-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- from: http://www.floodlight.org/ Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.floodlight.org/">Welcome to Floodlight: Conspiracy Theories and �</A> Welcome to Floodlight This web site is an educational resource on conspiracy theories, extremist groups and the American far right. This educational effort is geared toward strengthening the democratic process here in America as well as an informational resource toward the church. The focus here is to shed light on a subject that is not very well understood by the general public. Here we take a hard look at conspiracy theories and the extremist groups that come from them and their effect on the American church and the democratic process. There are 5 major indices to this web site. Most of the contributions to this web site are from well known authors and researchers in this field of study. The major sections are: * Christian Identity index. This index provides historical as well as introductory information. Christian Identity is the theological basis for most of the hate groups on the American extreme right, including white supremacy groups. * Extremist Groups index. Historical data here provides background to leading hate and extremist groups and their development. * Conspiracy Theory index. This index provides a point by point rebuttal to conspiracy theories, which are in reality the reason why most extremist and hate groups exist. * Democracy and the Church index. It is democracy and the church who suffer most because of conspiracy theories. This index provides an overview of the dangers. * Conspiracy Theory FAQ. This a special index for some of the most common questions that I get from visitors to this site. Feel free to browse around, kick off your shoes (keep them on your side of the web), and take a few minutes to read some of the essays here. You won't find anything else like it on the web. Click on your favorite index and thanks for visiting, and be sure to visit often. Research by myself and others continues to fill the site. For those inclined to do so, visitors are encouraged to submit research to this web site. Other Features: Disclaimer The Story of this Web Site how this web site came to be This web site created by Gerry Rough ===== The Story of this Web Site by Gerry Rough I suppose if there is any one place to start, it would have to be at or near the beginning. Some of my earliest memories are that of the Apollo moon landings in 1969. I was but 5 or 6 years old back then, leading a perfectly normal kid life. All those heroes in their rickety rockets lazing around on another planet, it was enough to make a grown kid dream. Life progressed at the usual pace until the year 1970. I remember when Hal Lindsay�s book, The Late Great Planet Earth hit the scene. It was the big topic of discussion at the dinner table. Two years later, I have vague memories George Wallace running for President. I even remember hoping he would win, though many years later I would learn of his racist legacy. My first real political memories are that of Richard Nixon�s resignation. I remember watching the speech, and even at the time I was aware that this was an important event. Even for someone so young my first taste of the political would not be so easily forgotten. As well are the memories and corresponding fear that the rumors of the anti-Christ were true. The anti-Christ at the time was Dr. Henry Kissinger, our own Secretary of State. He was the great Satan, the Darth Vader of the coming global takeover. Curiously enough, I have no memories at all of the Vietnam war, even though many of these events are parallel. But the memories of the coming global takeover are forever etched into my mind. >From there the memories of the mid-seventies take over. The election of 1976 saw a young Gerald Rough hoping for one Gerald Ford to be President again. I was somewhat disappointed that November night, but democracy was still safe. It was during the early- to mid-seventies that I began to have an interest in Bible Prophecy. Combined with a budding interest in the political, it was a temptation too much to bear. It was my destiny. How could I resist? With the new anti-Christ, Jimmy Carter, my curiosity would continue to be peaked. After all, with the President of the United States turned against his own people, it was just a matter of time that the plot would thicken, a matter of sweeping away the last remaining outposts of Christian morality. But through all of this, with my interest in the political happenings of each day, I began to read and understand my world. I looked each night at the evening news. I wanted to know more. I wanted to understand why things happened the way they happened. With the advent of my high school years of the late-seventies, a lot of things started to make sense. There was the oil crisis, the hostage crisis, even my sagging grade point average. Bible Prophecy was a major part of the picture, but a lot of things didn�t make sense when viewed from the Prophecy perspective. Where, for example, was the anti-Christ, when Henry Kissinger was now out of office? Why weren�t all of the canned answers to future events not now taking place? And why were there always persistent predictions based upon a lack of credible evidence? And so, with all of this as background, it was in my junior year of high school