Totally Sinister

Recently I was escorted to a private, undisclosed, private location deep in the mountains for an extremely exclusive invitation-only conference. There I spent the night amongst peers as we conferred with each other about various things. We were trained how to obtain our goals. We brainstormed what entices people to join us and what causes them to stick around. We mapped out agendas and ran scenarios. We learned both subtle and overt tricks to bend others to our wills without them realizing as well a mitigating problems that may arise. We attended lectures, and had time alone to contemplate. We partitioned the potential victims amongst ourselves to maximize our success rates. We even performed several rites and rituals.

This wasn't a Satanic cult meeting. Nor was it for the Illuminati. It wasn't a secret GOP nor Democrat conference. I haven't become a secret agent, nor am I an eldritch wizard.

This was simply Bible Study Leadership training.

Turns out you can make pretty much anything sound super evil and sinister. After all, most private training events pretty much cover everything I just listed. You go to learn to maximize your goals, plans are laid out, you may have lectures, certain rites may be performed, and you in general learn the tricks of your trade. Groups of individuals typically have a goal in mind and they plan to reach that goal in the most efficient way possible.

That doesn't mean there is an evil conspiracy lurking trying to take over the world.

Similarly, I am not sure why several people seem to think all corporations are evil or that the government is out to ruin the average person. That would kinda be bad for business/re-election.