DDO = Illuminati

I want to start by thanking my opponent for his patience with me during my fever. I'm still not 100%, but let's do this! In this debate, Pro has the burden to show that Debate.org is an Illuminati enterprise; that is to say, Debate.org is run by the Illuminati. My burden as Con is to show that this isn't the case, and if I can show that Pro has provided no substantial evidence then I will rightfully win this debate. I will start by refuting Pro's main points, and then close with my own case negating the resolution. I. The IlluminatiPro starts off with a basic history lesson of the Bavarian Illuminati, yet fails to share the accurate history pertaining to its demise and eventual break-up. In Pro's own source it states:Karl Theodor and his government banned all secret societies including the Illuminati. A government edict dated March 2, 1785 "seems to have been deathblow to the Illuminati in Bavaria". Weishaupt had fled and documents and internal correspondence, seized in 1786 and 1787, were subsequently published by the government in 1787. Von Zwack's home was searched and much of the group's literature was disclosed. [1]Many believe that the final blow was delivered by the Bavarian government, but if we look closer we can see that there were incredible amounts of inner-tension amongst the key members of the Illuminati, and thus the group was destined for failure regardless. This is made evident when its history, such as the following, is revealed:In January 1781, faced with the prospect of losing Knigge and his masonic recruits, Weishaupt finally confessed that his superiors and the supposed antiquity of the order were fictions, and the higher degrees had yet to be written. Weishaupt promised Knigge a free hand in the creation of the higher degrees, and also promised to send him his own notes.The order had now developed profound internal divisions. The Eichstaedt command had formed an autonomous province in July 1780, and a rift was growing between Weishaupt and the Areopagus, who found him stubborn, dictatorial, and inconsistent. Knigge fitted readily into the role of peacemaker.In an attempt to satisfy everybody, the Convent of Wilhelmsbad achieved little. They renounced the Templar origins of their ritual, while retaining the Templar titles, trappings and administrative structure.It was not only the clumsy appeal of the Illuminati that left the federation short of members. Lodge Theodore was recently formed and did not command respect like the older lodges. Most of all, the Freemasons most likely to be attracted to the federation saw the Illuminati as an ally against the mystics and Martinists, but valued their own freedom too highly to be caught in another restrictive organisation. Even Ditfurth, the supposed representative of the Illuminati at Wilhelmsbad, had pursued his own agenda at the convent.In reality, the creation of the Eclectic Alliance had undermined all of the subtle plans of the Illuminati to spread their own doctrine through Freemasonry.Johann Kaspar Lavater, the Swiss poet and theologian, rebuffed Knigge. He did not believe the order's humanitarian and rationalist aims were achievable by secret means. He further believed that a society's drive for members would ultimately submerge its founding ideals.The final straw that broke the camels back internally was the fight between the two leaders, Weishaupt and Knigge:Weishaupt now claimed to other Illuminati that the Priest ritual was flawed because Knigge had invented it. Offended, Knigge now threatened to tell the world how much of the Illuminati ritual he had made up.So what have we learned from reading its true history and internal conflict? We've learned that this group was nothing more than a boys' club and by the end the two biggest leaders in the movement were bickering like school-children, threatening each other to reveal the fakeness of it all. This was all found in Pro's own source too. (1)This is the ever-expanding, all powerful organization that rules the world? No. Not only was it banned and broken up by the ruling powers at the time, but it was already splintered from the inside out, with none of the key members ever picking it back up once it was finally done for due to their own distaste for one another. So why is the Illuminati still relevent today?This is mostly due to the popular literature surrounding the organization that has been published since its demise. The source of this literature can be traced back to 1797 and 1798, with Augustin Barruel's Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism and John Robison's Proofs of a Conspiracy. These books hypothesized that the Illuminati was behind the French Revolution (key word - hypothesized), and many reprints and paraphrases spawned from these books. Then, during the 1820's-1830's there was a rise in the anti-masonic movement, which propulsed the usage of the