I used to be a big believer in conspiracy theories. I believed that the new world order was run by the illuminati and that all the governments in the world were in on a plan for world domiation, enslaving humanity with the help of the UN. Yeah, it went something like that. It was ridiculous.
Recently I met a woman who opened my eyes to how ridiculous these ideas are. She’s in her mid forties, unemployed, and lives in the ghetto part of Lockport Illinois surrounded by drug dealers and gangs. Her husband works for a Sonic Drive-In where he cleans the parking lot each morning. They live there along with their two kids, three guys (aged between 18 and 20), and are soon going to be adding an additional roommate to the collection. They pay no mortgage because they claim the bank made a mistake on some paperwork and they “don’t want to be tied to anything illegal”. I wonder if they know they will get kicked out regardless. The woman, whose name I will not mention, claims to be an ordained minister of Messianic Judaism but only preaches in her home and never let’s anyone know where or how she was ordained. She says she never went to school and that Yaweh opened her eyes to understand and find hidden messages in the bible.
Enough background information. Let’s get to the cult. This woman gets members by being the cool older lady who smokes pot with the kids. She gets them high and then constantly preaches how the bible and the new world order conspiracy go together. I won’t bore you with the actual conspiracies. You can look then up online.
These ideas are very tempting. Everyone would love to believe that they are privy to secret information the rear of the world doesn’t know therefor making those believers think they are special. There is a while industry devotes to making money off of these pseudoscientific theories and religious beliefs. Some of those making money off this stuff know it’s false while others are true believers.
The only way to combat these beliefs is with simple logic. Take a step back and simplify these beliefs. Pointing out how people choose to make connections where there are none may help. Opposing opinions do not sway these believers. Only fact and logic can challenge these ridiculous theories. I could go into specific examples of how this can be done but I am feeling lazy today. If after confronting these people with logic they refuse to even consider your ideas then whomever you are talking to is beyond saving. These people have something missing in their lives and often are looking to blame something or someone outside of themeselces for their lot in life. Like I said before these ideas are tempting and appeal to something within us that make us want to believe. Most of the time those preaching the gospel of the absurd are very charismatic. This combined with the tempting ideas themselves can sucker us into believing in fantasies.
No one really knows the answers to the big questions. Don’t trust anyone who says they know. Question everything and use simple logic to make sure everything makes sense. Always research both sides of any theory or religious belief before accepting a position. Don’t be a sucker.