that I finally figured out that there really was no global plot after all. Too many things didn�t make sense, and "World News Tonight" with Frank Reynolds was infinitely more credible than someone trying to tell me that the commies were coming who wasn�t bright enough to figure out that the Russian Bear was a) an economic basket case and b) not about to risk nuclear annihilation. My interest in Bible Prophecy began its fall from heights unfathomable at this point, though it still was an interesting point of debate with friends. Ronald Reagan was elected President, and my interest in the sciences began in earnest. But there was an event in the mid-eighties that really soured my taste in Bible Prophecy. It was Dr. Doug Clark, the famous television prophecy preacher who predicted that the much talked about "Rainbow Money" would be implemented within the next six months, and the New World Order was about to be sprung on us. Real intelligent. It was obvious to anyone with even a modicum of common sense that Clark knew precisely nothing of what he spoke and that the Prophecy movement had by this time lost all hope of ever being a credible witness for the cause of Christ. By the late eighties there would be one more nutty prophecy that would sweep the national ethos, that of the �eighty-eight reasons why Christ will return in 1988� phenomenon (or something to that effect, anyway). The eighties as a whole were years that defined a lot of things for me. Not least of which was the realization that the global plot was nowhere to be found. During these years it bothered me that there were still those who taught such foolishness to their simple-minded audience, but that was always for someone else to deal with. I was neither theologian nor historian. What was needed was someone who knew the issues, and who could articulate a clear message to both the church and everyone else that the fraud of the conspiracy theorists was just that: Fraud on a massive scale. The now famous State of the Union message of 1991 renewed my dislike for conspiracy theories. I saw in an instant that the Bible Prophecy buffs and the conspiracy theorists were going to have plenty of ammunition when they heard George Bush�s "New World Order" statement. Events proved my worst fears were indeed true. As late as 1995, I had assumed that someone with a big name and a clear message had already dealt with the issue of conspiracy theories. It seemed to me to be too big an issue to be so casually swept away and forgotten. "Surely someone has written something by now," I thought. Then it happened. The event that would change the course of human history. It was early 1995. Since my employer was a prison ministry, every morning there was a short prayer time and bible study/devotional. This fateful morning there was a tape from a former NASA employee claiming that NASA and the New World Order were shooting down satellites. My interest in the sciences, and especially space and physics, shrieked "foul-play!" from every DNA sequence my corporeal existence could muster. This was fraud straight from hell and I knew it instantly. The conversation afterward was equally ridiculous, so I went along my merry way back to work, figuring the simple minded would someday wake up and smell the coffee. Off I went back to work. Then behind me I overheard one of my fellow workmates say in passing, "Did you know that we are not even supposed to have an income tax anyway? It says right there in the Constitution that we are not supposed to have an income tax." To my utter horror, there were no others who could see the most obvious ignorance on display before their very eyes. I was shocked beyond words that there were those who really believed what was being said, shocked that someone could be so blatantly ignorant! At the time I did not know of the 16th amendment to the Constitution, but the ridiculous notion that Congress would deliberately pass a law in direct violation of our most sacred document was but foolishness. That was it: The last straw. Someone was going to deal with conspiracy theories once and for all. America deserves better, and the church even more so. And if it meant me, that was my destiny. For the next six months or so I chewed on the possibility of writing a book on the subject. I went to a couple of Christian bookstores to find out what had been written on the subject of the global plot. Nothing could be found that did not find favor with conspiracy theories. Everything prophecy fell into two different categories: Those that promoted conspiracy theories, and those that never gave it a second look. There was nothing in between, and nothing that even came close to confronting the movement on a fact vs fact level. I picked up a copy of Pat Robertson�s, The New World Order and read almost all of it. It became obvious that something needed to be done, and I could find no serious investigation of the real facts. Since I had no theological or historical background to draw upon, the task before me seemed daunting. Nonetheless, the lying had to stop and those who did so had to be held to account. By October of that year, I was ready to begin work on a book project. I announced to friends that I was starting a book project and thenceforth have been doing research into conspiracy theories. For the next year I worked diligently on the first chapter. Slowly but surely it started