By Steven Argue
opeds
(CLICK ON IMAGE FOR BEST RESOLUTION)
Dispelling idiotic myths and legendary stigmas
…
A cybernaut [who will remain unidentified], with his main profile picture being anti-illuminati, writes, “I thought zionists gloat about how they killed Jesus?”
[To this person I reply], friend, not that I defend Zionism, but I have never heard a Zionist gloat about killing Jesus. I have heard a Jew (I am not sure if s/he was Zionist or not) sarcastically joke about killing Jesus, but that was only meant to mock absurd claims by anti-Semites that “the Jews killed Jesus”. Even if there was a “Jesus” (which I don’t think there was), and even if Jesus was literally killed (an idea that the Quran disagrees with), and even if particular Jews somehow had more of a hand in killing Jesus than the Romans (a debated topic), it still would not mean that the Jewish people as a whole ever had any hand in killing Jesus. After all, any Jewish person living at that time would now be long dead.The problem with Zionism is not its connection with Judaism. The problem with Zionism is its belief in the right to gain a homeland by brutally robbing another people of theirs.
[dropcap]R[/dropcap]egarding the Illuminati, they didn’t kill Jesus either. The actual Illuminati were established in 1776 in Bavaria and the organization ceased to exist in 1789. The meaning of the word “illuminati” is Latin for enlightened. Their purpose was to advocate ideals of enlightenment including gender equality, education for girls, and oppose superstition, religious control over society, and government abuses. The Bavarian government outlawed the group at the urging of the Catholic Church. After the destruction of the Illuminati, vilification of a mythical Illuminati began with the far right blaming the Illuminati for the French Revolution. Blame directed at a non-existent underground Illuminati has continued ever since.
[box] The Internet has served as a magnifier for the proliferation and distribution of all sorts of idiotic images and theories (many ludicrous conspiracies) about some secret society of powerful individuals taking over the world. Among these, the one about the Illuminati stands out, if for no other reason that it upends the history and purpose of the organization, surely the product of a mass public that senses the usurpation of power by the world’s elites, but lacks a correct, class-based analysis of political reality. The result is a thick mumbo jumbo of pseudo explanations and vague warnings that prove impossible to prove and remain worthless as political tools to organize the masses. Below a sampler of images denouncing the Illuminati.—PG[/box]
This vision of the Illuminati conjures up a semi-demonic or monkish society, with some of its inspiration probably traceable to freemason rituals. The masons, too, were anti-clerical and thereby persecuted by the Church. This forced a measure of secrecy, including special gestures to recognize one another. Nothing sinister about that, just sensible precaution in an era of fanatical religiosity and wildfire suspicion. Many of the most progressive intellectuals and political figures of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries were freemasons. There were 9 founding fathers that were Freemasons. Benjamin Franklin, William Ellery, John Hancock, Joseph Hewes, William Hooper, Robert Paine, Richard Stockton, George Walton and William Whipple. George Washington was also a Freemason, and so were Simon Bolivar, Francisco Miranda, Bernardo O’Higgins, and Jose de San Martin, all great liberators of South America from Spanish rule. (Click on image for best resolution)
This image conflates celebrities (comedians, hip hop artists and pop like Bob Dylan, Jay C, and Beyonce, etc.), with political notables, including the Queen, Obama, and a recent Pope. Obviously the unanchored idea here is that “those with money and power” are screwing everyone else, which is good enough for a superficial approximation to the real problem, the global plutocracy and its henchmen and front figures.
The Illuminati as a puppetmaster robot. Again, an approximation with no real political grounding to effect change.
The obsession produces some remarkable activist art. At least they are doubting the government, a first step toward a broader and deeper understanding of the real issues (and culprits).
The anti-Illuminati believe the Illuminati rule the world. Who the Illuminati are, however, seems to be a bone of contention. The anti-Illuminati have differing “theories” of how the Illuminati are Jews, Satanists, atheists, extra-terrestrials (with reptilian DNA), or Catholics based in the Vatican. Some just combine it all together and inexplicably have no problem dealing with the contradictions.
Most capitalist conspiracies are hiding in plain sight. For instance, take a look at the money in any bourgeois election and one can see how the capitalists own this system. Or take a look at who owns the major media and one can see who runs the American propaganda machine. It is wealthy capitalists who censor the news, produce lies, and otherwise distort public thinking through their ownership of the media in favor of their projects. Fake conspiracies distract from the real ones.
Anti-Semitism is even worse. The genocide currently being carried out against the Palestinian people does not in any way justify crimes against Jews. Leninist-Trotskyists like myself entirely dismiss the idea that there are good and bad nationalities. To write off a whole people reeks of the kind of nationalism found in Nazism, American “exceptionalism”, some of the genocidal “morality” of the Bible, and in Zionism itself. It is through the unity of the Hebrew speaking and Palestinian working class that Zionism will be defeated and equality won. On the other hand, antisemitism actually plays into the hate on which Zionism feeds to survive.
Steven Argue for the Revolutionary Tendency
Revolutionary Tendency
https://www.facebook.com/RevolutionaryTendency/
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Who cares! Isnt time we moved on to a higher level of consciousness instead of clinging to the inherently violent basis of christianity… not who killed him, but the myths that terrify little children into compliance with eternal damnation for disobedience… Isnt it time those concerned with progress for humanity to let go of doctrine which allows for militancy to promote the faith… such as prosyletizing and forced conversions. As I see it it is time to lay the foundation for a more peaceful and just world based on respect for all life (human and animal), not just respect for… Read more »
About 75% of the time you miss the point Ruth. This is NOT about any obsession with Christianity or any religion per se, it’s about combatting and dispelling imbecilities, myths, cluelessness, and prejudices that hamper the march toward a better society.
And speaking of harmful myths, (what you call imbecilities) what about the myth of eternal damnation for the disobedient, so cherished by Jesus…. only those who follow him are worthy of redemption. The point you missed is that progress, and enlightenment will not emerge from a religious tradition so filled with violent and cruel doctrine… encouraged as a means of preserving the faith… Those defending the fairy tale of an evolving christianity would do well to heed the words of Sir Bertrand Russell, who freed himself from the shackles of christian rhetoric through reason and compassion. He found christianity lacking… Read more »