Survey Poll: Will you take the Covid 19 Vaccine

Scribe · Aug 24, 2020

J-T said:

My rebuttal to all of your posts: Using this excellent Article by Joe Forrest: PART 1

Why Your Christian Friends and Family Members Are So Easily Fooled by Conspiracy Theories

May 7, 2020 PUBLISHED BY JOE FORREST

In sixth grade, I participated I n a debate in which I attempted to convince my fellow classmates that we never landed on the moon.

It was the first time I used the Internet to research, and my partner and I found a treasure trove of information. We couldn’t believe it. It was so obvious. The U.S. clearly faked the moon landing in 1969 to trick the Soviet Union that we had superior rocket technology.

On the day of the debate, we exceeded our allotted 30-minute timeslot by more than an hour. After the debate, we held a poll. My partner and I convinced 75% of our classmates that the 1969 moon landing was faked by the government.

I’m sure we made our science teacher proud.

In the words of the Apostle Paul, as I grew older I “did away with childish things.” And that includes my childhood belief that we didn’t land on the moon.

I learned a lot from my sixth-grade debate experience. But I didn’t expect to find the experience of convincing a bunch of sixth graders of a crazy theory so relevant to what we’re experiencing today with full-grown adults.

Especially adults who claim to be followers of Jesus and people of “The Truth.”

During Barack Obama’s presidency, it was fellow Christians claiming online (and sometimes from the pulpit) that Obama was a secret Muslim and the country was headed for mandatory Sharia Law (despite the fact that less than 1% of the U.S. population identifies as Muslim).

After the Sandy Hook school shooting that killed 26 people (most of them children), I was shocked at the number of Christian friends who posted videos claiming the attack was a staged “false flag” operation led by the liberal government.

During the 2016 Presidential Election, my blog’s inbox was flooded with emails from concerned Christians asking me to look into Hillary Clinton’s supposed ties to a pedophile sex ring run out of a Washington D.C. pizzeria. And after DNC staffer Seth Rich was murdered, it was my Christian followers sharing links to conspiracy theories – even after Fox News retracted their original story.

And, with COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Presidential campaign in full swing, the amount of Christians posting and sharing conspiracy theory videos has attained critical mass.

For many of us, it can be demoralizing to watch beloved friends, family members, and mentors fall deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of convoluted government plots and paranoid speculation.

However, rather than attempt to debunk the plethora of conspiracy theories at play (a nigh-impossible task), it’d probably be more helpful to understand why we’re so enamored with them in the first place.

Why We All Love a Good Conspiracy Theory

Okay, so let’s get this out of the way:

Our government sometimes does shady things and gets caught (like bringing Nazi scientists into the U.S. after World War II and lying about the presence of WMDs in Iraq). Pharmaceutical companies price gouge medications. Powerful people silence victims of sexual assault and abuse. Sex trafficking and the sexual exploitation of minors really happens. Foreign governments are attempting to sow discord in the U.S. through social media. Systemic injustices and cultural prejudices hamper some people’s ability to succeed in our society.

These are not the “conspiracy theories” I’m talking about.

I’m also not talking about partisan differences of opinion. Left-leaning people will always watch and read left-leaning news, and right-leaning people will always watch and read right-leaning news. And that’s okay. Our republic is built upon the salient fact that people will (and should) disagree.

And, while most conspiracy theories are driven by partisan agendas, they’re not one and the same. You can have a right- or left-leaning perspective on current events and not be guilty of spreading unfounded conspiracy theories – this is an important distinction to make. (And, it should be noted, while my exposure to conspiracy theories is conditional upon my social environment – conservative and evangelical – liberal democrats have their own pet conspiracy theories).

Plots, scandals, collusions, and cover-ups do occur in business and politics – just rarely on the scale as imagined by conspiracy theorists. For the sake of my argument, by conspiracy theory I mean, the assumption that “a well-organized effort initiated by an elite group of powerful men and women secretly working toward a singular goal or vision that often involves collaboration between government agencies and the media.”

I’m talking about conspiracy theories related to false flag attacks, Deep State, Illuminati, Freemasons, QAnon, Flat Earth, shadow government, or any other belief system that hinges on the assumption that much of our lives are controlled by plots hatched in secret places by a select few individuals.

Based on my research, there are three primary reasons all people are attracted to these types of conspiracy theories. (I’ll address my fellow Christian brothers and sisters in the final section).

#1: Conspiracy Theories Make Us Feel Special.

In a sense, most conspiracy theories aren’t much different than the “mystery cults” the apostle Paul had to contend with at the city of Ephesus. 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 it’s one of the reasons conspiracy theories are more likely to spread among people with lower levels of education. But that doesn’t mean people who are higher educated are immune to their allure. Conspiracy theories are just as likely to spread among people with radical political ideologies.

Scribe · Aug 24, 2020

Scribe said:

My rebuttal to all of your posts: Using this excellent Article by Joe Forrest: PART 1

Why Your Christian Friends and Family Members Are So Easily Fooled by Conspiracy Theories

May 7, 2020 PUBLISHED BY JOE FORREST

In sixth grade, I participated I n a debate in which I attempted to convince my fellow classmates that we never landed on the moon.

It was the first time I used the Internet to research, and my partner and I found a treasure trove of information. We couldn’t believe it. It was so obvious. The U.S. clearly faked the moon landing in 1969 to trick the Soviet Union that we had superior rocket technology.

On the day of the debate, we exceeded our allotted 30-minute timeslot by more than an hour. After the debate, we held a poll. My partner and I convinced 75% of our classmates that the 1969 moon landing was faked by the government.

I’m sure we made our science teacher proud.

In the words of the Apostle Paul, as I grew older I “did away with childish things.” And that includes my childhood belief that we didn’t land on the moon.

