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The following is a list of the major ones in roughly chronological order:<ref>{{cite book|last=Johnson|first=George|date=1983|title=Architects of Fear: Conspiracy Theories and Paranoia in American Politics|publisher=Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc.|isbn=0-87477-275-3|url=https://archive.org/details/architectsoffear00john}}</ref> ===End time=== [[File:JohnNelsonDarby.jpg|upright|thumb|[[John Nelson Darby]]]] Since the 19th century, many [[apocalypticism|apocalyptic]] [[millennialism|millennial]] [[Christian eschatology|Christian eschatologists]], starting with [[John Nelson Darby]], have predicted a globalist conspiracy to impose a tyrannical New World Order governing structure as the fulfillment of [[prophecies]] about the "[[Eschatology|end time]]" in the [[Bible]], specifically in the [[Book of Ezekiel]], the [[Book of Daniel]], the [[Olivet discourse]] found in the [[Synoptic Gospels]], [[2 Esdras]] 11:32 and [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 13:7.<ref name="Hughes">{{cite journal|last1=Hughes|first1=Richard T.|title=Revelation, Revolutions, and the Tyrannical New World Order|journal=The Huffington Post|date=24 February 2011|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-t-hughes/revolutions-in-the-middle_b_827201.html|access-date=10 July 2014}}</ref> They claim that people who have made a [[deal with the Devil]] to gain wealth and power have become pawns in a supernatural chess game to move humanity into accepting a [[utopia]]n world government that rests on the spiritual foundations of a [[syncretism|syncretic]]-[[messianism|messianic]] world religion, which will later reveal itself to be a [[dystopia]]n world empire that imposes the [[imperial cult]] of an “Unholy Trinity” of [[Satan]], the [[Antichrist]] and the [[False Prophet]].{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} In many contemporary Christian conspiracy theories, the False Prophet will be either the last [[pope]] of the [[Catholic Church]] (groomed and installed by an [[Alta Vendita]] or [[Jesuit conspiracy theories|Jesuit conspiracy]]), a [[guru]] from the [[New Age movement]], or even the leader of an elite [[fundamentalist Christian]] organization like [[The Fellowship (Christian organization)|the Fellowship]], while the Antichrist will be either the [[President of the European Union]], the [[Caliph]] of a [[Pan-Islamism|pan-Islamic]] state, or even the [[Secretary-General of the United Nations]].<ref name="Barkun 2003"/><ref name="Hughes"/> Some of the most vocal critics of end-time conspiracy theories come from within Christianity.<ref name="Berlet 1999"/> In 1993, historian Bruce Barron wrote a stern rebuke of apocalyptic Christian conspiracism in the ''Christian Research Journal'', when reviewing [[Pat Robertson|Robertson]]'s 1991 book ''[[The New World Order (Robertson)|The New World Order]]''.<ref name="Barron 1993">{{cite journal|author=Barron, Bruce |title=A Summary Critique|journal=Christian Research Journal|issue=Winter 1993|pages=44–45 |date=1993 |url=https://christian.net/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0120a.html |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref> Another critique can be found in historian Gregory S. Camp's 1997 book ''Selling Fear: Conspiracy Theories and End-Times Paranoia''.<ref name="Camp 1997"/> Religious studies scholar Richard T. Hughes argues that "New World Order" rhetoric libels the Christian faith, since the "New World Order" as defined by Christian conspiracy theorists has no basis in the Bible whatsoever. Furthermore, he argues that not only is this idea unbiblical, it is positively anti-biblical and fundamentally [[anti-Christian sentiment|anti-Christian]], because by misinterpreting key passages in the Book of Revelation, it turns a comforting message about the coming [[kingdom of God]] into one of fear, panic and despair in the face of an allegedly approaching one-world government.<ref name="Hughes"/> [[Progressive Christianity|Progressive Christians]], such as preacher-theologian [[Peter J. Gomes]], caution [[Christian fundamentalism|Christian fundamentalists]] that a "[[unclean spirit|spirit of fear]]" can distort scripture and history through dangerously combining [[biblical literalism]], [[dispensation (period)|apocalyptic timetables]], [[demonization]] and oppressive prejudices,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sine |first1=Tom |title=Suspicions of Conspiracy: How a spirit of fear can distort scripture and history |journal=Sojourners |issue=July–August 1995 |url=http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj9507&article=950722 |access-date=10 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724154347/http://www.sojo.net//index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj9507&article=950722 |archive-date=24 July 2009 |date=July 1995 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Gomes, Peter J.|title=The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart|url=https://archive.org/details/goodbookreadingb00gome|url-access=registration|publisher=William Morrow & Co|date=1996|isbn=9780688134471|author-link=Peter J. Gomes}} {{dead link|date=July 2014}}</ref> while Camp warns of the "very real danger that Christians could pick up some extra spiritual baggage" by credulously embracing conspiracy theories.<ref name="Camp 1997"/> They therefore call on Christians who indulge in conspiracism to [[repentance|repent]].<ref name="Vandruff">{{cite web| author=Vandruff, Dean| author2=Vandruff, Laura|title=Christians & Conspiracy Theories: A Call to Repentance|url=http://www.acts17-11.com/conspire.html|access-date=30 November 2009}}</ref><ref name="Coughlin 1999">{{cite book|author=Coughlin, Paul T.|title=Secrets, Plots & Hidden Agendas: What You Don't Know About Conspiracy Theories|publisher=InterVarsity Press|date=1999|isbn=0-8308-1624-0}}</ref> ===Freemasonry=== {{Main|Masonic conspiracy theories}} [[Freemasonry]] is one of the world's oldest secular [[fraternity|fraternal organizations]] and arose in [[Great Britain]] during the 18th century. Over the years, several allegations and conspiracy theories have been directed towards Freemasonry, including the allegation that Freemasons have a hidden [[political agenda]] and are conspiring to bring about a New World Order, a world government organized according to Masonic principles or governed only by Freemasons.