utgaard
It took eighty years of secret meetings before anyone voiced the radical notion that Freemasonry might be up to no good. By 1797, two books were published almost simultaneously. The first by a Jesuit priest (Abbé Augustin Barruel) and shortly thereafter a physicist/professor of natural philosophy (John Robison) released an almost identical claim that Freemasonry was in the midst of a plot to undermine or control both religion and government and just take over the world in general.
The Freemasons, mind you, were not the true villains in the eyes of these early conspiracy theorists. Freemasonry had been a relatively docile and, more importantly, god-fearing establishment in the eyes most outsiders before they were infiltrated and co-opted by the predominantly atheist (and therefore clearly evil) Bavarian Illuminati. The Illuminati had been founded by one Adam Weishaupt, the first secular professor of Canon Law at the U of Ingolstadt, who was one of the more radical members of The Enlightenment movement which was responsible for such terrifying concepts as reason being instrumental in the justification of authority. Spooky. According to Robison and Barruel Weishaupt and other predominant Illuminati had been accepted into, and risen through the ranks of, the otherwise entirely unrelated Freemasons.
But it wasn't just professors and priests who distrusted the Masons. Most major religions and governments of the time seemed to resent what was viewed as Freemasonry's attempt to control the way people thought. After all, that's their territory. So, in 1784 the Elector Palatine of Bavaria banned all secret societies including Freemasonry and the Illuminati it's self.
Barruel and Robison both theorized that the Illuminati survived their forced deconstruction by spreading to foreign chapters of Freemasonry. Not only did they survive, the authors claimed, but grew so powerful that they were able to successfully instigate the French Revolution five years later. To be fair, it is difficult to imagine that all these shadowy figures simply hung their heads, sighed, put down their Ankhs and Pentagrams and went home at the behest of the government. Furthermore, it is clear that Freemasonry survived this initial ban by the Germans, and had the Illuminati in fact infiltrated the matching jewelery club then their ideas would have been carried forward as well. Keep in mind that the philosophies of the Revolution were suspiciously close to those of the Illuminati's.
Although it helps, you don't need to start wars and rule the world, however, to conspire against others. If a group of people agreeing to work together to help one another succeed either politically or economically unbeknownst to those around them constitutes a conspiracy, then by default Freemasonry fits the bill.
Freemasonry didn't do it's self any favors over the next century; Most notably when a man named William Morgan, who was in the process of writing a book not only critical of Freemasonry but detailing their secret costume pageants as well, disappeared off the face of the planet. This probably could have been chalked up to coincidence if members of the local Masonic Lodge hadn't taken up a public advert expressing their anger with him, shortly followed by an arson attempt on Morgan's publisher's office.
Another clue to the possible culprit was that on the last day Morgan was ever seen by non-Masonic eyes, September the 11th, 1826, he was arrested for supposedly owing money to number of Masons who had (in true secret society fashion) gathered on his front lawn to yell at him prior to his arrest. His debt was paid by his publisher which bought him his freedom for approximately three hours before he was arrested for another debt that the Lodge had just remembered, and for stealing clothing. Which makes sense because you can’t just buy Masonic robes anywhere.
This time he was taken to a cell in another city, out of the immediate reach of his publisher, and his debt was paid by an unrecorded person before he was seen being escorted into a carriage which by all reports went to Niagara Falls where he was either drowned or paid $500 to leave the country depending on who you believe. The official Masonic story (the latter) seemed a bit suspect to many observers, including Morgan’s widow who had liked to believe she was worth more than a half grand. But regardless of what happened, he was never seen again and the message was clear. The Freemason clan ain't nothing to fuck with.
Eventually three Masons were charged and convicted of kidnapping, but not murdering, Morgan and received reasonably light sentences. This display of power, and the revelation of exactly how far burrowed into the police department and political arena the unfashionable robe wearing Masons were, terrified most people who were capable of thoughts. It even sparked an Anti-Masonic Federal Party of America which lasted for around a decade before people started caring about other, nearly-as-important political topics, such as the economy or slavery.
Modern claims of the extent of Freemasonry's influence are varied and unverifiable. But the basic concepts behind them aren't as flaky as one would like. As the official webpage of the Washington DC Grand Lodge states on their front page, "When you meet other Masons, the odds are very high indeed, that they will treat you as you would like to be treated." Or in other words, we take care of our own.
"People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public…" –Adam Smith.
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