I learned a lot from my sixth-grade debate experience. But I didn’t expect to find the experience of convincing a bunch of sixth graders of a crazy theory so relevant to what we’re experiencing today with full-grown adults.

Especially adults who claim to be followers of Jesus and people of “The Truth.”

During Barack Obama’s presidency, it was fellow Christians claiming online (and sometimes from the pulpit) that Obama was a secret Muslim and the country was headed for mandatory Sharia Law (despite the fact that less than 1% of the U.S. population identifies as Muslim).

After the Sandy Hook school shooting that killed 26 people (most of them children), I was shocked at the number of Christian friends who posted videos claiming the attack was a staged “false flag” operation led by the liberal government.

During the 2016 Presidential Election, my blog’s inbox was flooded with emails from concerned Christians asking me to look into Hillary Clinton’s supposed ties to a pedophile sex ring run out of a Washington D.C. pizzeria. And after DNC staffer Seth Rich was murdered, it was my Christian followers sharing links to conspiracy theories – even after Fox News retracted their original story.

And, with COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Presidential campaign in full swing, the amount of Christians posting and sharing conspiracy theory videos has attained critical mass.

For many of us, it can be demoralizing to watch beloved friends, family members, and mentors fall deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of convoluted government plots and paranoid speculation.

However, rather than attempt to debunk the plethora of conspiracy theories at play (a nigh-impossible task), it’d probably be more helpful to understand why we’re so enamored with them in the first place.

Why We All Love a Good Conspiracy Theory

Okay, so let’s get this out of the way:

Our government sometimes does shady things and gets caught (like bringing Nazi scientists into the U.S. after World War II and lying about the presence of WMDs in Iraq). Pharmaceutical companies price gouge medications. Powerful people silence victims of sexual assault and abuse. Sex trafficking and the sexual exploitation of minors really happens. Foreign governments are attempting to sow discord in the U.S. through social media. Systemic injustices and cultural prejudices hamper some people’s ability to succeed in our society.

These are not the “conspiracy theories” I’m talking about.

I’m also not talking about partisan differences of opinion. Left-leaning people will always watch and read left-leaning news, and right-leaning people will always watch and read right-leaning news. And that’s okay. Our republic is built upon the salient fact that people will (and should) disagree.

And, while most conspiracy theories are driven by partisan agendas, they’re not one and the same. You can have a right- or left-leaning perspective on current events and not be guilty of spreading unfounded conspiracy theories – this is an important distinction to make. (And, it should be noted, while my exposure to conspiracy theories is conditional upon my social environment – conservative and evangelical – liberal democrats have their own pet conspiracy theories).

Plots, scandals, collusions, and cover-ups do occur in business and politics – just rarely on the scale as imagined by conspiracy theorists. For the sake of my argument, by conspiracy theory I mean, the assumption that “a well-organized effort initiated by an elite group of powerful men and women secretly working toward a singular goal or vision that often involves collaboration between government agencies and the media.”

I’m talking about conspiracy theories related to false flag attacks, Deep State, Illuminati, Freemasons, QAnon, Flat Earth, shadow government, or any other belief system that hinges on the assumption that much of our lives are controlled by plots hatched in secret places by a select few individuals.

Based on my research, there are three primary reasons all people are attracted to these types of conspiracy theories. (I’ll address my fellow Christian brothers and sisters in the final section).

#1: Conspiracy Theories Make Us Feel Special.

In a sense, most conspiracy theories aren’t much different than the “mystery cults” the apostle Paul had to contend with at the city of Ephesus. 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 it’s one of the reasons conspiracy theories are more likely to spread among people with lower levels of education. But that doesn’t mean people who are higher educated are immune to their allure. Conspiracy theories are just as likely to spread among people with radical political ideologies.

PART 2
In The Death of Expertise, Tom Nichols writes,

“[Conspiracy] theories also appeal to a strong streak of narcissism: there are people who would choose to believe in complicated nonsense rather than accept that their own circumstances are incomprehensible, the result of issues beyond their intellectual capacity to understand, or even their own fault.”

In other words: “The masses have been fooled by the media and/or government, but I’m special and different, and I know the truth!”

While narcissism isn’t a motivator for all conspiracy theorists, it does explain why some people have such a hard time letting go of a conspiracy theory – even when confronted with incontrovertible proof their beliefs are wrong.

Scribe · Aug 24, 2020

Scribe said:

PART 3
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 (like posting something on Facebook), it becomes harder for your ego to disengage from the illusion.

And, perhaps more damaging, conspiracy theories gradually become self-isolating echo chambers. If you ever argued with someone peddling a conspiracy theory, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

(As The Wall Street Journal‘s Blue Feed, Red Feed visual experiment brilliantly illustrates, many of us already inhabit ideological echo chambers on social media. And when the people we follow on Twitter and Facebook all begin peddling the same conspiracy theory, we’ll often adopt the belief to not feel out of the loop – thus contributing to a feedback loop of misinformation and deception).

When people attach their belief in a conspiracy theory to their ego, it can be nearly impossible to convince them that they’re wrong. Every piece of contrarian evidence you present to a friend or family member simply becomes part of the conspiracy and expands the scope of the deception.

That’s what “They” want you to believe. If you just did some research, you’d find The Truth. All your sources are just part of the Cover-Up. You actually believe those “fact-checking” websites? I wish you’d open your eyes and not be such a sheep.

It’s an insidious bit of circular logic that not only creates a criticism-proof belief system, but it also makes a twisted sort of sense.

Conspiracy theories are self-perpetuating rationalization machines. They eat facts, distort reality, and destroy relationships. And, by the time someone realizes they’re in too deep, it’s often too late to salvage a reality-based worldview (or the relationships of the people they isolated in the process).

#2: Conspiracy Theories Help Us Make Sense of a Chaotic and Complicated World.
The term “Black Swan” was popularized by statistician Nassim Taleb and refers to “high-profile, hard-to-predict, and rare events that are beyond the realm of normal expectations in history, science, finance, and technology.”

