The View from Number 80

Plagiarism Plot - conspiracy theories abound, particularly on the internet, where no idea is considered too daft by some enthusiasts. One particularly silly example is David Icke's fantasy of a lizard/human conspiracy, which manipulates world events for its own dark purposes. 80 looked at Icke and the lizards in 2001 (see Soccer Saint) and he is still very much around, pushing his Reptilian Connection as evidenced here "These reptilian-human hybrid lines became the political and economic rulers of these lands occupied by the European empires and they continue to rule these countries to this day. The United States of America has been home to hundreds of millions of people since 1776. What's more, these people came from an amazingly diverse genetic pool. And yet, wait for this, the 42 who have become Presidents of the United States are all related!!! Thirty-Three of them alone go back to Charlemagne, one of the most famous monarchs of what we call France." For those that cannot stomach this kind of looniness there are plenty of other, at first glance, more believable conspiracies around, such as that put forward by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln in the Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and its sequel, The Messianic Legacy. They claimed to have discovered the granddaddy of all secret societies, the Priory of Sion. This group supposedly has held secret knowledge down the centuries that Christ survived the crucifixion, and lived to have a family whose descendents have manipulated most of European history. It is a wonderful story threading together hiddentreasure, biblical stories, the Knights Templar and the Masons. In truth most of the story was the work of a trickster, Pierre Plantard, who, with others, had a fine time planting documents and evidence for the clandestine existence of this mysterious Priory. The whole story is unravelled here, leaving no mystery, beyond why people are so ready to believe this stuff. Although Plantard died in February 2000 the Priory of Sion industry continues, its latest incarnation being the phenomenally popular best seller, The Da Vinci Code, the plot of which borrows liberally from Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln's work. In fact so much appears to have been appropriated, that Baigent and Leigh say Dan Brown, author of the Code, "has "lifted the whole architecture" of the research that they carried out " and they are now suing his publisher Random House. Leigh told the Daily Telegraph, "It's not that Dan Brown has lifted certain ideas because a number of people have done that before. It's rather that he's lifted the whole architecture - the whole jigsaw puzzle - and hung it on to the peg of a fictional thriller." (This comes as a relief to 80 who has used some of those same elements in a medieval thriller, which now languishes in an endless rewriting process). The fact that the villain of DVC is called Sir Leigh Teabing - Leigh's surname and an anagram of Baigent - can only add to their annoyance. The fact that both the Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and its sequel are, not to put too fine a point on it, a load of dingoes' kidneys, will not affect the case as the work does not have to be true to be plagiarized.

God's Work? - one organization prominent in The Da Vinci Code that has a much lower profile in Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln's story is a Roman Catholic group called Opus Dei - which definitely does exist (see Saints - Who Needs Them?). It was founded by Jose Maria Escriva de Balaguer (now a saint) in 1928 on the principle that ordinary Catholics can achieve holiness in their everyday lives. There are estimated to be 80,000 plus members in 80 countries, with various grades of membership. It is with Opus Dei that many believe the old story of a shadowy cabal, influencing political events in the modern world, has come true. This idea is given full support in DVC, although the real organization is not quite as described in the novel. The book has proved so popular that Opus Dei have a section of their website dedicated to rebutting Brown's picture of them. The members are portrayed as monks in the book whereas they claim to be a lay organization - albeit with several categories of membership. The numerary members are those most involved, they take a vow of celibacy and, controversially, practise a form of mortification of the flesh. The Opus Dei site denies this latter claim stating "The Da Vinci Code makes it appear that Opus Dei members practice bloody mortifications. In fact, though history indicates that some Catholic saints have done so, Opus Dei members do not do this." This is contradicted further down the page by mention of the cilice - although it does not clarify what this is. Originally the cilice meant a hair shirt, worn as a form of self-inflicted torture "Such garments were worn at various times in the history of the Christian faith, for the purposes of the mortification of the flesh. Apart from the itchiness of the shirt's coarse texture, when worn continuously it formed a breeding-ground for lice, which would have the effect of increasing the discomfort." One famous wearer of this charming item of wardrobe was St. Thomas More - the shirt is just visible in a portrait of Moore by Hans Holbein. These days, cilice has come to mean a spiked metal circlet, worn strapped around the upper thigh. Quite how such a practice can be considered normal from a mental health point of view 80 has yet to ascertain, but the Roman Catholic Church seems to find the practice acceptable, even praiseworthy. Lesser members, called supernumeraries, are not celibate but follow the organization's commitment to integrating faith with secular life. There are other grades of membership such as associates (similar to numeraries) and numerary assistants, women who attend the domestic needs of Opus Dei centers.