term Illuminati into popular culture once more. As for the modern-day groups theorized to be associated with the Illuminati, there has been no evidence that these present-day groups have amassed significant political power or influence, and rather than trying to remain secret, they promote unsubstantiated links to the Bavarian Illuminati as a means of attracting membership, which defeats the whole purpose of a 'secret society'. [1]As it stands, there is no conclusive evidence that supports the claim that the Bavarian Illuminati still exists in some capacity. While many sister-organizations and copy cats have popped up throughout time, the original illuminati, with their original tenets, are no more. II. Juggle is part of the IlluminatiPro stretches ALOT trying to connect Juggle to Google, the two O's in Google to somehow mean eyes, the eyes being connected to egyptian culture, and then finally that because the eye in egyptian culture had red and blue in it - juggle is illuminati, cause new members start with purple circles which is a combo of red and blue, and again somehow representative of an eye. While this is incredibly imaginative, we should attempt to approach this from a rational standpoint, rather than trying to connect invisible dots with no conclusive evidence. According to Juggle.com itself:Ryan Noble and Stephanie Leffler founded Juggle.com in the spring of 2008 as a reference resource website that provided structured, comparable information on a plethora of topics. With Ryan and Stephanie at the helm, what started as a six-employee company quickly grew as opportunities were recognized. [2]So we now have to ask, is either Ryan or Stephanie members of the Illuminati? My findings indicate they aren't. Ryan attended Washington and Lee University which has no masonic/illuminati organizations nor is his name in any lodge books for the surrounding area. So there is no conclusive evidence linking him to the illuminati. [3]Stephanie attended the same univeristy as Ryan, and there is no conclusive evidence linking her to the illuminati. [4]Perhaps if they were Yale graduates with Ryan being a member of Skull and Bones, then and only then would Pro start to have a case, but that isn't reality. Neither of them have any illuminati ties, thus the founders of the site are not illuminati. So, if the site founders aren't illuminati, can the site be?No. Unless the site is bought out by some other organization and run by people with ties to secret organizations, Juggle.com is not, nor will be a site run by the illuminati. Pro has yet to even prove that the Illuminati still exist, much less rationally argue that they control this site. Sun Tzu quotePro points out a quote on the home page of Juggle and ties it to the sun, which was another symbol for the eye in egyptian culture. In reality, it is a quote from Sun Tzu, the chinese general and philosopher. In no way does having a quote from this guy imply that they are the illuminati. Anyone can share quotes, it doesn't mean they are part of a secret society if they do so. Pro would need to prove otherwise, and connecting invisible dots with hypothesis is not, by any means, upholding that burden. AirmaxPro asserts that because this member has a pic of an axoloti, a creature with lidless eyes, that he's part of the illuminati. However, those animals do actually develop eyelids [5], so we can toss this theory out. There's another part about his name spelt backwards but again, this is just a case of Pro connecting invisible dots with mere hypothesis. None of this conclusively proves that Airmax is part of the Illuminati. ImabenchPro asserts that this username is actually an illuminati password. In reality, bench is his last name. [6] So he, quite literally, is a bench, hence the username. He then connects his profile pic of an ice queen to some imply that ice means eyes, another throwback to egyptian culture, and another mere hypothesis from Pro. In reality, bench is a huge fan of frozen, hence the choice of picture. lannan13Pro asserts that his profie pic of Ayn Rand is proof of him being part of the illuminati. Pro fails to remember that the Illuminati specifically banned Jews from joining, so if he was a member he'd never have a Jew as a profile picture. YYWPro asserts that this username is code for Jehovah, but the illuminati was against religion. So, fail. YYW means Yeah, yeah, whatever. Bsh1This connection is the most absurd. Bsh1 is a guy, not a girl. The username is his initials. Blade of TruthMy pic is masonic, not part of the illuminati. I am a freemason. We disliked the illuminati back then, and dislike the fact that the name is even relevent today. But no, I'm not part of the Illuminati. Sources[1] https://en.wikipedia.org...[2] http://www.juggle.com...[3] https://www.linkedin.com...[4] https://www.linkedin.com...[5] http://www.axolotl.org...[6] https://www.facebook.com...