Historical examples of Black Swan events include the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 1918 Influenza pandemic, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Fukushima nuclear accident, and the fall of the Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Black Swan events are incredibly fertile ground for conspiracy theorists. When the unexpected occurs, there’s always an initial vacuum of precedent and context as we try to make sense of how and why something happened. Black Swans are equalizers; they dumbfound experts and laypersons alike.

And catastrophic events are inherently traumatizing. They interrupt our routine and force us to change the way we view the world.

In an interview with NPR on conspiracy theories, Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said,

“We as human beings do not like unanswered moral questions. We want to know who did it. We want to know how it was done. We’re looking for a pattern. Our intelligence, given to us by God, is a pattern-seeking intelligence.”

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 (usually through the assistance of a well-edited YouTube video).

Of course, Black Swan events aren’t really random. Everything that happens in the universe is a result of a cause-and-effect relationship. Nothing really occurs spontaneously. It’s just that sometimes, the real-world explanation of a catastrophic event isn’t very emotionally satisfying. A big effect needs a big cause, right? Shouldn’t dramatic events require dramatic explanations?

No.

Sometimes all it takes to change the world is a single deranged individual with access to a rifle and a decent perch. Or a religious extremist who exploits an overlooked security flaw in airport security. Or a bat that urinates on the wrong animal in an open-air market in China.

In The Death of Expertise, Tom Nichols writes,

“Conspiracy theories are also a way for people to give context and meaning to events that frighten them. Without a coherent explanation for why terrible things happen to innocent people, they would have to accept such occurrences as nothing more than the random cruelty either of an uncaring universe or an incomprehensible deity.”

We don’t like random. We don’t like chaos. We don’t like ambiguity. And we don’t like living under the realization that we’re at the mercy of forces outside of our control that we don’t understand or can’t comprehend.

Or, in the words of Christian writer D.L. Mayfield,

“People believe conspiracy theories because it is psychologically easier to believe a singular and unlikely narrative rather than engage in a hard and complicated reality where your own long-term participation is needed.”

Instead of accepting reality, we construct elaborate fantasy worlds to process our cultural and existential anxieties. The President was killed by the mafia and CIA. The terrorist attack was allowed to happen to help justify a war in the Middle East. The school shooting was faked by the government so they can take our guns away. The virus is a ploy by the Deep State to take away our rights.

In a weird way, the idea of a secret cabal of powerful men and women pulling the strings on international events (like assassinations, pandemics, terrorist attacks, world wars, etc.) is somewhat comforting because at least it implies someone is in control of all this madness.

So, when someone posts conspiracy theory video on social media with the message, “Don’t give in to fear! Stay informed!“, they’re most likely writing to themselves. You’re watching someone publicly process their anxieties and insecurities in real-time by latching onto an explanation that places themselves “in the know” of a secret plot they want other people to know they also know about.

This is doubly ironic because their conspiracy theory’s far-reaching implications are often far more frightening than the event the conspiracy theory is attempting to explain.

And this doesn’t even begin to tackle the absolutely lazy nature of most conspiracy theories and videos that go viral on the Internet. In most cases, all you need to do to gain traction on social media is post dubious information, say “The mainstream media won’t report this!” and completely ignore any sort of follow-up to confirm if the information turned out to be true or not.

Note: Nassim Taleb considers the COVID-19 pandemic a “White Swan” – an event that would eventually take place with great certainty given the innumerable warnings of a global pandemic by public health experts and epidemiologists for years. In a twist that should surprise no one, conspiracy theorists have actually rolled those warnings and preparation plans into proof that a conspiracy exists. Like I said, maddening.

Scribe · Aug 24, 2020

Scribe said:

PART 3
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 (like posting something on Facebook), it becomes harder for your ego to disengage from the illusion.

And, perhaps more damaging, conspiracy theories gradually become self-isolating echo chambers. If you ever argued with someone peddling a conspiracy theory, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

(As The Wall Street Journal‘s Blue Feed, Red Feed visual experiment brilliantly illustrates, many of us already inhabit ideological echo chambers on social media. And when the people we follow on Twitter and Facebook all begin peddling the same conspiracy theory, we’ll often adopt the belief to not feel out of the loop – thus contributing to a feedback loop of misinformation and deception).

When people attach their belief in a conspiracy theory to their ego, it can be nearly impossible to convince them that they’re wrong. Every piece of contrarian evidence you present to a friend or family member simply becomes part of the conspiracy and expands the scope of the deception.

That’s what “They” want you to believe. If you just did some research, you’d find The Truth. All your sources are just part of the Cover-Up. You actually believe those “fact-checking” websites? I wish you’d open your eyes and not be such a sheep.

It’s an insidious bit of circular logic that not only creates a criticism-proof belief system, but it also makes a twisted sort of sense.

Conspiracy theories are self-perpetuating rationalization machines. They eat facts, distort reality, and destroy relationships. And, by the time someone realizes they’re in too deep, it’s often too late to salvage a reality-based worldview (or the relationships of the people they isolated in the process).

#2: Conspiracy Theories Help Us Make Sense of a Chaotic and Complicated World.
The term “Black Swan” was popularized by statistician Nassim Taleb and refers to “high-profile, hard-to-predict, and rare events that are beyond the realm of normal expectations in history, science, finance, and technology.”

Historical examples of Black Swan events include the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 1918 Influenza pandemic, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Fukushima nuclear accident, and the fall of the Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Black Swan events are incredibly fertile ground for conspiracy theorists. When the unexpected occurs, there’s always an initial vacuum of precedent and context as we try to make sense of how and why something happened. Black Swans are equalizers; they dumbfound experts and laypersons alike.

And catastrophic events are inherently traumatizing. They interrupt our routine and force us to change the way we view the world.

