a jew. you don't say.
who is larry silverstein?
what a mess.
I know it's claimed that Weishaupt was a Jesuit, but the fact that he was an orthodox Jew means he was NOT a believer on Jesus of Nazareth as The Christ. And in one of his captured personal letters by the Bavarian police, he wrote to another high member how his initiate degree on Christianity had duped a certain Christian divine (i.e., a high Christian leader in the Church of that time who was an Illuminati member). Robison documents that in his book, along with other documents seized from one of Weishaupt's dead agents, documents that outlined even the names and descriptions of the lower and higher degrees of initiation Weishaupt had developed.
Weishaupt developed initiate degrees following the line of the Mystery School tradition, with Lesser Mysteries being the lower membership, and the Greater Mysteries being only for the higher membership. Robison described how entry into the first degree of the Greater Mysteries involved an initiation that went something like this:
The petitioner for entry would be shown a cross with representation of Jesus upon it. He would be told to spit on it. The result would determine one of two options for the petitioner:
1. If the petitioner refused to spit on the cross, he would be told something like, "Well and good that you refused, for this cross represents the Salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then the petitioner wouldn't hear any more from the leaders for offers to progress to the degrees of the Greater Mysteries.
2. If the petitioner agreed to spit on the cross and did so, he would be told something like, "Well and good, for this cross is nothing but metal and is only an object. Then the petitioner would be allowed entry into the Greater Mysteries.
By that initiation ceremony from Weishuapt and his higher degree brethren, they were able to determine who was prepared to do ANYTHING for "the Order." It insured that only the thug type mentality gained entry in the higher membership of their Illuminati order. To keep those of such type disposition in line, often blackmail was used. This is why entry into the order also involved an initiation which involved revealing one's darkest secrets about themselves, so it could be used against them later if needed. Many such later cults do this same thing to new members. (Interesting to note that the word
thug actually comes from the name Thugee, which were an ancient group of Hindu professional assassins in India).