<ref name="Berlet 1999"/> The [[esotericism|esoteric]] nature of [[Masonic symbolism]] and [[Masonic ritual and symbolism|rites]] led to Freemasons first being accused of secretly practicing [[Satanism]] in the late 18th century.<ref name="Berlet 1999"/> The original allegation of a [[Masonic conspiracy theories|conspiracy within Freemasonry]] to subvert religions and governments to take over the world traces back to Scottish author [[John Robison (physicist)|John Robison]], whose [[reactionary]] conspiracy theories crossed the Atlantic and influenced outbreaks of Protestant [[anti-Masonry]] in the United States during the 19th century.<ref name="Berlet 1999"/> In the 1890s, French writer [[Léo Taxil]] wrote a series of pamphlets and books denouncing Freemasonry and charging their lodges with worshiping [[Lucifer]] as the [[God|Supreme Being]] and [[Great Architect of the Universe]]. Despite the fact that Taxil admitted that [[Taxil hoax|his claims were all a hoax]], they were and still are believed and repeated by numerous conspiracy theorists and had a huge influence on subsequent anti-Masonic claims about Freemasonry.<ref name="De Hoyos 2011">{{cite book|author=De Hoyos|first1=Artuoro|title=Is It True What They Say about Freemasonry?|last2=Morris|first2=Brent|date=2010|publisher=M. Evans and Company, revised edition|isbn=978-1-59077-153-2}}</ref> Some conspiracy theorists eventually speculated that some [[Founding Fathers of the United States]], such as [[George Washington]] and [[Benjamin Franklin]], were having Masonic [[sacred geometry|sacred geometric]] designs interwoven into American society, particularly in the [[Great Seal of the United States]], the [[United States one-dollar bill]], the architecture of [[National Mall#Landmarks, museums and other features|National Mall landmarks]] and the [[streets and highways of Washington, D.C.]], as part of a master plan to create the first "Masonic government" as a model for the coming New World Order.<ref name="Barkun 2003"/> [[File:Masonic lodge room, Salt Lake Masonic Temple.JPG|thumb|right|220 px|A [[Masonic Lodge]] room]] Freemasons rebut these claims of a Masonic conspiracy. Freemasonry, which promotes [[rationalism]], places no power in occult symbols themselves, and it is not a part of its principles to view the drawing of symbols, no matter how large, as an act of consolidating or controlling power.<ref name="AMFAQ 6.8">{{cite web|author=McKeown, Trevor W.|date=5 May 2004|url=http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/anti-masonry06.html#68|title=Doesn't the satanic design of Washington, DC's street plan prove that there's a masonic conspiracy?|work=Anti-masonry Frequently Asked Questions|publisher=Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon A.F. & A. M.|access-date=23 July 2009}}</ref> Furthermore, there is no published information establishing the Masonic membership of the men responsible for the design of the Great Seal.<ref name="AMFAQ 6.8"/><ref name="AMFAQ 2.3">{{cite web|author=McKeown, Trevor W.|date=5 May 2004|url=http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/anti-masonry02.html#eye_pyramid|title=Is the eye and pyramid a masonic symbol?|work=Anti-masonry Frequently Asked Questions|publisher=Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon A.F. & A. M.|access-date=23 July 2009}}</ref> While conspiracy theorists assert that there are elements of Masonic influence on the Great Seal of the United States and that these elements were intentionally or unintentionally used because the creators were familiar with the symbols,<ref name="Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia">{{cite book|last1=Knight|first1=Peter|title=Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia|url=https://archive.org/details/conspiracytheori00knig_851|url-access=limited|year= 2003|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1576078129|pages=[https://archive.org/details/conspiracytheori00knig_851/page/n244 227]}}</ref> in fact, the all-seeing [[Eye of Providence]] and the unfinished pyramid were symbols used as much outside Masonic lodges as within them in the late 18th century. Therefore, the designers were drawing from common esoteric symbols.<ref name="Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories, The (3rd)">{{cite book|last1=McConachie|first1=James|last2=Tudge|first2=Robin|title=Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories, The (3rd)|publisher=Rough Guides UK|isbn=978-1409362456|year=2013}}</ref> The Latin phrase "''[[novus ordo seclorum]]''", appearing on the reverse side of the Great Seal since 1782 and the back of the one-dollar bill since 1935, translates to "New Order of the Ages",<ref name="Lewis and Short"/> and alludes to the beginning of an era where the United States of America is an independent nation-state; conspiracy theorists often mistranslate it as "New World Order".<ref name="GreatSeal.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.greatseal.com/mottoes/seclorum.html|title=Novus Ordo Seclorum – Origin and Meaning of the Motto Beneath the American Pyramid |publisher=GreatSeal.com}}</ref> Although the [[Continental Freemasonry|European continental branch of Freemasonry]] has organizations that allow political discussion within their Masonic Lodges, Masonic researcher Trevor W. McKeown argues that the accusations ignore several facts. Firstly, the many Grand Lodges are independent and sovereign, meaning they act independently and do not have a common agenda. The points of belief of the various lodges often differ. Secondly, famous Freemasons have always held views that span the political spectrum and show no particular pattern or preference. As such, the term "Masonic government" is erroneous; there is no consensus among Freemasons about what an ideal government would look like.<ref name="AM FAQ 4.8">{{cite web|author=McKeown, Trevor W.|date=5 May 2004|url=http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/anti-masonry04.html#politics|title=Does Freemasonry have a secret political agenda?|work=Anti-masonry Frequently Asked Questions|publisher=Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon A.F. & A. M.|access-date=23 July 2009}}</ref> ===Illuminati=== [[File:Adam_Weishaupt01.