In an interview with NPR on conspiracy theories, Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said,

“We as human beings do not like unanswered moral questions. We want to know who did it. We want to know how it was done. We’re looking for a pattern. Our intelligence, given to us by God, is a pattern-seeking intelligence.”

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 (usually through the assistance of a well-edited YouTube video).

Of course, Black Swan events aren’t really random. Everything that happens in the universe is a result of a cause-and-effect relationship. Nothing really occurs spontaneously. It’s just that sometimes, the real-world explanation of a catastrophic event isn’t very emotionally satisfying. A big effect needs a big cause, right? Shouldn’t dramatic events require dramatic explanations?

No.

Sometimes all it takes to change the world is a single deranged individual with access to a rifle and a decent perch. Or a religious extremist who exploits an overlooked security flaw in airport security. Or a bat that urinates on the wrong animal in an open-air market in China.

In The Death of Expertise, Tom Nichols writes,

“Conspiracy theories are also a way for people to give context and meaning to events that frighten them. Without a coherent explanation for why terrible things happen to innocent people, they would have to accept such occurrences as nothing more than the random cruelty either of an uncaring universe or an incomprehensible deity.”

We don’t like random. We don’t like chaos. We don’t like ambiguity. And we don’t like living under the realization that we’re at the mercy of forces outside of our control that we don’t understand or can’t comprehend.

Or, in the words of Christian writer D.L. Mayfield,

“People believe conspiracy theories because it is psychologically easier to believe a singular and unlikely narrative rather than engage in a hard and complicated reality where your own long-term participation is needed.”

Instead of accepting reality, we construct elaborate fantasy worlds to process our cultural and existential anxieties. The President was killed by the mafia and CIA. The terrorist attack was allowed to happen to help justify a war in the Middle East. The school shooting was faked by the government so they can take our guns away. The virus is a ploy by the Deep State to take away our rights.

In a weird way, the idea of a secret cabal of powerful men and women pulling the strings on international events (like assassinations, pandemics, terrorist attacks, world wars, etc.) is somewhat comforting because at least it implies someone is in control of all this madness.

Scribe · Aug 24, 2020

PART 4
So, when someone posts conspiracy theory video on social media with the message, “Don’t give in to fear! Stay informed!“, they’re most likely writing to themselves. You’re watching someone publicly process their anxieties and insecurities in real-time by latching onto an explanation that places themselves “in the know” of a secret plot they want other people to know they also know about.

This is doubly ironic because their conspiracy theory’s far-reaching implications are often far more frightening than the event the conspiracy theory is attempting to explain.

And this doesn’t even begin to tackle the absolutely lazy nature of most conspiracy theories and videos that go viral on the Internet. In most cases, all you need to do to gain traction on social media is post dubious information, say “The mainstream media won’t report this!” and completely ignore any sort of follow-up to confirm if the information turned out to be true or not.

Note: Nassim Taleb considers the COVID-19 pandemic a “White Swan” – an event that would eventually take place with great certainty given the innumerable warnings of a global pandemic by public health experts and epidemiologists for years. In a twist that should surprise no one, conspiracy theorists have actually rolled those warnings and preparation plans into proof that a conspiracy exists. Like I said, maddening.

#3: Conspiracy Theories Make Our Reality Seem More Exciting.

Everyone loves a good conspiracy thriller. The idea of a lone “agent of truth” against a diabolic enemy makes for great entertainment. But real-life conspiracies are rarely that exciting.

For example, Watergate. Probably the most well-known conspiracy in American history (the word “Watergate” is basically synonymous with “political scandal”), the Watergate scandal led to the resignation of a sitting U.S. President.

But, compared to the pyrotechnic-filled exploits of James Bond or Jason Bourne, the Watergate scandal is a downright snoozefest. I mean right now, without Googling, would you be able to tell me what the Watergate Hotel scandal was actually about?

The U.S. Government isn’t exactly known to be a well-oiled and efficient machine. And, yet, so many conspiracy theories hinge on the unbelievable assumption that hundreds – if not thousands – of people are able to work together in harmony to accomplish a singular goal for decades and keep it a secret.

Think about the bureaucratic inefficiencies, petty drama, and divided loyalties at your own workplace. Do you really think the U.S. Government is any better?

The people most likely to believe the government is too incompetent to be trusted are often the people most likely to believe the government also has the ability to secretly orchestrate massive operations under the noses of most Americans.

Government bureaucracy is boring. Conspiracy theories are ridiculously entertaining. If you don’t believe me, do a deep dive into the beliefs of Flat Earthers, 9/11 Truthers, and QAnon followers. They’re intoxicatingly addictive.

Connecting the dots, decoding secret messages in emails or tweets, and assembling “pieces of the puzzle” into a semi-coherent narrative can take the form of a live-action role-playing game or an internet scavenger hunt for adults.

In a modern world largely devoid of danger and threat, conspiracy theories help bring purpose and urgency to the mundanity of our lives — which may explain why they spread so quickly among lifestyle bloggers, Instagram influencers, and the “wellness” community.

And, because conspiracy theories tend to cross-pollinate, it doesn’t take long for someone to become completely entrenched in a conspiratorial worldview.

In a Relevant Magazine article titled “Why Do So Many Christians Believe Conspiracy Theories?“, Jessica Stephens writes,

“Experts believe our tendency to fall into the trap of confirmation bias can lead some people to slip into a rabbit hole of conspiracies. The problem is especially prominent in the internet era, where people can find information that confirms whatever value they hold—and ignore any information that does not.”

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).

In an interview for Vox, psychologist Jan-Willem van Prooijen said,

“The best predictor of believing in one conspiracy theory is believing in another. Once they firmly start to believe in one specific conspiracy theory, it opens the door to many others. Because then people start thinking, “Hey, there may be a lot more going on behind the scenes that I don’t know. What else is there?”

