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Particulars of Christianity:
315 Global Conspiracy
(and Freemasonry)


Part 3: The Great Merchants and Global Deception

Intro: A Biblical Look at "Conspiracy"
Conspiracy: What does the Bible Say?
Conspiracy Against God in the End Times
Revelation Records the Conspiracy
The Lifespan of the Conspiracy (Part 1)
The Lifespan of the Conspiracy (Part 2)
Mystery: The Religion of the Conspirators (Part 1)
Mystery: The Religion of the Conspirators (Part 2)
Part 1: Mystery Religion in Modern Groups
Part 2: Financial Influence and Freemasonry
Part 3: The Great Merchants and Global Deception
Conspiracy Study Reference and Research Section
Controlling the News: Goldberg and Quigley



The fifth Biblical description of this conspiracy concerns the notion of global deception.

Revelation 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Earlier on in our study, we have shown a chart comparing the description of Revelation 17's "Great Harlot, Mystery, Babylon" to Revelation 18's great city referred to as Babylon. By comparing the descriptions of each entity side by side, this chart demonstrated that these two chapters describe the same great city, the "great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth" (Revelation 17:18.)

Here in Revelation 18:23, we see that this great city deceives all nations. We have already shown that "Mystery Babylon" is a reference to the mystery religion found in Babylon. And we have also already shown that the Gnosticism around in the Apostles' day was a form of that mystery religion. In 1 John 2:21-22 and 2 John 1:7, the apostle John refers to antichrists as deceivers. We know from the context of these passages that John's words were referring to the Gnostics of his day, as we have also already shown.

So, our hypothesis is that just as the Gnostics of John's day were an outgrowth of this Babylonian mystery religion, their successors in the end times will be as well. And just as the Gnostics were deceivers, their successors will be. And "Mystery Babylon" from Revelation 17 and 18 is a description of these things as well. For Revelation 17 and 18 describes the existence of a group 1) practicing mystery religion (a mystery religion related to Babylon) and 2) using that mystery religion to deceive the nations, as Revelation 18:23 records, " for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived."

In this section of our study, we are trying to show that the modern day Freemasons are, in fact, the successors of the Gnostics and the mystery religion. So, according to our theory, the Freemasons would have to be involved in deceiving the nations. But how? Revelation says "by thy sorceries." This tells us that the mystery religion is involved in this deception somehow, but it does not specify the method of deception.

Let's just think about the magnitude of this activity. Deception requires the communication of false information or a false depiction of the correct information. So, for an entity to deceive the nations requires that such an entity would be able to communicate information to the nations in some way or another. In modern times, this would necessarily involve the major news media. For what other institution communicates information to the whole world?

So, the Freemasons would have to exert control over the news media as well. Unfortunately, we must admit that we cannot prove this claim using only uncontroversial, easily accessed sources. The evidence to substantiate this claim beyond the shadow of a doubt requires greater research.

And, unfortunately, the Freemasons keep their membership as one of their most closely guarded secrets, although individual members are free to publicize their own membership. The membership records of the Freemasons are withheld from the public. And this makes demonstrating the influence of the Order much more difficult. It is our belief that if these records were public, the public would be overwhelmed by the reality of Masonic influence to the point that the conspiracy would become self-evident.

For now, we remain committed to our goal to demonstrate the existence of the conspiracy using only uncontroversial, readily available sources. We may not be able to demonstrate that the Freemasons control the public media, but we can demonstrate that someone is.

Perhaps the greatest obstacle to someone believing in the existence of the conspiracy is the notion that if a conspiracy did exist, surely the media would have uncovered and reported it. Therefore, any global conspiracy theory necessitates that the conspirators are also able to control the media. Conversely, those who doubt conspiracy theories automatically assume that the media COULD NOT be involved.

That is the purpose of this next section. We intend to demonstrate using easy to find public records, that it is not only possible for the news media to be controlled, but in all probable reality, that is most likely the case.

Below is a small chart showing the major news sources, their parent companies, and the other companies owned by those parent companies. Both the chart and the information, which follows it, reflect the interconnected relationship between the major commercial institutions ("merchants/great men of the earth") and the major media institutions ("all nations deceived.')

Chain of Ownership

Major American News Sources: CNN CBS News ABC NBC The Washington Post The New York Times

Parent Companies AOL Time Warner Viacom Disney General Electric The Washington Post Co. The New York Times Co.

