You know, that has always struck me as a strange choice. I mean, why not a disembodied voice? A face? A possessed animal? WTH is with a burning bush?
So maybe it was not a burning bush but rather something someone alive all the way back then might only be able to describe as a burning bush. Now this is all just for fun, mind you. Maybe an entity of pure energy would look like a sort of a burning bush? Or maybe a staticky holographic projection from an orbiting spaceship. “Hey Humans! Stop killing each other! Here are some basic rules! Now cut it out!”
Again, I am not a ancient alien guy, just fun to think about.
My evangelical mother told me when I called her on Mother’s Day that Dr. Fauci already has a Covid-19 vaccine, but he’s sitting on it for now to maximize profits.
Oh please! Clearly this is a lab developed virus intentionally loosed on the public as a start of the depopulation / one world take over. They had the vaccine before they released the virus. The vaccine will make us more susceptible to the next thing that will cement the takeover! The elite will get the real vaccine of course. Or so I am told…
I don’t want to be nasty, but it seems that this guy’s article is constantly hovering on the edges of self-awareness:
Just look at these quotes:
Mystery cults were very common in Ancient Rome, and they attracted followers by promising to reveal the “mysteries of the universe” to those who joined. This was a very seductive hook
And, this is also why challenging someone’s belief in a conspiracy theory is often interpreted by that person as a personal attack. No one wants to admit they’ve been fooled. And once you sacrificed your reputation and social capital for the sake of a conspiracy, it becomes harder for your ego to disengage from the illusion.
It’s an insidious bit of circular logic that not only creates a criticism-proof belief system … And, by the time someone realizes they’re in too deep, it’s often too late to salvage a reality-based worldview
Our ability to discern patterns helps us construct internal narratives that give our lives meaning and make sense of the world around us. Conspiracy theories hijack that ability by linking loosely-connected events into a semi-coherent narrative
Instead of accepting reality, we construct elaborate fantasy worlds to process our cultural and existential anxieties
… is somewhat comforting because at least it implies someone is in control of all this madness
Every conspiracy theory is a gateway drug to an even more ludicrous and far-reaching conspiracy theory . Once you believe the government is powerful enough to stage a fake mass shooting with “crisis actors,” it doesn’t take much of a leap to convince yourself they can also manufacture a virus scare to crash the U.S. economy (or vice versa).
Yeah, there is definitely a weird dynamic in there that makes me want to interject “Aaaaaand that’s why I’m agnostic and skeptical of any organized religion!”
I think there can be a value to faith for some people. And he seems to be pointing out all the inherently contradictions and flaws within that system … as a way of re-affirming his faith? Which is strange, but hey, if it works for you, at least it’s better than the other crazies…
Well, would you think this would be a more effective narrative if he came out and said the religous people are nuts? Who do you think he is trying to reach here?
But more generally, conspiracy theories are part of the same mindset as religion - it’s about creating an ordered universe, where there are intelligent forces in control of what might otherwise be arbitrary randomness.
Even evil conspiracies are comforting (compared to the reality of incompetence, systems of oppression, accidents and other random events) because there’s still someone in control, who theoretically can be opposed (George Soros is a lot easier to defeat than the whole of neo-liberal capitalism), and just being able to identify your problem, even wrongly, can be hugely reassuring. You aren’t battered by forces beyond any one person’s control - you have an enemy.
Well, do tell Donald. He keeps saying ‘some people say’ things but never says who. Maybe it’s the person insisting on telling you every day. What else are they saying? (Very rhetorical question!!)
“…whose addiction to heroin became an addiction to Christianity and now has now turned into an addiction for conspiracy theories.“
This is the thing that so often is frustratingly missing when the psychology around religion comes up. It’s not that Christianity or religion are making people think these ways. Religions have tailor-made their message over a couple thousand years explicitly to EXPLOIT PRE-EXISTING NEEDS /WEAKNESSES in human psychology. So whether it’s religion or drugs or conspiracy theories, those are just the symptoms, not the disease. So supposedly correlating conspiracy theories with religion because religion taught them to think a certain way is overstating religion’s influence (Which is Not surprising coming From the religious person). One didnt CAUSE the other. The are both outgrowths of a human brain that can’t deal with a world of complexity and uncertainty. . (Ooh…that got harsh, but I stand by it.)
See the excellent book The God Part of the Brain for a great science-y take on how man‘s psychological
needs are so clearly the center/source of all religions, and why that trait was necessary and rewarded in man’s early development building communities, but now in modern society is not as foundationally important, so those who still cling to it are increasingly of the radically anti-reason variety.
While true, as early as the 4th century, there were at least two Christian states (Armenia and Ethiopia), which were soon followed by the Roman empire before the split, and then a slow and steady conversion across Europe. Christianity as part of a state power… as the state power… existed far longer than the experience of Christian persecution. Generally (as a historian, at least), I’m far more inclined to seek the more immediate historical explanation. I think it’s the “third great awakening” wave of evangelicalism, that came with mass media (maybe going back to Sister Amy Semple?) clashing with the growth of, maybe not atheism, although there are certainly more atheists, but more… agnosticism?.. in western civilization (a dodgy concept, but it’s less about what’s real and more about their perceptions). I think there are some evangelical preachers who began reaching into that biblical narrative of persecution and promoting it in their sermons (like you heard growing up, as many probably did). It ended up dove-tailing nicely with the rise of religious groups like the moral majority in the 70s who decided to get involved with politics more pro-actively.
I’m not sure if that makes sense, but given the diversity in Christian experience, not all embrace the persecution complex, others do.
Unquestioning, unthinking faith. And I don’t think it’s limited to Christianity. Seems to me that the same applies to all religions or belief systems. At my most cynical, I think it’s about lack of personal responsibility - if you believe in whatever deity, then whether things turn out good or bad, it was never your responsibility or fault. I’ve sometimes thought it would be great to have religious belief, but my journalist’s brain demands proof or evidence of some kind. Anything at all.
The church was the state for centuries in Europe… at least it was far more entwined with state structures than is the case now. The papal states were more the norm until the reformation began to change the dynamic. Separation of Church and state in Europe is a relatively recent invention.
I don’t think that’s the case in all churches, every where.
Plenty of non-religious people believe in conspiracy theories… I don’t think they have a lock on such thinking.
Right?
I’m imagining you on that call…
Maybe without the habit, tho… I’m sure that’s not what you wanted to discuss with her. Sorry.
Yes, I think that’s true, to an extent…
Are you saying that they are one and the same? Needs and weaknesses? I’m not sure that’s fair or accurate at all. I don’t think it’s as neat as non-religious people have managed to rise about need or weakness.
It is more or less true of any church that asks you to believe in an invisible sky wizard. I’ll grant you that some are better then others, but if you believe in god you believe in an assertion with out evidence. This does not make it wrong but it does make it faith.
True, I am not saying they have a lock, just practice makes perfect. It is, really, a religious belief, just not centered around a deity. All though thinking about it there are sort of gods in the all powerful shadowy evil organizations.
Hmm good point. I will need to know just what these hallucinogens these are, where they can be obtained and dosage info. Er, just for my records, mind you.
Absolutely. Historical accuracy is absolutely irrelevant to modern evangelicals and their spurious claims of lineage; the narrative will be bent to serve their sense that outside forces are and always have been persecuting them.
