According to the wiki article, "The goals of the organization included trying to eliminate superstition, prejudice, and the Roman Catholic Church's domination over government, philosophy, and science; trying to reduce oppressive state abuses of power, and trying to support the education and treatment of women as intellectual equals."
I can subscribe to all of that (except delete Roman Catholic Church, and substitute organized religion). And I am a Bahai. So ladybug's case is proved.Moreover the enemy of the Illuminati was despotism: the illuminati were shut down by Karl Theodor. Bahais also stand against despotism and for democracy and consultation with the people. Baha'u'llah wrote to Queen Victoria:
One issue I see between Bahais and the 18th century illuminati is that they were a secret society, which is understandable given that the risk they ran in trying to get a bit of openness in a closed authoritarian society. That is, I do not think they were trying to create a society run by a secret elite, they were in a society run by an elite and were trying to change that. Bahais in Iran do not put their membership lists on the internet either!
A second issue is that the illuminati had grades of membership and a hierarchy, whereas the internal structure of the Bahai community mirrors what we would like to see in society: egalitarian, with elected Assemblies making decisions that affect the community, and plenty of room for individual initiative. But this is not how the Bahai community was run in its early years, as a persecuted group. It took time to develop, and it requires an open society to really flourish (there is no Bahai Administration among the Bahais of Iran for example: you can't have elections without membership lists).
There is a virtual industry of anti-illuminationist propaganda, often quite absurd (especially as the illuminati were shut down in 1785). I wonder whose interests are being served by that? A population that fears an invisible threat is more ready to accept the people who (1) create the idea of a threat and (2) make themselves the saviors fighting that threat. I am very suspicious of these supposed "exposers" of hidden hands and secret societies which, being hidden and secret, can never be proved but can be suspected everywhere. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Is there a conspiracy behind the conspiracy theory industry? I bet I could find suggestive evidence at least that some conspiracy theorists had connections with other conspiracy theorists. Shock. Horror.
The illuminati was not shut down. Its probably unsafe to even talk about it here! Eek!
But on a different note....where did Baha'i come from, originate? Like what country? Im only curious because i believe in giving all relitions i dont call my own, at least respect and time for understanding.
