What would a Secret Society show you to keep your mouth closed?

This is a very fascinating thread to me, so I just have to ask a question of those who say that they don't believe in secrecy or don't believe that people can keep secrets:

Is there not a single cause you would remain silent to protect?
Is there nothing you wouldn't sell out? I just don't believe that I could have found even a small group of people who would always tell all they know.

Imagine that a gun weilding maniac walked up to you right now and said, "I'll let you go, but you must tell me where you child goes to school so that I can go and gun him/her down." Would you just tell the person? Would you lie? Would you refuse to answer?

Expand just a little on this question and imagine that you are a part of any group whose members might be jeopardized, or whose goals might not be reached unless you remain silent. It isn't only by threat that people remain silent. I strongly believe that members of a group might just be serious about protecting the interests of the group, and might then adopt the philosophy that "discretion is the better part of valor."

The need to put a 'lease to your soul' so you won't talk is the reason why getting into this things is a stepped path.
Just imagine, for instance:

First step:
"Welcome! We want to know you. We are the kindest people you'll ever meet. Feel free to be yourself. See all the (good) things we have for you. Open your heart. We want to know your fears and desires. Be confident of us."

Second step:
"We already know what you really want. We can give it to you. Here, taste it. Feel how good it is. The rest of the people don't know you the way we do. They are different from us. (You are one of us now)"

Third step:
"Now that you depend on us to give you what you want, there's a little price you have to pay. Oh! Don’t say you forgot to read the small print... You thought this was just for free? Come on, sit down and enjoy. Don't leave. You can leave, of course, but remember: we know you more than anyone."
"Life has these contradictions, you know. The one that makes you feel good knows also what makes you feel bad. The one that heals your wounds is the one that knows what wounds make you sicker. The one that better protects you is the one that knows your vulnerabilities. God and evil is just the same thing for us. We feel free to choose."
"You have now learned to master the art of deceptioning people. But we are people you won't want to deceive. Go and deceive someone else. The confidence of the people that surrounds you is a well paid capital in the right market. We'll keep the secret. They'll never know, nor imagine."

Let's face it. There is no real secret society known. An absolutely secret society would be doom to vanish when the last member dies. They won't have a way to bring new people inside. So their goals, whichever they were, won't have much impact over mankind. And if they do change something, then the secret is lost. They would be unmasked because of the consequences that their very presence has produced.

The secret societies that we are talking here have the problem that although being secret, they need to get new people inside so they can go on over generations keeping their power over certain level.
Why need to have this power? Well, to assure the secrecy in first place.
And the more wide they get, the more power they would need to face growing chances of a leak in they secrecy.
Eventually this growing power would become visible and/or against mankind.
If they have high principles, then there would get a point where they become the same sort of things that they had been trying to confront.
If the goals were not so good at all, well, they become into something worse.
It's not their goals that define a secret society, but the secret itself.

A secret society which pretends to have some impact (social, economic, political, whatever) is a contradiction.
That's not a secret society. That's a hidden society that lurks in shadows trying to avoid the consequences of whatever it does.
This can also be true by using a facade of declared faked goals, while hiding the real ones.
Whichever cover they use, the generated changes will inevitably give them away.

Eventually someone will come across some clues, do some analysis, fill in the blanks, pay attention to signs and will understand what's going on. Just like a doctor tells what the problem is by only seen the symptoms.

If the oaths of confidence are the very core of the group, this man won't be tied to any. Problems have arised.
Someone can try to 'contain' the situation, of course, but at the cost of showing more signs and clues.
And, more important, will be showing other members that oaths aren't really important. He's just crossed the line into an absolutism and has despised the oaths of the other members at the same time.
Now every member will have the right to feel free. The oaths are not important any more, and the society goals have turned into something against mankind.
Trying to keep the secret will be like trying to block the sun with your thumb while sunshine is getting brighter.

The secrecy itself generates the need to split mankind into insiders and outsiders, and sets the course and fate of the group. Claim that the goals of any secret society are in search of mankind welfare is just a blatant contradiction.

How many years had some societies been looking for the truth? And they have never got to this? Please! Somebody tell them their methods need to be fixed. The king IS naked, can't you see?

I can understand that one eyed person is king of blinds. But we can't accept this "poking in the eye" campaign without mind the intentions of avoid any progress.
We, mankind, can do much better than this. Let's finish this pandemic ‘blue fever' that is choking societies with secrets, distrusts and despair. Souls can get as sick as bodies, but they can heal as well. Let's evolve. Something better is not so far.


Some laundry is better done at home. But you'd better have no time to rest, since the stink is getting unbearable.

Here is a piece of advice:
Stop deceiving new generations. Now that the diagnosis has been made, mankind (just like a living organism) will trigger her defense mechanisms. New people will have very high resistance to this fever. You simply won't like to confront them. They are the future.



Go and tell.
It's time to talk.

Peace.