Many people consider conspiracy theories to be unworthy of serious discussion. Anyone who looks for the hidden meaning or the “true motivation” behind political events is often dismissed outright as paranoid.

And that is exactly what they want you to believe.

Since the earliest days of man’s reign on earth, groups of men have gathered in secret for the purpose of increasing their power.

Even the modern greek fraternity system offers benefits to its members in the form of business connections and alumni support.

If you have the right people with enough power to watch each other’s backs long enough who can keep their activity quiet, that is a conspiracy.

It isn’t always necessarily about who really killed Kennedy and how the communists are putting fluoride in our water supply to control us.

Anytime two or more people gather in secret to carry out an agenda, it is a conspiracy.

A common counter-argument is that our government is far too incompetent to carry out any plan of magnitude.

“They can’t even keep simple sex scandals secret; how could they hide a UFO or keep anyone from coming forward about the MLK assassination?”

Bureaucracies cannot function without the occasional hitch, but secret societies are not bureaucratic in nature; they are about power.

The exposure of the illicit sexual escapades of a few ill-prepared individuals does not render it impossible for powerful individuals to operate with well-hidden efficiency.

Power-holders in our government with allegiance to secret fraternal societies or government shadow-agencies operating under secret mandates can act with impunity, their existence a complete mystery to the public and even to those in authority.

The $700 toilet seat is a prime example of the kind of under-handed activity common with the military industrial complex — more or less a conspiracy between private industry and unscrupulous, high-ranking members of the Department of Defense to line their pockets.

Do you really think they couldn’t find a cheaper hammer with a few simple orders?

One of the oldest secret societies is the Knights Templar.

Formed after the First Crusade, the order was established by the Catholic Church to protect pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land.

In order to fund their activities, the order practically invented modern banking, and many of us have felt the sting of that conspiracy for a long time.

By circumventing church rules prohibiting the loaning of money for interest, their funds grew.

As their wealth increased, so did their power. They were able to loan money to monarchs who would become indebted to the group, and soon they were able to act with impunity.

Pope Innocent II exempted them from all authority except his own. By Medieval standards, they were untouchable.

A fierce warrior monastic order with enough cash and political influence to control events in Europe, they were models of piety and fighting ability who were courted by the nobles of Europe for their influence and ability to bankroll monarchs.

Because of their enormous power, wealth, influence and immunity, they were feared and destined to be destroyed by other men hungry for cash and power.

In 1307, France’s King Philip the Fair arrested the Templars on the grounds that they were heretics practicing unspeakable rites acquired in the Middle East, worshipping the devil Baphomet and trampling and spitting on the cross.

Charges of heresy were the only way to make sure that Philip could steal Templar funds, but rumors of anti-Christian activities, bizarre rituals and powerful sorcery had been following the Templars for decades, increasing the fear felt by the uninitiated.

With all this in mind, Philip tortured the Templars to coerce confessions of sodomy and devil-worshipping from them.

By March 19, 1314, Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was burned at the stake.

As he was burning alive, De Molay cursed King Philip and Pope Clement to join him in death before a year was up.

Pope Clement and Philip IV both died within seven months, which served to increase the aura of mysticism around the Templars, who were rumored to have taken the massive bulk of their wealth underground with the help of the many nobles with whom they had associated.

This is where the mystery thickens, since it is still a matter of debate as to where the Knights Templar went and what became of them.

Theories suggest everything from their complete destruction to their transformation into any number of other secret societies, from the Freemasons to the Royal Society of Sorcerers and Alchemers to your local Elk’s Club.

Today, everyone from the Shriners to the average college fraternity will claim to be the only true descendants of the Knights Templar.

One thing is certain, and that is the Templars set a standard for initiation and membership control which can be seen in other groups.

Hazing today is mild compared to the ritual acts that a Templar novice was required to perform in order to become an initiate.

The higher you rose, the deeper the mysteries, the greater the power obtained and the less likely anyone would be to betray the order.

Though this is one of the more sinister examples of a secret society, one need look no further than the Masonic Temples of main street America to find groups whose only purpose is to gather and network for their own interests.

If local chambers of commerce can be filled with lodge members interested in increasing the power of their own particular groups, how could our government not be?

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6079 Smith is a sophomore in home economics and astrophysics from Hogswallow, Vt. He likes parasailing, bobbing for apples and novels told from the vampire’s perspective.