Dear Joseph:

There are hundreds of little secret societies out there. None of of any significance in-and-of-themselves. There are some who "claim" to be heirs of the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment group modeled on the Freemasons. This group, started by Adam Weishaupt, which really did exist in the 18th Century, has members such as Ferdinand of Brunswick and the diplomat Xavier von Zwack, among others. One of its most famous members was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Modern claimants to the Illuminati was mostly conspiracy kooks, who see demons and conspiracies around every corner.

The whole phenomena of conspiracy kooks are very interesting and beyond an examination in this forum except for a brief sentence or two. Generally, people are attracted to conspiracies are trying to find order in the world. When events take place they do not understand or to which traumatizes them, a conspiracy brings comfort of a sort in that it seek to explain things, to bring an order and reason for the things that people see in the world. Conspiracy nuts cannot accept coincidence as it does not provide the comfort of order and specific explanation of events. The central common denominator of those obsessed with conspiracy is lack of any real evidence. Conspiracy nuts live on a staple diet of assumption, innuendo, imaginative imagination, and in short, rash judgment. What is always lacking is solid evidence that if self-evident. That means, that the evidence must prove the point on its own merits rather than on elaborate interpretations. The more creative the interpretation, the more certain its falsity.

As for symbols, sure, some rock group flash what is thought of as Satanic symbols. It is rash judgment, however, a sin, to jump to the conclusion that the group members are actual Satanists. Maybe they are, but not automatically so, since indulging in Satanic imagery is what make them money. It is the bank account, not Satanic ideology, that drives most people.

A good example of how symbols are made into something they are not is the upside-down cross. The upside-down cross has never been a "sign of the devil." The only people who use it in that way are usually teenage wannabes, and Hollywood producers. The sign of the upside-down cross, however, has never been used by real Satanist.

See previous Q&As about symbols: here, and here

As for Entertainment, no conspiracy is needed for Entertainment to be debauched. Jesus said that we will know people by their fruits. The fruits of a reprobate will be reprobate. No conspiracy or even Satanic involvement is needed or required for this phenomena to be present. Human beings can be debauched, and promote debauchery, all by ourselves without the help of conspiracies or even the help of the devil. While the devil has a vested interest in our debauchery, he only encourages what is already within us.

Hollywood is run by and controlled by reprobates. Reprobates wish to encourage other people to be reprobates. It is a take on the cliché, "misery loves company". In order for people who are reprobates to justify what is obviously a disordered life, they must recruit others into the disordered life. Reprobates love to contaminate the innocent and the pure.

A conspiracy is defined when two or people people get together to plot an action together to accomplish some goal.

No conspiracy is needed in any of this. Reprobates do what they do to affect the world by nature — no conspiracy or demonic involvement is needed. While it is possible for a group of movie directors, for example, or specific plot and plan a series of movies to destroy morality in our culture, the more likely fact is that these movie directors do it out of their own reprobate minds. Since so many of Hollywood are of reprobate mind, a conspiracy would be a waste of time and energy.

Now with all that said, of course we should fight against, protest, and lobby for those in Entertainment to cease their reprobate and debauched music, movies, TV shows, or whatever. We need to pray against these things because the media is the most powerful mover of culture today. It is largely the engine for the moral and cultural decay we have witnessed since the end of WWII (along with Supreme Court decisions that laid the groundwork for the legal expression of debauchery and anti-god notions, such as the so-called "separation of church and state", a concept which is not in the Constitution and did not exist until the Supreme Court invented it out of thin air in 1947).

We need a clear head, not a clouded head conspiratorial suspicions, to fight against the very real encroachment of the reprobate mind as the predominate mindset of modern culture. Let us focus on what is in front of us, the fact, not dubious theories, of what is happening and launch a frontal attack upon it. This is the true Culture War to which all Christians are honor-bound to participate.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary