Those mired in the things of creation continually want more of those things. First, they want them for themselves. Then, they want them for their children. They always have reasons to want more. Often, like-minded people get together to influence the political process to help them increase their already swollen assets.
When these efforts become visible, or partly so, they fall under the classification of “conspiracy theories”.
They have been going on since men first began to live in groups. “Let’s you and him fight.” is the underlying operating principle of all successful conspirators.
The oddest thing in all history is the continued existence of the Roman Catholic Church amidst the many, many groups and individuals conspiring to accumulate the things of creation. The Church is largely composed of men who understand that saving souls is the most important work on earth. Those in that “Catholic Conspiracy” have a long history of showing that their underlying motive is to get the largest number of souls possible into Heaven. For that reason, The Church is universally hated by those excessively motivated both by the accumulation of pottage and the power that makes such accumulations possible.
Those most prone to engage in conspiracies are among the succeeding generations of wealthy men. They know they lack the drive and ability of those who accumulated the fortune, but do they want to keep it. Oh, how they do want to keep it. So, they do everything they can to influence whatever process, whether its
inheritance, election, or appointment, that selects those who make laws. The worst of them are usually successful in getting people who will do their will into political power.
The biggest single thing that stands in their way is the command that the Son of God gave when He told us to love our neighbors. It is impossible to simultaneously love and plunder one’s neighbor. The knowledge that they are damning themselves by excessive accumulation that leaves their neighbors destitute is knowledge that they do not wish themselves, or their neighbors, to have. Neither do they wish to have the source of that knowledge respected, admired, or existent. So, one indication that a person is involved in a conspiracy is to see if they are involved in the ongoing hostility toward The Church or Her teachings on the sanctity of life, love, and obedience.
Hostility toward His Church, while not desired by a Loving God, is one way He tests souls. That seems to be one reason that He provided The Church. If a person thinks, speaks, and acts as if the accumulation of material goods is more important than obeying the teachings of The Church, he moves his soul into the ranks of idol worshippers.
Each is free to choose his own goal. If one is bent on accumulation to the destruction of his neighbor, his soul is lost. If one sees the futility of immoral accumulation, he moves toward The Church and Her ongoing teaching that loving one’s neighbor is necessary for salvation.
II. Conspiracy theories for titillation.
Many souls are lost because they gave into a desire for sensory titillation. According to Dante, such souls are in the upper reaches of Hell, where the pain is real, but nowhere near as agonizing as those who commit more damaging acts must eternally suffer.
There are many involved in such sins. The higher their place among the souls lost to temporary pleasure, the deeper their place in the pits beyond. Someone who runs a pornographic empire, for instance, receives greater punishment than one who merely opens a centerfold.
The various titillators often conspire to get other souls to join them as they slide down the slippery slopes to perdition. Appearing in angry groups of “protest” at those who would limit their ability to destroy themselves, one can but pray that their minds and souls will be enlightened. It does happen.
The “Conspiracies of Titillation” are run by those less intelligent than those who run the “Conspiracies for Gain”, but the spiritual damage they do to less firmly anchored souls is often much greater.
Few are rarely in one conspiracy to the complete exclusion of the other. Most of those who love themselves excessively more than their neighbors are, to varying degrees, in both conspiracies.