However, if you were to construct the “perfect” conspiracy theory, you couldn’t do much better than believing there’s a secret department at the Pentagon that’s sole job is to spread conspiracy theories to make people believe the government is competent enough to pull off a conspiracy.

The Christian Problem

Christians, we have to do better.

Christians are repeatedly pandered to by far-right conspiracy theory websites. Liberal “info-tainment” bounces from one Trump-related outrage to the next with reckless abandon. Real-world social ills are capitalized upon and transformed into vapid social justice “slacktivism” campaigns. Russian trolls targeted us during the 2016 Presidential Election with memes and clickbait articles.

In response to the surge of COVID-19 conspiracy theories, Saddleback Church in California and The Humanitarian Disaster Institute had to band together to create a resource for pastors to quell the spread of misinformation in their congregations.

And after renowned pastor Ed Stetzer wrote an article for Christianity Today calling for Christians to avoid posting conspiracy theories about COVID-19, the Christian publication had to amend the original article with a note commenting on the flood of vitriol the article received.

SoulWeaver · Aug 24, 2020

Scribe said:

Uh-oh. You're treading a dangerous ground here bro, I strongly disagree. Abuse of science, to limit freedom of thought, kicking unpopular views out of discourse as mental illness (validity of views doesn't matter, psychiatry must not be used as a censorship tool against freedom of speech, which effectively happens by what you say here).

I'm not addressing here what @J-T believes specifically, just the approach in general is fascist. In the same way, people who don't wear masks were labeled narcissist in the US media here recently, even though in several countries scientists concluded that there was not enough proof of masks being useful against virus spread (Denmark if I'm not mistaken) and they didn't mandate them. This is abuse of science.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry_in_the_Soviet_Union

"Narcissist" label has widely been weaponized in modern society.

J-T · Aug 24, 2020

Scribe said:

Write this down; My response to your rebuttal: LoLz!!

Scribe · Aug 24, 2020

Scribe said:

PART 4
So, when someone posts conspiracy theory video on social media with the message, “Don’t give in to fear! Stay informed!“, they’re most likely writing to themselves. You’re watching someone publicly process their anxieties and insecurities in real-time by latching onto an explanation that places themselves “in the know” of a secret plot they want other people to know they also know about.

This is doubly ironic because their conspiracy theory’s far-reaching implications are often far more frightening than the event the conspiracy theory is attempting to explain.

And this doesn’t even begin to tackle the absolutely lazy nature of most conspiracy theories and videos that go viral on the Internet. In most cases, all you need to do to gain traction on social media is post dubious information, say “The mainstream media won’t report this!” and completely ignore any sort of follow-up to confirm if the information turned out to be true or not.

Note: Nassim Taleb considers the COVID-19 pandemic a “White Swan” – an event that would eventually take place with great certainty given the innumerable warnings of a global pandemic by public health experts and epidemiologists for years. In a twist that should surprise no one, conspiracy theorists have actually rolled those warnings and preparation plans into proof that a conspiracy exists. Like I said, maddening.

#3: Conspiracy Theories Make Our Reality Seem More Exciting.

Everyone loves a good conspiracy thriller. The idea of a lone “agent of truth” against a diabolic enemy makes for great entertainment. But real-life conspiracies are rarely that exciting.

For example, Watergate. Probably the most well-known conspiracy in American history (the word “Watergate” is basically synonymous with “political scandal”), the Watergate scandal led to the resignation of a sitting U.S. President.

But, compared to the pyrotechnic-filled exploits of James Bond or Jason Bourne, the Watergate scandal is a downright snoozefest. I mean right now, without Googling, would you be able to tell me what the Watergate Hotel scandal was actually about?

The U.S. Government isn’t exactly known to be a well-oiled and efficient machine. And, yet, so many conspiracy theories hinge on the unbelievable assumption that hundreds – if not thousands – of people are able to work together in harmony to accomplish a singular goal for decades and keep it a secret.

Think about the bureaucratic inefficiencies, petty drama, and divided loyalties at your own workplace. Do you really think the U.S. Government is any better?

The people most likely to believe the government is too incompetent to be trusted are often the people most likely to believe the government also has the ability to secretly orchestrate massive operations under the noses of most Americans.

Government bureaucracy is boring. Conspiracy theories are ridiculously entertaining. If you don’t believe me, do a deep dive into the beliefs of Flat Earthers, 9/11 Truthers, and QAnon followers. They’re intoxicatingly addictive.

Connecting the dots, decoding secret messages in emails or tweets, and assembling “pieces of the puzzle” into a semi-coherent narrative can take the form of a live-action role-playing game or an internet scavenger hunt for adults.

In a modern world largely devoid of danger and threat, conspiracy theories help bring purpose and urgency to the mundanity of our lives — which may explain why they spread so quickly among lifestyle bloggers, Instagram influencers, and the “wellness” community.

And, because conspiracy theories tend to cross-pollinate, it doesn’t take long for someone to become completely entrenched in a conspiratorial worldview.

In a Relevant Magazine article titled “Why Do So Many Christians Believe Conspiracy Theories?“, Jessica Stephens writes,

“Experts believe our tendency to fall into the trap of confirmation bias can lead some people to slip into a rabbit hole of conspiracies. The problem is especially prominent in the internet era, where people can find information that confirms whatever value they hold—and ignore any information that does not.”

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).

In an interview for Vox, psychologist Jan-Willem van Prooijen said,

“The best predictor of believing in one conspiracy theory is believing in another. Once they firmly start to believe in one specific conspiracy theory, it opens the door to many others. Because then people start thinking, “Hey, there may be a lot more going on behind the scenes that I don’t know. What else is there?”

However, if you were to construct the “perfect” conspiracy theory, you couldn’t do much better than believing there’s a secret department at the Pentagon that’s sole job is to spread conspiracy theories to make people believe the government is competent enough to pull off a conspiracy.

The Christian Problem

Christians, we have to do better.