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Adam Weishaupt]], founder of the [[Illuminati]], an 18th-century Bavarian liberal and secular secret society]] The Order of the [[Illuminati]] was an [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment-age]] secret society founded by university professor [[Adam Weishaupt]] on 1 May 1776, in [[Upper Bavaria]], Germany. The movement consisted of advocates of [[freethought]], [[secularism]], [[liberalism]], [[republicanism]], and [[gender equality]], recruited from the German [[Masonic Lodge]]s, who sought to teach [[rationalism]] through [[Western esotericism|mystery schools]]. In 1785, the order was infiltrated, broken up, and suppressed by the government agents of [[Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria]], in his preemptive campaign to neutralize the threat of secret societies ever becoming hotbeds of conspiracies to overthrow the Bavarian [[monarchy]] and its [[state religion]], Roman Catholicism.<ref name="Stauffer 1918">{{cite journal|author=Stauffer, Vernon L.|title=The European Illuminati|journal=New England and the Bavarian Illuminati|publisher=Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon A.F. & A. M.|date=1918|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/stauffer.html|access-date=23 July 2009|doi=10.7312/stau92126-005|url-access=subscription}}</ref> There is no evidence that the Bavarian Illuminati survived its suppression in 1785.<ref name="McKeown"/> In the late 18th century, [[reactionary]] conspiracy theorists, such as Scottish physicist [[John Robison (physicist)|John Robison]] and French [[Jesuit]] priest [[Augustin Barruel]], began speculating that the Illuminati had survived their suppression and become the masterminds behind the [[French Revolution]] and the [[Reign of Terror]]. The Illuminati were accused of being [[subversion|subversives]] who were attempting to secretly orchestrate a [[revolutionary wave]] in [[Europe]] and the rest of the world by spreading the most [[radicalism (historical)|radical]] ideas and movements of the Enlightenment—[[anti-clericalism]], [[anti-monarchism]], and [[protofeminism|anti-patriarchalism]]— which the accusers feared would lead to the destruction of the [[appeal to nature|natural order]] of things.<ref>{{cite news|first=Colin|last=Dickey|title=Did an Illuminati Conspiracy Theory Help Elect Thomas Jefferson?|url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/29/illuminati-conspiracy-theory-thomas-jeffersion-1800-election-152934|access-date=14 January 2024|work=BBC|date=29 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="Dickey 2023">{{cite book|author=Dickey, Colin|title=Under the Eye of Power: How Fear of Secret Societies Shapes American Democracy|publisher=Penguin Random House|date=2023|isbn=9780593299456}}</ref> During the 19th century, fear of an Illuminati conspiracy was a real concern of the European [[ruling class]]es, and their oppressive reactions to this unfounded fear provoked in 1848 [[revolutions of 1848|the very revolutions they sought to prevent]].<ref name="McKeown">{{cite web|author=McKeown, Trevor W.|title=A Bavarian Illuminati primer|date=2004|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/illuminati.html|publisher=Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon|access-date=23 July 2009}}</ref> During the [[interwar period]] of the 20th century, [[fascism|fascist]] propagandists, such as British revisionist historian [[Nesta Helen Webster]] and American socialite [[Edith Starr Miller]], not only popularized the myth of an Illuminati conspiracy but claimed that it was a subversive secret society which served the Jewish elites that supposedly propped up both [[finance capitalism]] and [[State ideology of the Soviet Union|Soviet communism]] in order to [[divide and rule]] the world. American evangelist [[Gerald Burton Winrod]] and other conspiracy theorists within the [[Fundamentalist Christianity|fundamentalist Christian]] movement in the United States—which emerged in the 1910s as a backlash against the principles of Enlightenment [[secular humanism]], [[modernism]], and liberalism—became the main channel of dissemination of Illuminati conspiracy theories in the U.S.. [[right-wing populism|Right-wing populists]], such as members of the [[John Birch Society]], subsequently began speculating that some collegiate fraternities ([[Skull and Bones]]), gentlemen's clubs ([[Bohemian Club]]), and think tanks ([[Council on Foreign Relations]], [[Trilateral Commission]]) of the [[American upper class]] are [[front organization]]s of the Illuminati, which they accuse of plotting to create a New World Order through a one-world government.<ref name="Barkun 2003"/> ''[[The Illuminatus! Trilogy]]'', a series of three satirical novels by American writers [[Robert Shea]] and [[Robert Anton Wilson]], first published in 1975, which attributed the alleged major [[cover-up]]s of the era – such as [[John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories|who shot John F. Kennedy]] – to the Illuminati, was extremely influential in popularizing the myth of an Illuminati superconspiracy during the 1960s and onward.<ref>{{cite news|first=Sophia|last=Smith Galer|title=The accidental invention of the Illuminati conspiracy|url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170809-the-accidental-invention-of-the-illuminati-conspiracy|access-date=14 January 2024|work=BBC|date=1 November 2014}}</ref> ===''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion''=== ''[[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]'' is an [[antisemitic canard]], originally published in [[Russian language|Russian]] in 1903, alleging a [[Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory|Judeo-Masonic conspiracy]] to achieve world domination. The text purports to be the minutes of the secret meetings of a [[cabal]] of Jewish masterminds, which has co-opted [[Freemasonry]] and is plotting to rule the world on behalf of all Jews because they believe themselves to be the [[Jews as a chosen people|chosen people of God]].<ref>Soviet Jewry: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations, United States Congress. House. Committee on Foreign Affairs. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. 1984. p. 56</ref> ''The Protocols'' incorporate many of the core conspiracist themes outlined in the [[John Robison (physicist)|Robison]] and [[Augustin Barruel|Barruel]] attacks on the Freemasons and overlay them with antisemitic allegations about anti-[[Tsarist autocracy|Tsarist]] movements in Russia. ''The Protocols'' reflect themes similar to more general [[Counter-Enlightenment|critiques of Enlightenment]] liberalism by [[traditionalist conservatism|conservative]] aristocrats who support [[monarchy|monarchies]] and [[state religion]]s. The interpretation intended by the publication of ''The Protocols'' is that if one peels away the layers of the [[Masonic conspiracy theories|Masonic conspiracy]], past the [[Illuminati]], one finds the rotten Jewish core.