Minister of the Church? - the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, to give the proper name, has been accused of many things, some of which are listed here, and include links to the political far right ( particularly Franco's fascists in Spain, where OD is still to this day very well represented) ultra -conservatism and the oppression of women. One accusation of particular concern is that OD seeks to influence secular democratic governments. This is certainly in keeping with the resurgence of those who wish their religious beliefs be turned into laws. One recent politician accused of this was Rocco Buttiglione, who was rejected for the job of Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner-designate for Freedom, Security and Justice after protests over his ultra-orthodox catholic views on women's rights, homosexuality and other subjects.(see Bigot Unbowed) It therefore is no surprise to learn that Buttiglione was the Italian government's representative at a September 2002 Opus Dei conference. Now there is much speculation about a British Cabinet member, Ruth Kelly, newly promoted to the post of Secretary of State for Education and Skills, chief minister of the Department for Education and Skills. The speculation does not concern her comparative youth (36 years old) or her meteoric rise to power while still managing to have four children - which many would consider a full-time employment in itself - but her other interests. This BBC page lists some of them as "...walking, swimming and watching Bolton Wanderers football club." but there is, in addition to these healthy pastimes, also her membership of Opus Dei. She will only admit to attending meetings, and has not said whether she is a member - although this has been confirmed elsewhere. (This is reminiscent of Bill Clinton's marijuana experience where he admitted to smoking it, but excused himself of wrongdoing on the grounds that he didn't inhale - to quote Nero Wolfe, "Phooey!".) Understandably, this has caused a lot of discussion and speculation as to whether her religious faith will influence her decisions as a minister in charge of education. This is a reasonable question to ask as Opus Dei membership marks her out from the rank and file of ordinary Roman Catholics. She herself has stated that " her faith was a private matter which had nothing to do with her job." and also "I have a private spiritual life and I have a faith. It is a private spiritual life and I don't think it is relevant to my job. I am here as a Catholic." She also rejects any suggestion that her religious beliefs would affect sex education in schools, saying "We have an established government policy on that. I came here to do a job which is about raising standards in schools." Now, taking into account the role that Opus Dei has given itself, and her membership of that organization, such statements are either disingenuous in the extreme or hypocritical. Which proves to be the more accurate may perhaps be determined by examining the wording of the group's stated aims.

Holy Work - Opus Dei states its purpose clearly enough on its US web page, "Opus Dei is a personal Prelature of the Catholic Church that helps ordinary lay people seek holiness in and through their everyday activities, especially through work." As to the role of individual members, the same website tells us "For the most part they do their job and live their family and social lives like everyone else, doing exactly what they would do if they were not in Opus Dei. The spirit of Opus Dei encourages them to make these daily tasks worthy to offer to God and a better service to family, friends and society. In this way they try to grow in Christian virtue in and through their work and other day-to-day activities and encourage others to do likewise." Note the clear emphasis on "... everyday activities, especially through work." and again "through their work and other day-to-day activities". This does not sit well with Kelly's claims that it is a private spiritual matter. Either she is following the precepts of OD in her work and allowing them to inform and influence her decisions, or she is not. If the latter is the case then one wonders why she takes the time in what is obviously a very crowded life to attend OD's meetings - perhaps she is just an OD groupie. If the former is true then she is misleading the public and her colleagues as to where her true loyalties lie. One thing is certain, she can be assured that her every decision in the Department for Education and Skills will be subject to the utmost scrutiny, by other politicians, the hounds of the British press and other concerned observers, lest she betray a conservative Catholic bias. It has already been reported that Kelly " told Tony Blair that she could never support stem cell research." and, as a conservative Catholic, her opposition to abortion, birth control and euthanasia are a given. On that last subject it seems that Blair, rumored to be a Catholic wannabe himself, is willing to accommodate her beliefs, excusing her the vote on living wills, a vote enforced otherwise by a three line whip. (A three line whip is not another type of mortification should you wonder, but an archaic-sounding instruction given to Members of Parliament by the leaders of their party, effectively telling them they must vote in the way that the party wants them to on a particular subject.) It certainly seems a strange decision on the part of Blair to have promoted Kelly to her present post - a post where her duties are sure at times to clash with her beliefs. One wonders why he did not choose a position that would not present her with a spiritual dilemma. As for Opus Dei, it would appear to be rising in status within British Catholicism - as recently as 1981 the then Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Basil Hulme, was less than enthusiastic about its activities and placed restrictions on its work with young people. Now, the current Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, (see Whited Sepulchre) has appointed a numerary member of OD (think cilice) as a parish priest in his diocese. For more on the Blair government and Catholic attitudes to and influence on sex education, this article from the Sunday Herald reveals what could be a very worrying trend.

