Changes

It never had a major impact on politics. It is still in operation, with a base in Appleton, Wisconsin. However it main role in recent decades is a target of attack by liberals who use it to ridicule and smear conservatives in general.

It never had a major impact on politics. It is still in operation, with a base in Appleton, Wisconsin. However it main role in recent decades is a target of attack by liberals who use it to ridicule and smear conservatives in general.

==Origins==

==Conspiracies==

The organization was founded by [[Robert Welch]] in 1958 to fight Communist infiltration of the United States.<ref>Welch said he named the Society after [[John Birch]], the first American to die in the [[Cold War]]. </ref> He designed the Society like the Communist movement, with a strong leader at the top (himself), with each lower level following the orders they were given.  In practice the local chapters were little more than discussion clubs and rarely engaged in much activism. Society literature denounced collectivist infiltration from Communists, the [[United Nations]], and various front groups.  Welch himself decided that the root cause of most of the troubles was a two-century-long conspiracy of the "Illuminati," a group supposedly founded in Bavaria in 1776. He declared it was responsible for the French and Russian Revolutions and the two world wars, as well as evils of Lincoln's income taxes, Wilson's Federal Reserve, and Roosevelt's New Deal. Most insidious of all was the United Nations.  It also controlled the Communist party and the Trilateral Commission. The only member of the Illuminati he could identify by name was [[Nelson Rockefeller]].  Reagan was suspect beacuse he picked for vice president the choice of the Illuminati, [[George H.W. Bush]]. Welch argued that the Illuminati was subversive of good government, destructive of religion, and used professional agitators and massive terror to destroy the good people, while manufacturing smears to destroy the brave souls who tried to expose it.<ref>There's more; see Stewart (2002). </ref>  

The organization was founded by [[Robert Welch]] in 1958 to fight subversive infiltration of the United States.<ref>Welch said he named the Society after [[John Birch]], the first American to die in the [[Cold War]]. </ref> He designed the Society like the Communist movement, with a strong leader at the top (himself), with each lower level following the orders they were given.  In practice the local chapters were little more than discussion clubs and rarely engaged in much activism. Society literature denounced collectivist infiltration from Communists, the [[United Nations]], and various front groups.  Welch himself decided that the root cause of most of the troubles was a two-century-long conspiracy of the "Illuminati," a group supposedly founded in Bavaria in 1776. He declared it was responsible for the French and Russian Revolutions and the two world wars, as well as evils of Lincoln's income taxes, Wilson's Federal Reserve, and Roosevelt's New Deal. Most insidious of all was the United Nations.  It also controlled the Communist party and the Trilateral Commission. The only member of the Illuminati he could identify by name was [[Nelson Rockefeller]].  Reagan was suspect beacuse he picked for vice president the choice of the Illuminati, [[George H.W. Bush]]. Welch argued that the Illuminati was subversive of good government, destructive of religion, and used professional agitators and massive terror to destroy the good people, while manufacturing smears to destroy the brave souls who tried to expose it.<ref>There's more; see Stewart (2002). </ref>

==Rejected by most conservatives==

==Rejected by most conservatives==