<ref name="Berlet 1999"/> [[File:1920 The Jewish Peril - Eyre & Spottiswoode Ltd - 1st ed..jpg|upright|thumb|Cover of a 1920 copy of ''[[The Jewish Peril]]'']] Numerous polemicists, such as Irish journalist [[Philip Graves]] in a 1921 article in ''[[The Times]]'', and British academic [[Norman Cohn]] in his 1967 book ''[[Warrant for Genocide]]'', have proven ''The Protocols'' to be both a [[hoax]] and a clear case of plagiarism. There is general agreement that Russian-French writer and political activist [[Matvei Golovinski]] fabricated the text for [[Okhrana]], the [[secret police]] of the [[Russian Empire]], as a work of [[counter-revolutionary]] [[propaganda]] prior to the [[1905 Russian Revolution]], by plagiarizing, almost word for word in some passages, from ''[[The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu]]'', a 19th-century satire against [[Napoleon III of France]] written by French political satirist and [[Legitimism|Legitimist]] militant [[Maurice Joly]].<ref name="Spargo 1921">{{cite book|author=Spargo, John|title=The Jew and American Ideals|url=https://archive.org/details/jewandamericani03spargoog|publisher=Harper & Brothers|date=1921|author-link=John Spargo}}</ref> Responsible for feeding many [[antisemitism|antisemitic]] and [[anti-Masonry|anti-Masonic]] mass hysterias of the 20th century, ''The Protocols'' has been influential in the development of some conspiracy theories, including some New World Order theories, and repeatedly appears in certain contemporary conspiracy literature.<ref name="Barkun 2003"/> For example, the authors of the 1982 controversial book ''[[The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail]]'' concluded that ''The Protocols'' was the most persuasive piece of evidence for the existence and activities of the [[Priory of Sion]]. They speculated that this secret society was working behind the scenes to establish a [[theocracy|theocratic]] "[[United States of Europe]]". Politically and religiously unified through the [[imperial cult]] of a [[Merovingian]] [[Great Catholic Monarch|Great Monarch]]—supposedly descended from a [[Jesus bloodline]]—who occupies both the throne of Europe and the [[Holy See]], this "Holy European Empire" would become the hyperpower of the 21st century.<ref name="Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln 1982">Henry Lincoln, Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, ''The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail'', Corgi, 1982. {{ISBN|0-552-12138-X}}.</ref> Although the Priory of Sion itself has been exhaustively [[debunker|debunked]] by journalists and scholars as a hoax,<ref name=CBS>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/27/60minutes/main1552009.shtml|title=The Priory Of Sion|publisher=www.cbsnews.com}}</ref> some [[apocalypticism|apocalyptic]] [[millenarianism|millenarian]] [[Christian eschatology|Christian eschatologists]] who believe ''The Protocols'' is authentic became convinced that the Priory of Sion was a fulfillment of [[prophecies]] found in the [[Book of Revelation]] and further proof of an [[Antichrist|anti-Christian]] conspiracy of epic proportions signaling the imminence of a New World Order.<ref name="Aho on the Merovingians 1997">{{cite web|author=Aho, Barbara|title=The Merovingian Dynasty: Satanic Bloodline of the AntiChrist & False Prophet|date=1997|url=http://watch.pair.com/merovingian.html|access-date=11 November 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212030333/http://watch.pair.com/merovingian.html|archive-date=12 December 2009}}</ref> Skeptics argue that the current gambit of contemporary conspiracy theorists who use ''The Protocols'' is to claim that they "really" come from some group other than the Jews, such as [[fallen angel]]s or [[#Alien invasion|alien invaders]]. Although it is hard to determine whether the conspiracy-minded actually believe this or are simply trying to sanitize a discredited text, skeptics argue that it does not make much difference, since they leave the actual, antisemitic text unchanged. The result is to give ''The Protocols'' credibility and circulation.<ref name="New Internationalist 1 2004"/> ===Round Table=== During the second half of [[Britain's Imperial Century|Britain's "imperial century" between 1815 and 1914]], English-born South African businessman, mining magnate, and politician [[Cecil Rhodes]] advocated the [[British Empire]] reannexing the United States of America and reforming itself into an "[[Imperial Federation]]" to bring about a hyperpower and lasting [[world peace]]. In his first will, written in 1877 at the age of 23, he expressed his wish to fund a [[secret society]] (known as the [[Society of the Elect]]) that would advance this goal: {{quotation|To and for the establishment, promotion and development of a Secret Society, the true aim and object whereof shall be for the extension of British rule throughout the world, the perfecting of a system of emigration from the United Kingdom, and of colonisation by British subjects of all lands where the means of livelihood are attainable by energy, labour and enterprise, and especially the occupation by British settlers of the entire Continent of Africa, the Holy Land, the Valley of the Euphrates, the Islands of Cyprus and Candia [Crete], the whole of South America, the Islands of the Pacific not heretofore possessed by Great Britain, the whole of the Malay Archipelago, the seaboard of China and Japan, the ultimate recovery of the United States of America as an integral part of the British Empire, the inauguration of a system of Colonial representation in the Imperial Parliament which may tend to weld together the disjointed members of the Empire and, finally, the foundation of so great a Power as to render wars impossible, and promote the best interests of humanity.<ref name="Flint 1976"/>}} [[File:Cecil_Rhodes_ww.jpg|thumb|upright|Magnate and colonist [[Cecil Rhodes]] advocated a secret society which would make Britain control the Earth.]] In 1890, thirteen years after "his now-famous will," Rhodes elaborated on the same idea: establishment of "England everywhere," which would "ultimately lead to the cessation of all wars, and one language throughout the world." "The only thing feasible to carry out this idea is a secret society gradually absorbing the wealth of the world ["and human minds of the higher-order"] to be devoted to such an object."