Post by chimera on Sept 12, 2016 9:42:47 GMT -6
Hopefully this provokes some rational thought. I’ve tried to impart what it was like living in the days of the Bavarian Order of the Illuminati. Maybe it will give a better understanding of the times they lived in and what they attempted to achieve.
Many of the ideals upheld by secret societies ran contrary to those of the people in power. In nations ruled by kings and aristocrats, notions of a brotherhood of equals were dangerous. Governments throughout time have sought to preserve stability and order for their people.
Now, in the eighteenth century, the great majority of nations were ruled by kings or queens who would naturally seek to preserve their power throughout their lives and pass the throne to members of their family...just as their ancestors had passed it to them. They had few qualms about using their nearly absolute power to impose their will on the people. ANYONE who suggested that the monarch be replaced by an elected official was a threat and a large group of people holding notions that threatened or even disturbed the monarch was bound to be broken up and many of its members arrested, (keep in mind that at the time, Bavaria was under the despotic rule of Prince-Elector Charles, ‘Karl’, Theodore. He never became popular as a ruler in Bavaria, in fact, when he died of a stroke in 1799, the population in Munich celebrated for several days. He was referred to once as “a poor idle creature, of purely egoistical, ornamental, dilettante nature; sunk in theatricals, bastard children and the like”).
Therefore, societies used secrecy to protect their members. Many influential men were members of the Illuminati, these men were philosophers, scientists, astronomers, professors of law, mathematicians one member was a metallurgist & mineralogist! One member, (Friedrich Münter), was a theologian, a church historian and archaeologist! What they all had in common was an aversion to superstition, prejudice, religious influence of the masses, (Roman Catholic indoctrination was laid on commoners like chains), abuses of government power, and gender inequality. They advocated for democracy, freedom of religion and for the right of woman to be treated as equals.
In closing, I just want to add a quote by Adam Weishaupt in regards to what he felt was a suitable candidate for the order, “Whoever does not close his ear to the lamentations of the miserable, nor his heart to gentle pity; whoever is the friend and brother of the unfortunate; whoever has a heart capable of love and friendship; whoever is steadfast in adversity, unwearied in the carrying out of whatever has been once engaged in, undaunted in the overcoming of difficulties; whoever does not mock and despise the weak; whose soul is susceptible of conceiving great designs, desirous of rising superior to all base motives, and of distinguishing himself by deeds of benevolence; whoever shuns idleness; whoever considers no knowledge as unessential which he may have the opportunity of acquiring, regarding the knowledge of mankind as his chief study; whoever, when truth and virtue are in question, despising the approbation of the multitude, is sufficiently courageous to follow the dictates of his own heart – such a one is the proper candidate.”
Many of the ideals upheld by secret societies ran contrary to those of the people in power. In nations ruled by kings and aristocrats, notions of a brotherhood of equals were dangerous. Governments throughout time have sought to preserve stability and order for their people.
Now, in the eighteenth century, the great majority of nations were ruled by kings or queens who would naturally seek to preserve their power throughout their lives and pass the throne to members of their family...just as their ancestors had passed it to them. They had few qualms about using their nearly absolute power to impose their will on the people. ANYONE who suggested that the monarch be replaced by an elected official was a threat and a large group of people holding notions that threatened or even disturbed the monarch was bound to be broken up and many of its members arrested, (keep in mind that at the time, Bavaria was under the despotic rule of Prince-Elector Charles, ‘Karl’, Theodore. He never became popular as a ruler in Bavaria, in fact, when he died of a stroke in 1799, the population in Munich celebrated for several days. He was referred to once as “a poor idle creature, of purely egoistical, ornamental, dilettante nature; sunk in theatricals, bastard children and the like”).
Therefore, societies used secrecy to protect their members. Many influential men were members of the Illuminati, these men were philosophers, scientists, astronomers, professors of law, mathematicians one member was a metallurgist & mineralogist! One member, (Friedrich Münter), was a theologian, a church historian and archaeologist! What they all had in common was an aversion to superstition, prejudice, religious influence of the masses, (Roman Catholic indoctrination was laid on commoners like chains), abuses of government power, and gender inequality. They advocated for democracy, freedom of religion and for the right of woman to be treated as equals.
In closing, I just want to add a quote by Adam Weishaupt in regards to what he felt was a suitable candidate for the order, “Whoever does not close his ear to the lamentations of the miserable, nor his heart to gentle pity; whoever is the friend and brother of the unfortunate; whoever has a heart capable of love and friendship; whoever is steadfast in adversity, unwearied in the carrying out of whatever has been once engaged in, undaunted in the overcoming of difficulties; whoever does not mock and despise the weak; whose soul is susceptible of conceiving great designs, desirous of rising superior to all base motives, and of distinguishing himself by deeds of benevolence; whoever shuns idleness; whoever considers no knowledge as unessential which he may have the opportunity of acquiring, regarding the knowledge of mankind as his chief study; whoever, when truth and virtue are in question, despising the approbation of the multitude, is sufficiently courageous to follow the dictates of his own heart – such a one is the proper candidate.”