Also Owned by Parent Company -Turner Broadcasting, Warner Bros., Time Magazine, -MTV, Paramount Pictures, Simon & Scchuster Publishers -ESPN (Associated with Microsoft - MSNBC) -NewsWeek, KPRC-TV, NBC Houston affiiliate, KSAT-TV, ABC San Antonio affiliate, Cable One, over 700,000 subscribers -multiple newspapers, television and radio stations 50% interest in the International Herald Tribune

*In addition to the highly recognizable names mentioned above, these companies also own a wide range and number of local radio and television affiliates as well as many of the other major cable channels such as BET, Nickelodeon, VH1, TNN (all owned by Viacom.)




Board of Directors The six corporate entities listed above along with NewsCorp (FOX) and Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal also have interlocking boards of directors with many of the largest and most recognizable names in a variety of industries ranging from Coca-Cola to Chase Manhattan Banks. Two examples of the types of crossovers in this survey:

1.) Former Senator Sam Nunn (General Electric Board - NBC) works with former majority Whip of the US House of Representatives, William H. Gray III (Viacom Board - CBS) and Michael A. Miles (AOL Time Warner Board - CNN) on the Dell Computers Board of Directors.

2.) Douglas A. Warner III (General Electric Board - NBC) works with former majority Whip of the US House of Representatives, William H. Gray III (Viacom Board - CBS) and Henry B. Schacht (New York Times Co. Board) on the Chase Manhattan Board of Directors.

Major Media Companies included in the survey: General Electric - NBC, Viacom - CBS, AOL Time Warner - CNN, Disney - ABC, NewsCorp. - FOX, New York Times Co., Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal, Washington Post. We have color coded these companies in order to make the interlocking relationships more apparent.*Denotes Board membership crossovers with DIRECT competition.

*General Electric (NBC) - Viacom (CBS) = 5 crossovers
*General Electric (NBC) - AOL Time Warner (CNN) = 3 crossovers
*General Electric (NBC) - NewsCorp. (FOX) = 1 crossover
*General Electric (NBC) - Disney (ABC) = 1 crossover
General Electric (NBC) - Washington Post = 1 crossover
General Electric (NBC) - New York Times Co. = 3 crossovers
General Electric (NBC) - Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal = 1 crossovers
Total: 15 crossovers. Board members of General Electric/NBC work with Board members of other media companies 15 times. 10 of these15 times they work with Board members from their direct competition.

*Viacom (CBS) - General Electric (NBC) = 5 crossovers
*Viacom (CBS) - AOL Time Warner (CNN) = 3 crossovers
*Viacom (CBS) - NewsCorp. (FOX) = 1 crossover
Viacom (CBS) - Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal = 1 crossover
Viacom (CBS) - New York Times Co. = 1 crossover
Total: 11 crossovers. Board members of Viacom/CBS work with Board members of other media companies 11 times. 9 of these11 times they work with Board members from their direct competition.

*AOL Time Warner (CNN) - Viacom (CBS) = 3 crossovers
*AOL Time Warner (CNN) - General Electric (NBC) = 3 crossovers
*AOL Time Warner (CNN) - NewsCorp. (FOX) = 1 crossover
*AOL Time Warner (CNN) - Disney (ABC) = 2 crossovers
AOL Time Warner (CNN) - New York Times Co. = 1 crossover
AOL Time Warner (CNN) - Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal = 1 crossover
Total: 11 crossovers. Board members of AOL Time Warner/CNN work with Board members of other media companies 11 times. 9 of these11 times they work with Board members from their direct competition.

*Disney (ABC) - General Electric (NBC) = 1 crossover
*Disney (ABC) - AOL Time Warner (CNN) = 2 crossovers
Disney (ABC) - Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal Board = 1 crossovers
Total: 4 crossovers. Board members of Disney/ABC work with Board members of other media companies 4 times. 3 of these 4 times they work with Board members from their direct competition.

*NewsCorp. (FOX) - General Electric (NBC) = 1 crossover
*NewsCorp. (FOX) - AOL Time Warner (CNN) = 1 crossover
*NewsCorp. (FOX) - Viacom (CBS) = 1 crossover
NewsCorp. (FOX) - Washington Post = 1 crossover
Total: 4 crossovers. Board members of NewsCorp./FOX work with Board members of other media companies 4 times. 3 of these 4 times they work with Board members from their direct competition.