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/04/09/101945773.pdf | work=The New York Times | title=MR. RHODES'S IDEAL OF ANGLO-SAXON GREATNESS; Statement of His Aims, Written for W.T. Stead In 1890. He Believed a Wealthy Secret Society Should Work to Secure the World's Peace and a British-American Federation | date=9 April 1902}}</ref> Rhodes also concentrated on the [[Rhodes Scholarship]], which had British statesman [[Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner|Alfred Milner]] as one of its trustees. Established in 1902, the original goal of the trust fund was to foster peace among the [[great powers]] by creating a sense of fraternity and a shared world view among future British, American, and German leaders by having enabled them to study for free at the [[University of Oxford]].<ref name="Flint 1976">{{cite book|author=Flint, John E.|title=Cecil Rhodes|publisher=Little Brown & Company |edition=1st |date=1976|isbn=0-316-28630-3}}</ref> Milner and British official [[Lionel George Curtis]] were the architects of the [[Round Table movement]], a network of organizations promoting closer union between Britain and its [[Self-governing colony|self-governing colonies]]. To this end, Curtis founded the [[Royal Institute of International Affairs]] in June 1919 and, with his 1938 book ''The Commonwealth of God'', began advocating for the creation of an imperial federation that eventually reannexes the U.S., which would be presented to [[Protestant churches]] as being the work of the [[God in Christianity|Christian God]] to elicit their support.<ref>Curtis, Lionel. ''Civitas Dei: The Commonwealth of God'' London (1938). MacMillan & Sons</ref> The [[Commonwealth of Nations]] was created in 1949, but it would only be a free association of independent states rather than the powerful imperial federation imagined by Rhodes, Milner, and Curtis. The [[Council on Foreign Relations]] began in 1917 with a group of New York academics who were asked by President [[Woodrow Wilson]] to offer options for the [[foreign policy of the United States]] in the [[interwar period]]. Originally envisioned as a group of American and British scholars and diplomats, some of whom belonging to the Round Table movement, it was a subsequent group of 108 New York financiers, manufacturers, and international lawyers organized in June 1918 by Nobel Peace Prize recipient and U.S. secretary of state [[Elihu Root]], that became the Council on Foreign Relations on 29 July 1921. The first of the council's projects was a quarterly journal launched in September 1922, called ''[[Foreign Affairs]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cfr.org/about/history/cfr/index.html|title=About CFR|website=Council on Foreign Relations}}</ref> The [[Trilateral Commission]] was founded in July 1973, at the initiative of American banker [[David Rockefeller]], who was chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations at that time. It is a private organization established to foster closer cooperation among the United States, Europe, and Japan. The Trilateral Commission is widely seen as a counterpart to the Council on Foreign Relations. In the 1960s, [[Right-wing populism|right-wing populist]] individuals and groups with a [[paleoconservatism|paleoconservative]] worldview, such as members of the [[John Birch Society]], were the first to combine and spread a [[business nationalism|business nationalist]] critique of [[neoliberalism|corporate internationalists]] networked through think tanks such as the Council on Foreign Relations with a grand conspiracy theory casting them as [[front organization]]s for the Round Table of the "Anglo-American [[the Establishment|Establishment]]", which are financed by an "international banking cabal" that has supposedly been plotting from the late 19th century on to impose an [[oligarchy|oligarchic]] new world order through a [[global financial system]]. Anti-[[globalism|globalist]] conspiracy theorists therefore fear that international bankers are planning to eventually subvert the independence of the U.S. by subordinating national [[sovereignty]] to a strengthened [[Bank for International Settlements]].<ref name="Scienta Press">{{cite web|author=Scienta Press staff|title=Carroll Quigley: Theorist of Civilizations|date=20 December 2011 |url=http://www.scientiapress.com/carroll-quigley}}</ref> The research findings of historian [[Carroll Quigley]], author of the 1966 book ''[[Tragedy and Hope]]'', are taken by both conspiracy theorists of the American [[Old Right (United States)|Old Right]] ([[W. Cleon Skousen]]) and [[New Left]] ([[Carl Oglesby]]) to substantiate this view, even though Quigley argued that the Establishment is not involved in a plot to implement a one-world government but rather [[British imperialism|British]] and [[American imperialism|American]] [[benevolent imperialism]] driven by the mutual interests of economic elites in the United Kingdom and the United States. Quigley also argued that, although the [[Round Table movement#Current organization and membership|Round Table still exists today]], its position in influencing the policies of world leaders has been much reduced from its heyday during [[World War I]] and slowly waned after the end of [[World War II]] and the [[Suez Crisis]]. Today the Round Table is largely a [[ginger group]], designed to consider and gradually influence the policies of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], but faces strong opposition. Furthermore, in American society after 1965, the problem, according to Quigley, was that no elite was in charge and acting responsibly.<ref name="Scienta Press"/> [[Larry McDonald]], the second president of the [[John Birch Society]] and a [[conservative Democrat]]ic member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] who represented the 7th congressional district of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], wrote a foreword for [[Gary Allen|Allen]]'s 1976 book ''The Rockefeller File'', wherein he claimed that the Rockefellers and their allies were driven by a desire to create a one-world government that combined "super-[[capitalism]]" with [[communism]] and would be fully under their control. He saw a conspiracy plot that was "international in scope, generations old in planning, and incredibly evil in intent."