Christians are repeatedly pandered to by far-right conspiracy theory websites. Liberal “info-tainment” bounces from one Trump-related outrage to the next with reckless abandon. Real-world social ills are capitalized upon and transformed into vapid social justice “slacktivism” campaigns. Russian trolls targeted us during the 2016 Presidential Election with memes and clickbait articles.

In response to the surge of COVID-19 conspiracy theories, Saddleback Church in California and The Humanitarian Disaster Institute had to band together to create a resource for pastors to quell the spread of misinformation in their congregations.

And after renowned pastor Ed Stetzer wrote an article for Christianity Today calling for Christians to avoid posting conspiracy theories about COVID-19, the Christian publication had to amend the original article with a note commenting on the flood of vitriol the article received.

PART 5

Of the seven things the Lord finds detestable mentioned in the sixth chapter of Proverbs, “a lying tongue,” “a false witness who pours out lies,” and “a person who stirs conflict in the community” are included in the list.

No one is immune from conspiratorial thinking, but Christians have a bit more to lose from falling for conspiracy theories than the average person. And I think there a few additional reasons Christians may be susceptible to unhealthy paranoid skepticism.

Maybe it’s because, from a young age, many of us were taught the “scientific establishment” was out to destroy our belief in the Bible by disregarding Creationism and promoting the “theory” of evolution. We were primed from the beginning to adopt an implausible conspiratorial mindset regarding science, logic, and reason, and now we can’t shake it.

Or maybe so many of us were convinced by the Left Behind books and a manufactured intepretation of Biblical prophecy that a satanic one-world government was on the horizon that we had the ability to “decode” clues in the current events that predict the apocalypse.

Or maybe because we’ve already been conditioned by our own belief system that there exists a hidden spiritual reality that making the leap to a hidden “shadow government” isn’t all that big of a deal.

Scribe · Aug 24, 2020

Scribe said:

PART 6 (Final)
Of course, not all Christians are conspiracy theorists (and those that are aren’t all to the extent I’ve explored above). But there are enough Christian conspiracy theorists doing enough damage that other Christians shouldn’t feel afraid to call them out. We need to hold ourselves and each other to a higher standard of objective truth.

And it’s important to note that a lot of Christians share conspiracy theories out of good faith. They believe they’re sharing the truth. But most conspiracy theories are rotten at the core. It’s obvious they’re rooted in fear, insecurity, and loneliness. And they’re often designed to give us more reasons to loathe our ideological enemies.

In an article for Christianity Today, Andrew McDonald, Associate Director of the Billy Graham Institute, writes,

“Conspiracy theories play upon our fear by supplying a more powerful emotion: rage. Fear can so quickly morph into anger because it provides an object: they are to blame, they caused this, they deserve retribution.”

Conspiracy theories speak to our desire to be a part of a story bigger than ourselves. And what blows my mind is that Christians should already believe that to be true. Christians shouldn’t need to buy into conspiracy theories to feel special, or to make sense of the world, or to make their lives feel more exciting.

But we’re so enraptured with conspiracy theories, I question if we believe serving the Creator God of the Universe is really enough.

In an article for Christian Today, pastor Ed Stetzer writes,

“If there was ever a group of people that should care about the truth, it should be the people who believe ‘the truth sets you free.’ Integrity should matter for Christians, but too often it does not…Proverbs 28:18 explains, ‘The one who lives with integrity will be helped, but one who distorts right and wrong will suddenly fall.’“

I’m not suggesting Christians should believe everything the government says.
Not by a long shot.

To the contrary, we need to learn to differentiate between government officials and public policy experts. They’re rarely one and the same. Elected officials will often act in opposition to the advice of public policy experts if they believe it’ll hurt their chances of re-election.

I’m also not implying that Christians should believe everything the media says (though, it should be noted, that when people use the term “the media” in a derogatory fashion what they’re really referring to is “media outlets that don’t share my partisan worldview”). I’ve written extensively on media bias and outrage culture.

But it is possible to make smarter media choices.

This is not to say we shouldn’t be skeptical. By all means, we should ask questions. But we also need to be skeptical of whom we seek answers (and our own motives for seeking alternative explanations). There’s a stark difference between “questioning the narrative” and peddling misleading theories as truth just because it’s different than what the “mainstream media” is reporting.

Be watchful and be vigilant and be responsible. Clicking ‘Share’ or ‘Forward’ may not require much effort on your part, but it could have serious ramifications down the line.

The spread of misinformation is an issue we all need to confront – no matter our political persuasion, religious affiliation, or age demographic. If the online sphere is our new battleground then truthful information should be our weapon of choice.

Because conspiracy theories aren’t harmless.

To this day, conspiracy theorists still harass the families of the first-grade children who died in the Sandy Hook school shooting. In December 2017, a man opened fire in a D.C. pizzeria with an assault rifle because he was convinced it was filled with trafficked children as a result of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory. In October 2018, a man mailed pipe bombs to people named in a prominent far-right conspiracy. And downplaying a virus by posting an easily debunked “Plandemic” conspiracy video puts real people at risk. And you’re spitting in the faces of healthcare workers risking their lives and the lives of their families.

But, on a more mundane level, posting and endorsing conspiracy theories makes Christians look like idiots. And it reinforces the public perception that Christians will fall for anything while seriously putting the object of our faith into question by outsiders who want nothing to do with our fear-and-hatred based worldview.

In his first letter to the church in Thessalonica, the apostle Paul wrote, “Don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good. Throw out anything tainted by evil” (The Message).

If you don’t have the time nor patience to fact-check an article or video, you have no business sharing it. Because you’re bearing false witness. Even if you think you’re making a difference, you’re deceiving other people. You’re harming your witness and the witness of your community.