Religion Watch- perhaps this time the conspiracy theorists are onto something. As the the Roman Catholic church loses influence in Europe perhaps it will be driven to use this "secret society" to try and redress the balance. Those who believe that secular democracy is the fairest means of government will have to be unceasingly vigilant against the Buttigliones and Kellys, in order to ensure their religion does not set our laws. With the constant fight in the US to maintain the wall between church and state and the need to curb the Catholic church's influence on European democracy, it is going to be a busy time all round for secularists of every kind. One group that keeps an eye out is the fittingly titled Opus Dei Awareness Network (ODAN). Their aim is "to meet the growing demand for accurate information about Opus Dei and to provide education, outreach and support to people who have been adversely affected by Opus Dei." They are a most interesting source of information on Opus Dei, its rules and its methods - and publish items such as this testimonial from a former numerary, who pulls no punches. "I am a practicing Catholic. I am writing to warn Catholics and non-Catholics about Opus Dei. Non-Catholics can be recruited as Cooperators of Opus Dei. As a member for seventeen years, I saw Opus Dei do a lot of things which are repugnant to the consciences of decent and upright people; they will continue to do so until people object to them in public and hold them accountable." If, while reading the ODAN pages you get the feeling that Opus Dei is reminiscent of of various cults, you may not be far wrong. This is certainly the opinion of the Rick Ross Institute, which is a " A database of information about cults, destructive cults, controversial groups and movements." For more on the cult accusations see here and for more on the fascist connection see the cheekily named Opus Dei - The Unofficial Homepage.

Things To Come - many people express dissatisfaction with a purely materialistic view of the Universe and turn to religion or new age flummery to instill a sense of purpose to their lives. Occasionally a rational philosophy will describe a plan, a vision for the future that can fulfill the same need but without recourse to supernaturalism. Any downside of such philosophies tend to be embodied by an overenthusiasm, not for science itself, but for the successful application of technology made possible by the advances of science to the improvement of the human condition. One such worldview is that of the transhumanists. The World Transhumanist Association is an international non-profit organization "which advocates the ethical use of technology to expand human capacities. We support the development of and access to new technologies that enable everyone to enjoy better minds, better bodies and better lives. In other words, we want people to be better than well." Another, not dissimilar but, in 80's view, far more appealing worldview is expressed in this interview with Dr George Armstrong, whose almost mystical vision of humankind's future role in the cosmos is tempered by hardheadedness, practicality and an honest acknowledgement of the role of the profit motive in exploration of all kinds. Some may consider the interview to be pure science fiction, as it takes place in January 2100, but the sane views expressed therein are applicable today - and the adoption of them could one day lead to the interview, or one very much like it, taking place at the beginning of the next century. The interviewer, Stephen Ashworth, is to be congratulated for setting out Dr Armstrong's vision with such clarity and good humor.

The Good Guys - the first of the good guys 80 has mentioned before on many occasions, often to refer to his excellent piece on the art of cold reading, Psychic Sophistry.  Now Tony Youens, a founder member of The Association for Skeptical Enquiry (ASKE) and tireless promoter of the skeptical point of view in the media, has revamped his website with a new layout and much more material. It now features a commentary on items of current news, and also essays and investigations of Talking to the Dead. Coming soon is an ebook, available from the site, called Before You See A Psychic. As Youens says "As a skeptic I see no evidence that would indicate the reality of paranormal or psychic powers, nevertheless I could be wrong. If you or perhaps someone you know wants to consult a psychic then they are simply doing what we all do - look for answers. But we are all pretty much agreed that whether real powers exist or not some psychics must be fake.The problem is can you tell the difference?" As a reader of Number 80 you are unlikely to seek the help of a psychic, but if a friend or relative is about to do so, then downloading them a copy of Youens' book just might save them some some time and money and heartache. Anyone who wishes to be notified when the book is released can email tony@tonyyouens.com with "Book Release" in the subject line.