New York Times Co. - General Electric (NBC) = 3 crossovers
New York Times Co. - Viacom (CBS) = 1 crossover
New York Times Co. - AOL Time Warner (CNN) = 1 crossover
New York Times Co. - Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal = 3 crossovers
Total: 8 crossovers. Board members of New York Times Co. work with Board members of other media companies 8 times.

Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal - General Electric (NBC) = 1 crossover
Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal - Disney (ABC) = 1 crossover
Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal - Viacom (CBS) = 1 crossover
Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal - AOL Time Warner (CNN) = 1 crossover
Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal - New York Times Co. = 3 crossovers
Total: 7 crossovers. Board members of Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal work with Board members of other media companies 7 times.

Washington Post - General Electric (NBC) = 1 crossover
Washington Post - NewsCorp. (FOX) = 1 crossover
Total: 2 crossovers. Board members of Washington Post work with Board members of other media companies 2 times.

These crossovers involve the 5 major news networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CNN.) These crossovers involve the 2 major national news magazines (Time, NewsWeek) and 1 major national financial magazine (Wall Street Journal.) These crossovers involve the 2 leading national newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post.)

These crossovers involve 31 people. Of these 31 people, 2 are former U.S. Senators, 1 is a Former Majority Whip for the House of Representatives, 1 is a board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and 1 is a former US Ambassador to the UK.

These crossovers involve 4 board members of the New York Stock Exchange Board.

These crossovers involve 2 major International Banking Franchises (J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Chase Manhattan.) These crossovers involve 1 major energy company (General Electric.) These crossovers involve 1 major gas company (Texaco.) These crossovers involve 1 major credit card company (American Express.) These crossovers involve 1 major insurance company (Metropolitan Life.) These crossovers involve 1 major automotive company (Ford.)

[All of this information is available in more detail at www.fair.org including the names of the individual board members and the specific companies they are involved in. At the end of this section, we provide the list of names for the crossovers summarized above. More information on FAIR can also be found at the end of this section. Confirmation of the accuracy of FAIR's records was established by comparing FAIR's list of board members for G.E. and AOL TIME WARNER. In both cases, the lists were identical.]

And the education system is not left out either. When you go to the FAIR website and visit the individual board of directors pages for each of these major companies, you will find that there are a total of 24 individuals who also hold high positions at universities or educational organizations including Stanford University, the California State Board of Education, Georgetown University, Duke University, Harvard Graduate School, Princeton University Board of Trustees, the NYU School of Medicine, New York University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, and the University of Notre Dame.

So, what does all this show? Well, it shows that it is possible not only for major corporations to have controlling interest in the national news media but also that less than a hundred people can direct the overall operations of the major media outlets. It also shows the extent to which the richest of the rich have centralized ownership of a wide variety of the largest corporations in the country. And finally, it shows that what appears to the average consumer to be perhaps thousands and thousands of independent smaller companies (including banking institutions, manufacturers, insurance companies, etc.) are actually less than a dozen corporations.

The same handful of corporations and the same individuals have controlling interest in not only the major media sources but the major manufacturing and service companies as well. The interwoven Boards of Directors of news institutions, commercial institutions, and financial institutions (demonstrated by the statistics in this study) perfectly match the extent to which Revelation 18 associates the global deception with global commercial institutions and the great men of the earth.

Revelation 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Our conclusion is this. The Freemasons meet 4 out of 5 of our Biblical descriptions for those who will be involved in the end time conspiracy. We have no evidence that would prevent us from believing the Freemasons could have control over the news media and so possibly fulfill the fifth description as well. The Freemasons are related to the mystery religion we find in ancient Babylon. They are related to the Gnostic mystery religion around at the time of the apostles. They are involved in global politics. And they have a history of accumulating and centralizing financial control.

The fact that Freemasons keep their membership lists secret prevents us from conclusively proving that Freemasons are involved in global deception through control of the news media. However, we have shown using public records that controlling interest in the news media is intricately interwoven with controlling interest in the major commercial corporations through interlocking Boards of Directors.

