By Marsha Akoto
This extraordinary belief is the Illuminati Conspiracy Theory- also known as the New Order World Theory. The Illuminati conspiracy theory is a belief that there is an elitist group of people (around the world) controlling media, industrial, political, religious and economic control. This group contains supposed real and fictitious people. This theory was extremely popular in the 18th century but is still popular to this day as it is believed that many famous celebrities [were] are part of this group- Beyonce, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson. There are people who believe they themselves are also apart of the illuminati and are helping contribute to the New Order World. People who belong to this elitist group believe they are given special enlightenment and powers. This conspiracy theory is important and extraordinary because it not only deals with economic gain but it involves supposed demonic and satanic rituals. There are two sides to the theory that are extraordinary- the people who truly in their hearts feel they are controlling the world by being part of this cult, and people who believe their lives are being controlled by this cult. Many people have stopped listening to music by various artists, ceased watching movies that suggest “illuminati practices” stopped shopping at “illuminati owned businesses” and much more. This belief is also extraordinary because of the wayward thinking that a group of people are capable of controlling the entire world and by simply joining a group they are suddenly given all the secrets to the world. A lot of people believe in the Illuminati conspiracy theory some are common people, and some devote their entire time to studying and reading about the illuminati. Information for members of a sect of the illuminati can be found at https://www.illuminatiofficial.org/
People who believe in the illuminati and believe it is controlling the world think a large Jewish banking family is behind various revolutions that deal with politics with a goal of creating a satanic new order world. People with this belief also think that the illuminati has made its way into all political systems and government officials are all part of the illuminati- George Bush, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton. People who believe in the illuminati do not necessarily have any evidence to back up their beliefs “ the fact that absolutely no evidence of their existence can be found only serves to make them stronger and more frightening” –New England Skeptical Society. Likewise there really isn’t any evidence to prove that the illuminati does not exist. If it is a secret society, any one can technically be part of it therefore, proving that it does not exist is harder than proving it does exists. As we learned in class you cant prove a negative- not being able to prove existence of something does not mean there is an absence of it.
Confirmation bias- a lot of people who believe the illuminati exists and is controlling the world accept the Christian Bible as God’s plan/will to man (Skeptic Dictionary). There are a lot of things that are revealed in the Christian bible that Illuminati theorists believe to be hints at the New Order World. For example, in the bible it talks about the end times, a world wide cashless monetary system, implementation of one world governmental system and many other predictions. (Skeptic Dictionary) Because illuminati conspiracy theorists may see or feel these things to be going on, they are confirming their beliefs that there is truly a secret society that is in control of the world. I think people who believe in it can definitely be misinformed because there are a lot of unknown things about the illuminati aside from its existence. Assuming that the illuminati does exist, there is still always going to be unknown and hidden aspects of it since it is a secret society. Therefore, no one can ever truly know what goes on inside the illuminati unless they are in the society themselves. Due to that, there is a lot of area of misinformation and misleading. If someone states “Whitney Houston was in the illuminati and sacrificed her daughter” there is no way to prove she did not. Illuminati theorists will use the fact that Whitney Houston was one of the most powerful and wealthy people of all time and the fact that she and her daughter died mysteriously as a means to confirm their belief. I think anyone can make themselves believe in anything even if it is not from outsiders.
Documentaries– There are so many documentaries that talk about the illuminati. A lot of people spend hours upon hours watching these documentaries. These documentaries can be easily accessible through YouTube.
Websites– there are many websites that confirm illuminati theorist’s beliefs.
Groups of people– if one person has a belief and shares it with another and another and before you know it an ideal is polarized and large numbers of people start to believe it. People confirm others beliefs by sharing their experiences and their opinions and it ultimately keeps the belief going.
Books– there are books about the illuminati that make people think that it is real and confirms their beliefs.
Christian bible– a lot of people who believe in the illuminati reference the Christian bible because the things that are happening in today’s world are predicted in both the old and new testament, therefore people believe the illuminati and new order world was predicted by God and revealed to us in God’s writing.
Psychologically speaking, as human beings naturally we like to find the answers to life and we like to understand why things are happening the way they are. It is comforting to us to make sense of the world and to know why good things happen and why bad things happen. People with this belief that a group of elitists are controlling the world and that anything bad that is happening in the world is due to members of the illuminati can find some comfort in this belief. It takes away the blame of human beings, themselves, and just an outright crappy world full of crappy people. It is a type of defense mechanism that we use to protect ourselves from the hard truth. Ultimately it is easier for illuminati theorists to believe a group of people control inflation, the job market, via satanic rituals than to believe the economic system as a whole is just poor.
I think this post is very cool because it talks about the two different sides of the Illuminati of people thinking they are in to people thinking they are being controlled by it. I think it would be interesting to see if people in different cultures and all over the world know what the Illuminati is and if they believe in it. Because people in other countries have celebrities and other powerful figures too, and if they aren’t in the supposed “Illuminati” then does the illuminate hold up the amount of power that its believers are convinced of.