Or, in the words of pastor Ed Stetzer,

“If you still insist on spreading such misinformation, would you please consider taking Christian off your bio so the rest of us don’t have to share in the embarrassment?“

J-T · Aug 24, 2020

SoulWeaver said:

I completely agree about what you said here to @Scribe. I was curious as to when he would come back in to the dialog, but I had no idea that he would go so far as to vainly attempt to discredit a former CIA Agent. But that aside, my objective here will be to lay out some proofs, that I am certain that even Mr. Steele has not seen. It sometimes amazes me that someone who openly admits, "I don't know", will go so far with a mantage of copy and paste of someone else's OPINION(S) in the with the effort to debunk a subject before it is even fully presented, and that is humorous.
______________________________________
This question is for @Scribe; Have you even served in the Military, Law Enforcement, and/or the CIA? If not, then let me answer your anticipated response by saying I thought not!

J-T · Aug 24, 2020

Scribe said:

@Scribe, it is apparent that no matter the subject or topic, you are clear to label something as "Conspiracy Theory" and/or someone as "Conspiracy Theorist". You should already be aware that much of the dialog that is out there; that the discussed issues are usually about the Illuminati, and/or their lower ranks of Freemasonry. What is your intent and motive here? Are you a Mason? If so, then what degree of masonry are you? Do you have family members or friends that are Masons?

Scribe · Aug 24, 2020

J-T said:

It was to rebuttal your conspiracy theories. The Thread itself was about the COVID Vaccine which you attempted to hijack. However, if you really feel the calling to inform people of how well you have mined the internet and connected dots on all the tired conspiracy theories you should start your own thread under the conspiracy theory forum and title it according to whatever it is you are attempting to inform (what your intent and motives are THERE) as to mine HERE in this thread I I will now try to bring THIS thread back to a some good information I found explaining how the mRNA vaccine works.

Good day to you sir.

Scribe · Aug 24, 2020

Here is a good explanation of how the mRNA vaccine works and also a link to information about some of the other COVID vaccines in production.

The new Covid-19 vaccine platforms harness human cells to make key components

Both mRNA vaccines and adenovirus vector vaccines build on the idea of a subunit vaccine. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, the most common subunit of interest is the spike protein.

This protein is the business end of the virus. It’s what the coronavirus uses to dock with the ACE2 receptor on a human cell in order to enter the cell, make copies of itself, and then spread to other cells.

Scientists reason that they can coax the immune system to generate antibodies to this spike protein. Antibodies are proteins made by the immune system that attach to specific parts of a pathogen, thereby disabling it or marking it for destruction by other immune cells. If antibodies bind to the spike protein of a live SARS-CoV-2 virus, they could prevent it from causing an infection.

But with these new platforms, it’s not the spike protein of the virus that’s being injected, it’s the genetic instructions for making it. The main differences between mRNA vaccines and adenovirus vector vaccines are the genetic material they use and how they get it into the cell. The mRNA vaccines use mRNA, while adenovirus vaccines use DNA.

Once the instructions are inside the cell, the cell’s machinery reads them to manufacture the spike protein of the virus. The newly minted spike proteins are either secreted from the cell or attached to its surface, where other cells from the immune system can identify the spike protein and begin manufacturing antibodies to it.

The process ends up not only mimicking a key structure of the virus but also imitating how the virus works during an infection, which could potentially generate a stronger immune response and yield better protection compared with other approaches. And because these proteins are produced from within cells rather than injected from the outside, they may be less likely to provoke adverse reactions in the recipient.

How mRNA vaccines work

On August 11, President Donald Trump announced that the US government would buy 100 million doses of Moderna’s mRNA coronavirus vaccine in a deal valued at $1.53 billion, bringing the country’s total investment in the company to $2.48 billion. (The Department of Health and Human Services previously said it would buy 100 million doses of Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine.)

These are just a couple of the big bets the federal government has placed on different vaccine manufacturers, but the fact that it’s investing so much in a new approach like mRNA signals how much promise it holds.

mRNA stands for messenger ribonucleic acid. It’s a molecule that’s copied from DNA in a cell’s nucleus and used as the code for making a specific protein. If you think of the DNA in the nucleus as a giant cookbook containing all the recipes for all the meals you’ll ever eat, mRNA is the notecard you use to jot down instructions for making your favorite banana bread.

Compared to DNA, mRNA is shorter in length, less stable, and designed to be disposable. Your cells are making and breaking down mRNA strands all the time.

With an mRNA vaccine, the idea is to get a segment of mRNA that codes for a specific viral protein into a cell. For vaccine developers, that means that instead of going through the tedious process of isolating and purifying subunits of a virus, they can just change the code in a strand of mRNA. That makes the development process much faster than conventional approaches, which can take months or years.

mRNA-based vaccines offer a promising approach to preventing coronavirus infection. Chaiwat Subprasom/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

“mRNA can literally be completed in days to weeks to create a brand-new vaccine,” said Drew Weissman, a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He noted that it took only 66 days from when the genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was sequenced to when the first patient was injected with an mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine.

One of the challenges with using mRNA is that your body can perceive it as a threat, as many viruses use RNA to encode their genomes. There are a lot of enzymes in the body that can readily digest RNA before it gets into a cell. (There are even RNA-digesting enzymes on your skin.) Free-floating mRNA strands in the body can trigger inflammation, so to shield the mRNA until it gets into a cell, developers encase it inside a lipid nanoparticle — a tiny oil bubble. The RNA strand itself is also modified to make it less inflammatory.

Once the mRNA is coded, modified, and encapsulated, it can then be injected. “All modified RNA vaccines for Covid are given intramuscularly, just like old-fashioned flu shots,” Weissman said.

You can read more here:
https://www.vox.com/2020/8/13/21359025/coronavirus-vaccine-covid-19-moderna-oxford-mrna-adenovirus

J-T · Aug 24, 2020

Scribe said:

With all due respect, my intent is to link my info in directly with the subject of C-19 as I had previously stated. Will you please answer these questions; Are you a Mason? If so, then what degree of masonry are you? Do you have family members or friends that are Masons?