This corresponds to the description of Mystery Babylon found in Revelation 18:23 and ties it to the other four Biblical qualifications found, which the Freemasons meet. Therefore, despite their secret membership, we believe the descriptions found in the Bible leave us little choice but to conclude that the upper ranks of the Order of Freemasonry and its affiliate organizations worldwide are the public face of the end time conspiracy.

Notes:

Detailed Descriptions
Names of Board of Directors Involved in Corporate Crossovers

1. Andrea Jung (General Electric Board - NBC) works with Brenda C. Barnes (New York Times Co. Board) on the Avon Board of Directors.

2. Douglas A. Warner III (General Electric Board - NBC) works with former majority Whip of the US House of Representatives, William H. Gray III (Viacom Board - CBS) and Henry B. Schacht (New York Times Co. Board) on the Chase Manhattan Board of Directors.

3. Douglas A. Warner III (General Electric Board - NBC) works with William H. Gray III (Viacom Board - CBS) on the J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Board of Directors. Claudio X. Gonzalez (General Electric Board - NBC) also sits on the International Advisory Council of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Board of Directors. Michael A. Miles (AOL Time Warner Board - CNN) sits on the Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. Board of Directors.

4. Kenneth G. Langone (General Electric Board - NBC) works with Mel Karmazin (Viacom Board - CBS), Stephen M. Case (AOL Time Warner Board and Co-Founder), and Geoffrey C. Bible (NewsCorp. Board - FOX) on the New York Stock Exchange Board.

5. Former Senator Sam Nunn (General Electric Board - NBC) works with Warren E. Buffet (Washington Post Board) and former president of Coca-Cola, Donald R. Keough, (Washington Post Board) on the Coca-Cola Board of Directors.

6. Former Senator Sam Nunn (General Electric Board - NBC) works with former majority Whip of the US House of Representatives, William H. Gray III (Viacom Board - CBS) and Michael A. Miles (AOL Time Warner Board - CNN) on the Dell Computers Board of Directors.

7. Judith L. Estrin (Disney Board - ABC) works with Scott G. McNealy (General Electric Board - NBC) and James L. Barksdale (AOL Time Warner Board - CNN) on the Sun Microsystems Board of Directors.

8. Former Senator Sam Nunn (General Electric Board - NBC) works on the Texaco Board of Directors with William C. Steere, Jr. (Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal Board) and the Honorable Charles H. Price II (New York Times Co. Board), former chair of Mercantile Bank of Kansas City and former US Ambassador to the UK.

9. Ivan Seidenberg (Viacom Board - CBS) works with Ann M. Fudge, (General Electric Board - NBC) on the Honeywell Board of Directors. Ann M. Fudge is also a member of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

10. Ellen R. Marram (New York Times Co. Board) works with Irvine O. Hockaday, Jr. (Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal Board) on the Ford Board of Directors. Roger S. Penske (General Electric Board - NBC) is also a board member for the Henry Ford Museum.

11. Robert A. Lawrence (New York Times Board) works with William C. Steere, Jr. (Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal Board) on the Metropolitan Life Board of Directors.

12. Franklin D. Raines (AOL Time Warner Board - CNN) works with John F. Akers (New York Times Co. Board) former CEO and chair of IBM, Brenda C. Barnes (New York Times Co. Board) former CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America on the Pepsi Board of Directors.

13. Jan Leschly (Viacom Board - CBS) works with Daniel F. Akerson (AOL Time Warner Board - CNN), Harvey Golub (Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal Board), and Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. (Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal Board) on the American Express Board of Directors.

14. Stanley S. Shuman (NewsCorp. Board - FOX) works with Donald R. Keough (Washington Post Board) on the Allen & Company Board of Directors.

15. Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. is on the boards of both AOL Latin America and Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal.

16. James L. Barksdale (AOL Time Warner Board - CNN) works with former Senator George J. Mitchell (Disney Board - ABC) and Judith L. Estrin (Disney Board - ABC) on the FedEx Board of Directors.

17. Former Senator George J. Mitchell (Disney Board - ABC) works with Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. (Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal Board) on the Xerox Board of Directors.


What's FAIR?
FAIR, the national media watch group, has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986. We work to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinizing media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints. As an anti-censorship organization, we expose neglected news stories and defend working journalists when they are muzzled. As a progressive group, FAIR believes that structural reform is ultimately needed to break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent public broadcasting and promote strong non-profit sources of information.