<ref>McDonald, Lawrence P. Introduction. [http://www.mega.nu:8080/ampp/gary_allen_rocker/ ''The Rockefeller File'']. By [[Gary Allen]]. Seal Beach, CA: '76 Press, 1976. {{ISBN|0-89245-001-0}}.</ref> In his 2002 autobiography ''Memoirs'', David Rockefeller wrote: {{quotation|For more than a century, ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents ... to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as 'internationalists' and conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure—one world if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.<ref name="Rockefeller 1999">{{cite book|author=Rockefeller, David|title=Memoirs|publisher=Random House|date=2002|isbn=0-679-40588-7|author-link=David Rockefeller|url=https://archive.org/details/davidrockefeller00davi}}</ref>}} Barkun argues that this statement is partly facetious (the claim of "conspiracy" and "[[treason]]") and partly serious—the desire to encourage trilateral cooperation among the U.S., Europe, and Japan;{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} for example — an ideal that used to be a hallmark of the [[neoliberalism|internationalist]] wing of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] (known as "[[Rockefeller Republican]]s" in honor of [[Nelson Rockefeller]]) when there was an internationalist wing.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} The statement, however, is taken at face value{{by whom|date=November 2021}} and widely cited by conspiracy theorists as proof that the Council on Foreign Relations uses its role as the [[brain trust]] of American presidents, senators and representatives to manipulate them into supporting a New World Order in the form of a one-world government.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} In a 13 November 2007 interview with Canadian journalist Benjamin Fulford, Rockefeller countered that he felt no need for a world government and wished for the world's governments to work together and collaborate. He also stated that it seemed neither likely nor desirable to have only one elected government rule worldwide. He criticized accusations of him being "ruler of the world" as nonsensical.<ref name="Fulford 2007">{{cite video|author=Fulford, Benjamin|url=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3704527408635856046 |title=Benjamin Fulford interviews David Rockefeller |date=2007}}</ref> Some American [[social criticism|social critics]], such as Laurence H. Shoup, argue that the Council on Foreign Relations is an "[[American imperialism#Marxist–Leninist|imperial]] brain trust" which has, for decades, played a central behind-the-scenes role in shaping U.S. foreign policy choices for the post-World War II international order and the [[Cold War]] by determining what options show up on the [[political agenda|agenda]] and what options do not even make it to the table;<ref name="Shoup & Minter 2004">{{cite book|author=Shoup, Laurence H.|author2=Minter, William|title=Imperial Brain Trust: The Council on Foreign Relations and United States Foreign Policy|publisher=Authors Choice Press|date=2004|isbn=0-595-32426-6}}</ref> others, such as [[G. William Domhoff]], argue that it is in fact a mere policy discussion forum<ref name="Domhoff 2005">{{cite web|last=Domhoff|first=G. William|author-link=G. William Domhoff|title=There Are No Conspiracies|date=2005|url=http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/theory/conspiracy.html|access-date=30 January 2009}}</ref> which provides the business [[Council on Foreign Relations#Influence on foreign policy|input to U.S. foreign policy]] planning.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}} Domhoff argues that "[i]t has nearly 3,000 members, far too many for secret plans to be kept within the group. All the council does is sponsor discussion groups, debates, and speakers. As far as being secretive, it issues annual reports and allows access to its historical archives." However, all these critics agree{{citation needed|date=January 2016}} that "[h]istorical studies of the CFR show that it has a very different role in the overall power structure than what is claimed by conspiracy theorists."<ref name="Domhoff 2005"/> ===''The Open Conspiracy''=== [[File:H.G._Wells_by_Beresford.jpg|thumb|upright|[[H. G. Wells]] wrote the books ''[[The Open Conspiracy]]'' and ''[[The New World Order (Wells)|The New World Order]]''.]] In his 1928 book ''[[The Open Conspiracy]]'' British writer and futurist [[H. G. Wells]] promoted [[cosmopolitanism]] and offered blueprints for a [[world revolution]] and [[World Brain|world brain]] to establish a technocratic [[world state]] and [[planned economy]].<ref name="Wells 1928">{{cite book|author=Wells, H. G.|title=The Open Conspiracy|publisher=Book Tree|date=2006|isbn=1-58509-275-4|title-link=The Open Conspiracy}}</ref> Wells warned, however, in his 1940 book ''[[The New World Order (Wells)|The New World Order]]'' that: {{quotation|... when the struggle seems to be drifting definitely towards a world social democracy, there may still be very great delays and disappointments before it becomes an efficient and beneficent world system. Countless people ... will hate the new world order, be rendered unhappy by the frustration of their passions and ambitions through its advent and will die protesting against it. When we attempt to evaluate its promise, we have to bear in mind the distress of a generation or so of malcontents, many of them quite gallant and graceful-looking people.<ref name="Wells 1940"/>}} Wells's books were influential in giving a second meaning to the term "[[new world order (politics)|new world order]]", which would only be used by [[state socialism|state socialist]] supporters and [[anti-communism|anti-communist]] opponents for generations to come. However, despite the popularity and notoriety of his ideas, Wells failed to exert a deeper and more lasting influence because he was unable to concentrate his energies on a direct appeal to [[intelligentsia]]s who would, ultimately, have to coordinate the Wellsian new world order.