> >Then, of course, I would be wary of anyone who claims to be a member (or a former member) of "the Illuminati" without specifing which group he means by that. Or making that statement on TV without worrying about the dire consequences that are rumoured to be meted out to people who break silence.
> >
> > Then again, of course, as he says the facts are out there and you only need to look for them. Did you check these facts yourself, or just accept that he must be an authority, because he claimed to be?
> >
> > winter"Always on the lookout for information about Illuminated groups"mute
>
> "The Illuminati" is *suppoeedly* some ultra-secretive US group that basically runs the country and knows everything. I'm disinclined to believe it actually exists, but if it does, its real name is "The Illuminati"
>
> Lyn"just to clear that up"ette

Hmmm... Sounds like you mean the New World Order, to me. Maybe one of the NWO groups decided to call themselves The Illuminati to confise people. That would be just like them.

As a rule of thumb Illuminatus groups (the "enlightened ones") tend to concern themselves with occult learning, which may well include the "true" history of all sorts of religious ceremonies; and the NWO are more concerned with power over other people, normally using a more technological paradigm.

I don't believe that either group exists (OK, some named organisations can be proved to exist but that doesn't make them a sinister shadow government), but it's always a fun idea to play around with. And besides, if they did exist, they would need to convince everyone that they didn't. So even the most bizzarre conspiracy theories can start to make sense.

winter"Conspiracy theory = teh bets gaem"mute