What really gets me is when people with those beliefs are intolerant of (or actively involved in persecuting) others.
4 Likes
Yeah, other kinds as well. Just that McCarthyism sprang to mind as an example.
That is a fair point. Just wanted to make sure that it was clear that I was not trying to say all religous people are nuts.
Well yes and no. Yes in that the context would be taken differently 500 years ago, or even 50 but the issue is the same. Jews were chased all over Europe for hundreds of years for essentially a conspiracy theory, right? I will agree that the scope of the problem is modern but the issue itself is not.
2 Likes
If I know anything about the history of the ancient near east, which I don’t, I’d bet you that somewhere in the British Museum’s gigantic catalog there’s a babylonian cuneiform tablet which tells an earlier story which includes a prophetic burning bush. They already have an earlier version of the flood story after all.
Plus there’s a very long history of prophetic fires. Maybe he didn’t hear what was to happen so much as see it in the flames.
2 Likes
Look, I’m not saying it’s aliens… but it’s aliens.
3 Likes
It was a burning bush where pot grows naturally, located on an active volcano with lots of various fumes and gasses emanating from the ground. I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a place that’s 110 degrees with very little oxygen, but the results are predictable.
5 Likes
Wasn’t the Oracle at Delphi built over a volcanic vent or something, therefore giving “visions” to the unknowingly poisoned oracles?
9 Likes
That’s what I seem to remember from various documentaries and elementary school social studies.
4 Likes
Oh ye of too much faith!
Fred Savage at Slacktivist has done a nice series of critiques on the books from a progressive evangelical point of view. Those are worth reading!
I’m too lazy to Google it to check, I’m just going with “Seems legit”. 
2 Likes
Well, another big part being that conspiracies are much simpler explanations than the reality, too. It doesn’t just created an ordered universe, but it has explanatory power and explains things in a way that’s easy to understand, too. Even if the explanation is convoluted, often it doesn’t require any prior knowledge and certainly not any expertise to grasp it.
But I do think that conspiracy theories frequently arising out of situations where there was massive amounts of incompetence by authorities isn’t a coincidence. The thought that our society is run by people who don’t know what they’re doing, and who weren’t elevated to their current positions because we live in a meritocracy (or were put in place by God), or who are individually helpless in the face of larger systems, is so terrifying that it’s preferable to believe that malign forces control the world.
9 Likes
And that without god there will be no justice. I think this is a major part of it and it occupies a central part of evangelicals’ narrative. If you believe there is no god to punish the Hilary Clintons and George Soroses of the world, and that your suffering will not be eased and your soul elevated to an eternal place by god’s side, there is nothing left but utter despair. And that’s just not fair!
6 Likes
A. Because if you believe in an old guy in the sky, hell, and heaven, you’ll believe anything.
2 Likes
Possibly. I think there’s also a deep-seated need for the world to make sense. It’s hard to believe that life is just a chemical process, that death is the end of that process, that nothing happens on purpose. Much better for life to have meaning, for death not to be the end, for your random and uncontrolled life to have meaning. (I’m speaking for myself in here, too. Spiritual beliefs are useful heuristics for my emotional well-being.)
However, that mindset does make it easier to believe in conspiracy theories. It would be awful to believe that a person could just walk into a place and kill a bunch of innocent people. How can you cope with the senseless, pointless horror of that? Easier to look for the bad actors, the false flags, the evil government that is the actual source of your personal problems. It would be awful to believe that you helped elect a criminal / traitor / narcissist / rapist / etc. to the highest office in the land. What does that say about you? Easier to believe he’s good and has a plan and the “real enemies” are against him.
4 Likes
Religion, conspiracy theories, gambling, flow states, they all tickle the same reward centers in the brain. They can even put a special helmet on an atheist and make them feel spiritual.
As for why Christians, I once read an article claiming conspiracy theories tap into our tribal instincts “us” vs. “not us”. Being raised First Baptist, I could see how Xians could be more linked with tribalism than followers of the more monolithic religions.
3 Likes
You beat me to it.
That’s interesting that you lump flow states in with this mix. Can totally see how, just never thought of it before. When you’re performing at your peak you’re all the more part of a grand plan and were “made for this”. Could get addictive. Let me know I’m way off base
But, on a more mundane level, posting and endorsing conspiracy theories makes Christians look like idiots .
Nah, it exposes them as idiots. If you’re believing a 150 year old lie about biblical fundamentalism, when literally no one else in the world does besides your dipshit ass, you’re a fucking moron. And we should all get to laugh at you, especially when we fought wars so your stupid ass could still vote.
1 Like
There is an unfalsifiable agency that is with me.
ergo:
There is an unfalsifiable agency that is against me.
5 Likes
I just finished The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels. Terrific book. Gnosticism was a heresy, in many ways, because the idea that self reflection could drive inner enlightenment. They often believed the orthodox church was all fine and good, but that they had made further advances towards and were closer to God / the universe. Of course, the orthodox leadership of bishops and priests wouldn’t have liked that very much.
For me, it is not so difficult to understand that so many Christians believe conspiracy theories - it is more a matter of which of many factors is driving force. And I think this is different from person to person.
But it is mind boggling
1 Like