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=2009188|title=H. G. Wells, British Patriot in Search of a World State|first=Edward Mead|last=Earle|date=26 April 2018|journal=World Politics|volume=2|issue=2|pages=181–208|doi=10.2307/2009188|s2cid=154346069 }}</ref> ===New Age=== British [[Neo-Theosophy|neo-Theosophical]] occultist [[Alice Bailey]], one of the founders of the so-called [[New Age]] movement, prophesied in 1940 the eventual victory of the [[Allies of World War II]] over the [[Axis powers]] (which occurred in 1945) and the establishment by the Allies of a political and religious New World Order. She saw a federal world government as the culmination of [[The Open Conspiracy|Wells' Open Conspiracy]] but favorably argued that it would be [[synarchist]] because it was guided by the [[Masters of the Ancient Wisdom]], intent on preparing humanity for the [[Second Coming of Christ#Theosophy|mystical second coming]] of [[Christ]], and the dawning of the [[Age of Aquarius]]. According to Bailey, a group of ascended masters called the [[Great White Brotherhood]] works on the "[[plane (esotericism)|inner planes]]" to oversee the transition to the New World Order but, for now, the members of this [[Spiritual Hierarchy]] are only known to a few occult scientists, with whom they communicate [[telepathy|telepathically]], but as the need for their personal involvement in the plan increases, there will be an "Externalization of the Hierarchy" and everyone will know of their presence on Earth.<ref>{{cite web|author=Bailey, Alice A.|date=1957|url=http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/externalisation/contents.html|title=The Externalization of the Hierarchy|publisher=USNISA|access-date=23 July 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805093622/http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/externalisation/contents.html|archive-date=5 August 2009}}</ref> [[File:%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B0_%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%B9%D0%BB%D0%B8.jpeg|thumb|upright|[[New Age]] author [[Alice Bailey]]'s writings have been condemned by [[Christian right]] conspiracy theorists.]] Bailey's writings, along with American writer [[Marilyn Ferguson]]'s 1980 book ''[[Marilyn Ferguson#The Aquarian Conspiracy|The Aquarian Conspiracy]]'', contributed to conspiracy theorists of the [[Christian right]] viewing the New Age movement as the "[[pseudoreligion|false religion]]" that would [[supersessionism|supersede]] Christianity in a New World Order.<ref name="Cumbey 1985">{{cite book|author=Cumbey, Constance|title=The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow: The New Age Movement and our Coming Age of Barbarism|publisher=Huntington House Publishers; Revised edition|date=1985|isbn=0-910311-03-X|author-link=Constance Cumbey|url=https://archive.org/details/hiddendangersofr00cumb}}</ref> Skeptics argue that the term "New Age movement" is a misnomer, generally used by conspiracy theorists as a catch-all rubric for any [[new religious movement]] that is not [[fundamentalist Christian]]. By this logic, anything that is not Christian is by definition actively and willfully [[Anti-Christian sentiment|anti-Christian]].<ref>{{cite web|author=McKeown, Trevor W.|date=5 May 2004|url=http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/anti-masonry08.html#new|title=Has Freemasonry become part of the New Age movement?|work=Anti-masonry Frequently Asked Questions|publisher=Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon A.F. & A. M.|access-date=2 November 2009}}</ref> Paradoxically, since the first decade of the 21st century, New World Order conspiracism is increasingly being embraced and propagandized by New Age [[occultists]], who are people bored by [[rationalism]] and drawn to [[stigmatized knowledge]]—such as [[alternative medicine]], [[astrology]], [[quantum mysticism]], [[Spiritualism (movement)|spiritualism]], and [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|theosophy]].<ref name="Barkun 2003"/> Thus, New Age conspiracy theorists, such as the makers of documentary films like ''Esoteric Agenda'', claim that globalists who plot on behalf of the New World Order are simply misusing occultism for Machiavellian ends, such as adopting 21 December 2012 as the exact date for the establishment of the New World Order to take advantage of the growing [[2012 phenomenon]], which has its origins in the fringe [[Mayanism|Mayanist]] theories of New Age writers [[José Argüelles]], [[Terence McKenna]], and [[Daniel Pinchbeck]].{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} Skeptics argue that the connection of conspiracy theorists and occultists follows from their common fallacious premises. First, any widely accepted belief must necessarily be false. Second, stigmatized knowledge—what [[the Establishment]] spurns—must be true. The result is a large, [[Crank (person)#Crank magnetism|self-referential network]] in which, for example, some [[UFO religion]]ists promote anti-Jewish phobias while some antisemites practice Peruvian [[shamanism]].<ref name="Barkun 2003"/> ===Fourth Reich=== {{See also|New Order (Nazism)}} [[File:Jim_PR_2010.jpg|thumb|upright|American writer [[Jim Marrs]] claimed that former Nazis and their sympathizers had been continuing Nazi policies worldwide, especially in the United States.]] Conspiracy theorists often use the term "[[Fourth Reich]]" simply as a pejorative synonym for the "New World Order" to imply that its state ideology and government will be similar to Germany's [[Third Reich]].{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} Conspiracy theorists, such as American writer [[Jim Marrs]], claim that some [[list of former Nazi Party members|ex-Nazis]], who survived the fall of the [[Nazi Germany|Greater German Reich]], along with sympathizers in the United States and elsewhere, given haven by organizations like [[ODESSA]] and [[Die Spinne]], has been working behind the scenes since the end of [[World War II]] to enact at least some principles of [[Nazism]] (e.g., [[militarism]], [[imperialism]], [[surveillance abuse|widespread spying on citizens]], [[corporatism]], the use of [[propaganda model|propaganda to manufacture a national consensus]]) into culture, government, and business worldwide, but primarily in the U.S. They cite the influence of ex-Nazi scientists brought in under [[Operation Paperclip]] to help advance aerospace manufacturing in the U.S. with technological principles from [[Nazi UFOs]], and the acquisition and creation of [[conglomerate (company)|conglomerates]] by ex-Nazis and their sympathizers after the war, in both [[Europe]] and the U.S.