to come together. In October of 1996, I was ready to submit my first chapter to the publishers. For about six weeks that manuscript sat waiting. When you submit to a publisher, you have to get publishing guidelines first, then submit your chapter; so I waited for responses. At the end of that six weeks, everything was ready to go. The next day the manuscript would be sent to the publisher. I decided proof read it one last time for last minute changes. Being away from it for so long gave me a completely different perspective. Unfortunately, the response was most definitely negative. It was clear to me then that that manuscript would never be accepted by any serious publisher. I was disappointed to say the least, but not ready to give up. I decided to go back and re-research the entire chapter again and expand on the idea and its scope. That is what you see here at this web site. Through this journey, I�ve seen lots of improvement, even since my first essays were posted here. My ability to research the subject has vastly improved, and I�ve gotten away from some of the venomous comments of my earlier essays. Several have commented on this, and I�ve begun to take the criticism more constructively. There was also one unintended consequence in all of this. As my research progressed again through the history of central banks, I started to become much more interested in the subject. Economic history is an interesting subject, and so has grown into an interesting hobby as well. So why not read an interesting book and be a good American to boot? While it is true that what is published here at this web site is not publishable material as of yet, that is just the point. It is meant to be the first draft of a project. What is needed is a database to draw upon that can be turned into something later. Aside from that, there is the issue that the message needs to get out there anyway, and what better way to do that than a web site? In late 1998 I started investigating the background of conspiracy theories. As a result I started becoming interested in sociology, history, and virtually every discipline you can think of that study conspiracy theories. It�s fair to say that conspiracy theories are an interesting hobby of mine now and a great passion as well since I see their inherent dangers. In September, 1999 the old site began complete renovations and metamorphosed into what is today floodlight.org. floodlight is now my permanent web address and the outlet for my passion to inform the public and especially the church that conspiracy theories are more than just another day at the cultural office. They are heresy to both democracy and the church. [sigh] This is my story as it relates to this web site and my research into conspiracy theories. I have an interesting story for the rest of my life as well, but that is for another time. Till then, I�ll see you in cyberspace. Gerry Rough updated December, 1999 ===== Statement of Mission "It is the mission of the twentieth century to elucidate the irrational." Maurice Merleau-Ponty There are five major objectives this web site will serve. They are: 1) This web site will serve as an educational resource on conspiracy theories and extremist groups. Conspiracy theories by their very nature are falsified versions of history. All of what is passed as historical research is really nothing more than out-of-thin-air ex parte evidence. This web site will serve as a sounding board for those who wish to contribute to investigating the claims of the conspiracy theorists. 2) This web site will serve to bridge the gap between conspiracy theories and extremist groups. The general public and the church are unaware that most extremist groups take their origin and their life from conspiracy theories. Because of the obvious link, extremist groups and their historical background will be dealt with here as well. This will help give visitors a clearer picture of the nature of conspiracy theories and their social consequences. 3) This web site will serve both the general public and the church. It is temp ting to focus my attention on the Christian faith alone. Unfortunately the social consequences of conspiracy theories dramatically affect both the church and democracy. The church has been deceived into a doctrine that is clearly out of bounds and indeed heresy, democracy is clearly affected by way of the demonization of another group for the sake of political gain. This web site will serve both in order to gain a wider audience. 4) This web site will promote other web sites and resources that provide additional information on conspiracy theories and extremist groups. This web site is really an introductory overview of conspiracy theories and the extremist groups that come from them. This web site will serve to point the reader to other web sites and resources that deal with these issues as well. 5) The links page will be used to provide other web sites that are related to this one. These will be categorized and annotated so that they can be used as an educational resource. It is hoped that the related web sites will further enrich the visitors knowledge of history, conspiracy theories and extremist groups. If this web site can be used to interest others in historical research into these issues, the effort to put this site together will have been worth it. ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
