• atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works
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    3 days ago

    I don’t think I have ever heard anybody claim that the Illuminati was democratic or secular. In fact my grandpa was convinced of the opposite in a rather bigoted way.

    • PugJesus@piefed.socialOPM
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      3 days ago

      The meme is saying that the actual Illuminati were secular and democratic, but are seen in the modern day as a shadowy, oppressive cabal

      • chaogomu@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Fun fact, the downfall of the Illuminati was when one of their couriers carrying banned books and letters on democracy and such was struck by lightning and killed.

            • Optional@lemmy.world
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              2 days ago

              In his work of over seven hundred pages, Le Forestier gives an account of his exploration of German archives, where almost everything was preserved with Teutonic precision. When a member of the Illuminati of Bavaria, the Catholic priest Johann Jakob Lang (according to another spelling “Lanz,” 1735–1785), died struck by lightning on July 10, 1785, the police drew up,  and archivists preserved, even an exact inventory of what was in his pockets. So fastidious was Le Forestier’s work that later historians have been able to add only a few details, although they have not always accepted his interpretations.

              I think it’s using him as an example of how and why we know so much about them, not necessarily their downfall. But it is interesting!

      • cjoll4@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        I had no idea the Illuminati were a real group. I thought they were just some abstract boogeymen. Shows how ignorant I am. :(

        • king_comrade@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          Google the Bavarian Illuminati and enjoy the rabbit hole. They were mostly a bunch of nerds frustrated with the free masons and just wanted to trade books that were banned by the church.

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      It was a secret society with a bunch of magical rituals to trick people into learning about democracy, because it being illegal wasn’t enough to make people interested