<ref name="Marrs 2008">{{cite book|author=Marrs, Jim|title=The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America|publisher=William Morrow|date=2008|isbn=978-0-06-124558-9|url=https://archive.org/details/riseoffourthreic00marr}}</ref> This [[neo-Nazi]] conspiracy is said to be animated by an "Iron Dream" in which the [[American imperialism|American Empire]], having thwarted the [[Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory|Judeo-Masonic conspiracy]] and overthrown its [[Zionist Occupation Government conspiracy theory|Zionist Occupation Government]], gradually establishes a Fourth Reich formerly known as the "Western Imperium"—a [[pan-nationalism|pan]]-[[Aryan race|Aryan]] world empire modeled after [[Adolf Hitler]]'s [[New Order (Nazism)|New Order]]—which reverses the "[[The Decline of the West|decline of the West]]" and ushers a golden age of [[white supremacy]].<ref name="Zeskind 2009">{{cite book|author=Zeskind, Leonard|title=Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins to the Mainstream|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|date=2009|isbn=978-0-374-10903-5|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780374109035}}</ref> Skeptics argue that conspiracy theorists grossly overestimate the influence of ex-Nazis and neo-Nazis on American society and point out that [[political repression]] at home and [[imperialism]] abroad have a long history in the United States that predates the 20th century. Political theorist [[Sheldon Wolin]] has expressed concern that the twin forces of [[democratic deficit]] and [[superpower]] status have paved the way in the U.S. for the emergence of an [[inverted totalitarianism]] which contradicts many principles of Nazism.<ref name="Wolin 2004">{{cite journal|author=Pipes, Daniel|title=Inverted Totalitarianism|journal=The Nation|date=1 May 2003|url=http://www.thenation.com/article/inverted-totalitarianism|access-date=21 December 2009}}</ref> ===Alien invasion=== Since the late 1970s, [[extraterrestrials]] from other [[planetary habitability|habitable planets]] or [[interdimensional hypothesis|parallel dimensions]] (such as "[[Grey alien|Greys]]") and intraterrestrials from [[Hollow Earth]] (such as "[[Reptilian conspiracy theory|Reptilians]]") have been included in the New World Order conspiracy, in more or less dominant roles, as in the theories put forward by American writers Stan Deyo and [[Milton William Cooper]], and British writer [[David Icke]].<ref name="Barkun 2003"/> [[File:David Icke, 7 June 2013 (1).jpg|thumb|British writer [[David Icke]] claims that shapeshifting aliens called [[Reptilian humanoid|Reptilians]] control the Earth.]] The common theme in these conspiracy theories is that aliens have been among us for decades, centuries or millennia. Still, a government [[cover-up]] enforced by "[[Men in black|Men in Black]]" has shielded the public from knowledge of a secret [[alien invasion]]. Motivated by [[speciesism]] and [[imperialism]], these aliens have been and are secretly manipulating developments and changes in [[human]] society to more efficiently control and exploit human beings. In some theories, alien infiltrators have [[shapeshifting|shapeshifted]] into human form and [[cryptoterrestrial hypothesis|move freely throughout human society]], even to the point of taking control of command positions in governmental, corporate, and religious institutions, and are now in the final stages of their plan to take over the world.{{cn|date=March 2024}} A mythical covert government agency of the United States code-named [[Majestic 12]] is often imagined being the [[Shadow government (conspiracy)|shadow government]] which [[collaborationism|collaborates]] with the alien occupation and permits [[alien abduction]]s, in exchange for assistance in the development and testing of [[Circular wing|military "flying saucers"]] at [[Area 51]], in order for [[United States armed forces]] to achieve [[full-spectrum dominance]].<ref name="Barkun 2003"/> Skeptics, who adhere to the [[psychosocial hypothesis]] for [[unidentified flying objects]], argue that the convergence of New World Order conspiracy theory and [[UFO conspiracy theory]] is a product of not only the era's widespread mistrust of governments and the popularity of the [[extraterrestrial hypothesis]] for UFOs but of the [[far right]] and [[ufologist]]s joining forces. Barkun notes that the only positive side to this development is that, if conspirators plotting to rule the world are believed to be aliens, traditional human [[scapegoating|scapegoats]] ([[Freemasons]], [[Illuminati]], [[Jews]], etc.) are downgraded or exonerated.<ref name="Barkun 2003"/> ===''Brave New World''=== [[File:Stop The New World Order.jpg|thumb|2007 graffiti on a brick wall: "Stop The New World Order"]] [[Antiscience]] and [[neo-Luddism|neo-Luddite]] conspiracy theorists emphasize [[technology forecasting]] in their New World Order conspiracy theories. They speculate that the global power elite are [[reactionary modernism|reactionary modernists]] pursuing a [[transhumanist]] plan to develop and use [[human enhancement technologies]] to become a "[[Posthuman#Posthuman in transhumanism|posthuman]] ruling [[caste]]", while [[accelerating change|change accelerates]] toward a [[technological singularity]]—a theorized future point of discontinuity when events will accelerate at such a pace that normal unenhanced humans will be unable to predict or even understand the rapid changes occurring in the world around them. Conspiracy theorists fear the outcome will either be the emergence of a ''[[Brave New World]]''-like [[dystopia]]—a "Brave New World Order"—or the [[human extinction|extinction of the human species]].<ref name="Collins 2006">{{cite book|author=Collins, Phillip D.|title=The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship: An Examination of Epistemic Autocracy, From the 19th to the 21st Century|publisher=BookSurge Publishing|date=2006|isbn=1-4196-3932-3}}</ref> [[democratic transhumanism|Democratic transhumanists]], such as American sociologist [[James Hughes (sociologist)|James Hughes]], counter that many influential members of the United States establishment are [[bioconservatism|bioconservatives]] strongly opposed to [[human enhancement]], as demonstrated by [[The President's Council on Bioethics|President Bush's Council on Bioethics]]'s proposed international treaty prohibiting [[human cloning]] and [[germline engineering]]. Furthermore, he argues that conspiracy theorists underestimate how fringe the transhumanist movement really is.<ref name="Hughes 2004">{{cite book|author=Hughes, James|title=Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future|publisher=Westview Press|date=2004|isbn=0-8133-4198-1}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page