Several months ago former MI5 whistleblower turned conspiracy-theorist David Shayler decided to follow the David Icke route, announcing the discovery of deep spiritual mysteries and declaring himself to be the reincarnation of Jesus. Given the rather jokey way he made this revelation – “I’m Brian and so is my wife: The Messiah is to hold a press conference this week” – one wonders if this was some kind of send-up; other conspiracy theories have also been suggested, in which he is still working for MI5 to discredit criticism of the Iraq war and the supposed “truth” about 9/11, or has been brainwashed to achieve this purpose. Most likely, I would hazard, Shayler is masterminding a conspiracy to avoid getting a proper job.
His latest ramblings, however (see below), are rather less jokey:
…The New World Order is not just a political force, the New World Order uses the dark side. We know this from the extensive testimonies to things like Satanic abuse. These are not things you’ll read about in the mainstream media, but I assure you, if you go in the internet you’ll find ample, well-researched evidence there.
What’s more chilling: the attempt to resurrect a conspiracy theory which resulted in ruined lives and blighted childhoods in the 1980s and 1990s, or the fact that a man who believes citing “the internet” counts as an authoritative source was once employed in a position of responsibility? But that’s not even the half of it:
…That New World Order, using those dark forces, has tried to convince us that Jesus came 2,000 years ago and changed nothing, or that Jesus didn’t come at all, or that he came but he wasn’t divine.
But who exactly has tried to convince us of this? Does he mean certain Biblical scholars of various kinds? Or does he mean Unitarians or Mormons or Muslims, since these religious traditions reject the idea of the Trinity? Or does he mean the group hinted at here:
…Taking my cue from Jesus in the Bible, the first thing I’m going to say and do is turn the tables on the money-lenders. And I say to every government in the world, print your own money…Until now, every country in the world has been controlled by a central bank. We know from documents like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion that they were going to use the money supply to create recessions and depressions, and that’s exactly what they have done throughout the twentieth century and are doing now, basically.
I suppose it should be remembered that not all conspiracy theories that use the Protocols are aimed against Jews; the Holy Blood and the Holy Grail authors concocted an alternative yarn connecting the document to a Masonic “Priory of Sion” (Of course, this is also nonsense, as well as being irresponsible and in bad taste). However, Shayler makes no attempt to clarify what he means, and coming after his garbled evocation of Jesus overturning the tables of the moneychangers, one is inclined not to give the benefit of the doubt.
Many of us can remember David Icke’s debut as a spiritual guru in 1991, when he became a figure of national mirth for his bizarre prophecies and pronouncements (Shayler, by the way, promises us the universe will “change shape” in 2012). A few years later, Icke was featured in a documentary with Jon Ronson, and he came across as a rather sad figure – wheeling his suitcase around the UK and the USA and speaking to small groups of cranks, when he had once enjoyed a high-profile career as a BBC sports reporter. A more recent documentary, in contrast, showed us queues of people eagerly waiting to fill medium-sized London venues where Icke was due to appear. Perhaps Shayler saw the same programme, and decided to see if he could win at the same game.
(Hat tips: Harry’s Place, The Nation of Duncan)
Filed under: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