Scribe · Aug 24, 2020

J-T said:

Name the 12 apostles from memory without googling. How many Ephesian disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke in tongues? What were the Hebrew names (not Babylonian names) of the three thrown into the furnace? After writing down your answer google and check to see how many you got right. If you know more about the Masons than you do about the bible you might be guilty of FRONT SLIDING.

J-T · Aug 24, 2020

Scribe said:

I'm certain that you have some copy & paste ready to go, but you still avoided answering my legitimate questions, of which even a simple yes or no would have sufficed. Are you afraid to honestly answer those questions?

Scribe · Aug 24, 2020

J-T said:

It's annoying. If you want to present a case for a COVID Vaccine conspiracy theory just state the theory. I am not going to watch videos. Be concise and present information that can inform and allow for fact checking. Saying the vaccine is evil is not helpful. Explain why you think so, or what your CIA friends think. I don't have time to watch every video that gets posted. I am a reader. I can read a transcript of a video and find the important parts in a fraction of the time. So far I have no idea what you are trying to say about the Covid vaccines under production. If you think the Masons are planning something just tell us.

J-T · Aug 24, 2020

Scribe said:

You didn't have to be nasty here, but thanks for taking a moment to answer a question that didn't require pulling any teeth. That said, you did post a plethora of copy & paste that had absolutely nothing to do with what I was talking about, the content of which was suggestive that I had a lying tongue, and for someone that says "I don't know", you have all of that ready to go copy and paste that just railroaded right on through like a Bullet Train with the intent to debunk before any other facts could be presented. There is a reason why you "don't know", and until you step back to ascertain as to why you don't know, then you will never know. And for your information, so that I might be able to clue you in, I do not tire myself with other people's work. What I know about the subject of Mystery Babylon is from believing and reading the Bible with The Lord guiding me into all truth. That was done without ever reading, fast reading, viewing videos, and so forth of any Conspiracy Theory website anywhere on the Internet. It has only been within the last year or so that I began investigating a great number of Conspiracy websites. Among the many numbers, I found a handful that are false, and set up by members of the Occult to throw the simple and unlearned off. On the other hand, I discovered that there are many wonderful Christians full of godly discernment that do excellent work in exposing and refuting the evil works of darkness that has long plague our Country and the world.

P.S. I never said that I had any CIA friends, and obviously that statement reveals even more of "why" you "don't know", and with that attitude, and with the ignoring of that information, it will not matter whatever I post that will make a difference to you, and that is tragically sad.

Scribe · Aug 24, 2020

J-T said:

You didn't have to be nasty here, but thanks for taking a moment to answer a question that didn't require pulling any teeth. That said, you did post a plethora of copy & paste that had absolutely nothing to do with what I was talking about, the content of which was suggestive that I had a lying tongue, and for someone that says "I don't know", you have all of that ready to go copy and paste that just railroaded right on through like a Bullet Train with the intent to debunk before any other facts could be presented. There is a reason why you "don't know", and until you step back to ascertain as to why you don't know, then you will never know. And for your information, so that I might be able to clue you in, I do not tire myself with other people's work. What I know about the subject of Mystery Babylon is from believing and reading the Bible with The Lord guiding me into all truth. That was done without ever reading, fast reading, viewing videos, and so forth of any Conspiracy Theory website anywhere on the Internet. It has only been within the last year or so that I began investigating a great number of Conspiracy websites. Among the many numbers, I found a handful that are false, and set up by members of the Occult to throw the simple and unlearned off. On the other hand, I discovered that there are many wonderful Christians full of godly discernment that do excellent work in exposing and refuting the evil works of darkness that has long plague our Country and the world.

P.S. I never said that I had any CIA friends, and obviously that statement reveals even more of "why" you "don't know", and with that attitude, and with the ignoring of that information, it will not matter whatever I post that will make a difference to you, and that is tragically sad.

OK you have made a defense for your belief in why you find some of these theories plausable. Now can you present anything about the COVID 19 vaccine using words (I don't care if it is copied or quoted from those you agree with) as long as I can understand the theory enough to know what it is.

J-T · Aug 24, 2020

Scribe said:

You still don't get it. It's not "theory", that I discuss, it is reality, and I was already in the process of laying out the facts when you did the Bullet Train with all of the unrelated Copy & Paste that also had absolutely nothing to do with the C-19 subject. You did that before I could even finish, so no, I did not get to give a full answer with a full case. You will not allow it, and the bottom line is that you don't like it when someone comes along that can successfully debunk you. And, the sad part of all of this is, that it is not my desire to have to debunk anyone, but you have left me no choice. You even set up a thread about the GMO Mosquitoes' subject; something of which you also know nothing about, just for the sake of pitting yourself against Christians. That is called sowing division and discord, and you do this for every subject that comes along. What this proves to me, is that not only do you not want to truly understand the dynamics and reality of the truth of what is going on, but you don't want for anyone else to know and understand either. Furthermore, you are so presumptious, that you really have no clue that I don't even get my information from Robert David Steele, who is a bonifide former CIA agent that has information that pertains to the very same subject, and as if that's not bad enough, you completely shrugged off and snubbed the man that knows what he's talking about, as you have paraded for so long to slanderously suggest that everyone that talks about real time conspiracies are all a bunch of crazy people nutjobs, and you are doing the same thing to that man, that you know absolutely nothing about, and have not even bothered to check out the information! And what makes it even worse, is that you don't know what other areas he has served. You just flat out don't care, and want to interfere anytime anyone comes forward to tackle a subject. That is both ethically and morally wrong.

Survey Poll: Will you take the Covid 19 Vaccine

Will you take the Covid 19 Vaccine if it is considered safe and effective?

Yes

Never

I will wait a year or more to see what happens with people who take it.

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