You posed a great question about the illuminati in different cultures and countries! I never really thought about how popular the belief of the illuminati is in countries other than the U.S. today. I do know that there was an actual secret society in Europe in the 1800’s I think that was called the illuminati, but they supposedly disbanded before gaining too much control over the public. So I wonder if this has persuaded any europeans (or people from other continents) into thinking that it never actually disbanded and is the illuminati we talk about today.
Hey Emily,
This is funny you say this, I have always viewed the illuminati as being bigger in Europe than anywhere else. I think this is because of the movie Angels & Demons, which takes place in the vatican and because it has such close ties to religion I correlate it with Europe.
Charlie
thank you! so much! i made this post because i think this is something not talked about alot however alot of people actually believe in this and allow this to effect their life. some people don’t want certain programs and tv shows because of this belief.
I enjoyed reading this post and found this intriguing to read. I have always been interested to know more about the Illuminati, and this post was very informative and allowed me to do that. I think the involvement of celebrities definitely plays a role in this. Celebrities have more power than they should over laypeople, and they can influence even some core beliefs. I also liked learning about the different aspects and reasons for this belief. Specifically, I was interested to learn about the connection to the Christian Bible, which also might have a strong influence on people.
hey thank you! celebrities do have a huge influence on this extraordinary belief. Just we learned in class, media and celebrities can strengthen our beliefs and with this belief since alot of celebs are accused of being in the illuminati and sing about it so it gives it more popularity.
I really liked this topic! I always hear people joking about how the illuminati is behind something but I never knew what true believers thought was the “proof.” The statement that it’s harder to prove it doesn’t exist than it is to prove it exists is so backwards to me. Even though it is a secret society, I feel like there would have to be some sort of evidence supporting its exsistence.
The illuminati conspiracy is something I’ve heard the name of but never knew that much about, I found your post very informative! I think you’re right in saying that people seek answers to why things happen in their life. The illuminati is a source of answers for some people. It’s definitely an obscure theory to believe in, but as we know, true believers are very set in their ways and will believe what they believe despite having no evidence at all.
hey thanks! I definitely agree that believing in the illuminati is a sense of control and gives people answers. people do depend on confirmation bias and whatever comes most available to their mind and that is what continues to strengthen this belief and continue to keep it going
At this point, the Illuminati has grown to be such a prominent theme in pop culture. It is mentioned in music, movies, comedy, social commentary, etc. I think that the inconsistencies in the beliefs cause the base of the argument to shake, because there isn’t a concrete list of who is in the group or who previous members were. It was such a silly belief to me and my friends that in my high school, it was a running joke, that there was essentially Illuminati members in our class who controlled the school.
Hey Grace,
That is a great point that it is such a popular theme in pop culture. Because the illuminati is such a popular talking point, or running joke, of course people are going to believe in it. I firmly believe that some people believe in it just to be different and to spite those who don’t.
Charlie
The Illuminati conspiracy theory is probably one of the most well known conspiracies, it seems that the theory has blown up so much that it seems to be a joke at this point. What makes this interesting to me is the fact that people justify its existence with the fact that it’s a secret society so you’ll never know who’s in it or what they’re doing so they don’t have to provide actual evidence for its existence. Also in your point about confirmation bias you mentioned that in the Bible it states that there will be a cashless monetary system in the future and I feel that the creation of Bitcoin could have caused people who believe in the Illuminati to see it as proof.
hey thank you! i definitly agree that people who believe in this belief they rely on confirmation bias and they seek information that strengthen their belief but they ignore everything that doesnt strengthen their belief. Because the bible does state certain things, people look for those things and the things happening in the world to strengthen their belief. the bitcoin probably does cause confirm their belief.
This post was really interesting to me because of the explanations you gave for why people may choose to believe in the Illuminati, despite any concrete evidence. I had always thought people were being overly-skeptical and their imaginations were running wild when they attributed something to the Illuminati, but it makes a lot of sense that this could be a kind of defense mechanism for people. By using a secret, unprovable yet undeniable society as a scapegoat, people are comforted by thinking that there IS a reason why bad things are happening, and that it’s not random. Very interesting take!
I had always heard of the Illuminati, but never truly understood what all it entailed until taking this class. Your post really helps to explain the belief behind it. I think people strive to find explanations for different things that happen in the world or in their life, so a belief such as this one is an easy answer. They could use it to say it is the cause of anything that happens to them.
hey thank you! i agree with you! i think that people definitely try to use this belief as a way to have some sort of control over their lives. by believing that there is a secret society that is controlling the media and the world, will excuse people’s behaviors and excuse life when things happen. it gives them comfort, control, and confidence
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