It was like taking a straight road that would often make an inexplicable sharp turn then go right back. It would leave you going “What the hell was that all about?”
The problem came in separating the organization from the members. The wackiness made the rest hard to take seriously for most people and caused them to to dismiss the whole. Hence why the Birch society has never really taken off.
The reason the JBS is looked down upon by so many is not so much for wacky ideas or conspiracies. That conspiracies exist is beyond question, to anybody who has done any reading of history. Whether those mentioned in a previous post “...run the world...” is open to debate, though it is undeniable that those folks are movers and shakers of world and US politics. Much and many of their actions are not debatable, since at times they are quite open about their plans, and anybody who can read or see can plainly observe. For example, does anybody have any doubt about the so-called North American Union? Does anybody think that is an accident, or that we are naturally evolving toward the “new world order”?
As to your feelings some ideas seem wacky, I would say, I’ve had that feeling before, and usually would ignore whatever is presented, though keep it in mind for further info. Sometimes I find something was important, and a particular author was prophetic, and sometimes not. I must say, the level of scholarship was not lacking, and sometimes, it was my poor understanding, rather than an idea presented. I’m not slapping you down, or making any insinuations. That’s just my take on things.
Now to address why the JBS has such a bad reputation, and is looked upon as wackos by some here on this thread, I think I can shine a little light.
In the early 50’s, our government was infiltrated by communists. Many had been there since FDR or before. That too is beyond debate, and has become even more clear since some of the archives have been opened in the former USSR, and confirmed many accusations from many quarters. The JBS was founded to fight communism.
Early in that decade, Senator Joe McCarthy was doing his thing, and the House on un-Amercan activities were working to expel communist influence from our government. Most folks know what happened to McCarthy(or then again, maybe not). The communist influence was brought to bear against McCarthy and any of like mind. The news sources and many unions were already organized to exert pressure to destroy any anti-communist movements by slander and misleading information, much the way liberals do now with anybody they see as a threat. A good example is R Reagan working in the Screen Actors Guild, to eliminate communist influence. One can call it the anti-anti-communist movement, or, as math teacher knows, 2 negatives equal a positive, the pro communists.
After McCarthy was eliminated, there was just the JBS, organized as the only effective anti-communist organization still left. The mainstream press has been slamming the JBS ever since. Not, mind you, with facts or truth or disputation, but ridicule, much like is being directed toward Ron Paul by some on this thread. You will rarely read anything to dispute JBS claims in any reasonable disputation, but you will see lots of name calling and innuendo about the organization and the “nuts” who are members. I guess the most straightforward way to say it is, if you are positively opposed to the JBS, you are taking your lead from the communist influence of the mainstream press. That is not to say you must believe anything and everything put out by folks in the JBS, but to reject some information because it originates from that organization, is falling into the trap set by the left.-Glenn