How Do I Pull My Friend Out of the Rabbit Hole of Conspiracies?
“So, if pointing out the lack of logic behind a conspiracy theory won’t work, what will? By God’s grace, what can we do? Here are a few thoughts that have emerged from wise friends who I have discussed this with” - Eric Geiger
you don’t. you recommend to them Parler and you dump them.
I believe it’s worth trying in most cases. I have seen success by taking their points one at a time and completely exhausting the truth about each one until they have to admit they were wrong.
Pastor’s have to be careful about things they say from the pulpit. Those who have publicly embraced Trump’s lie that the election was stolen or that government’s strong desire that everyone be vaccinated is paving the way for the rule of the antichrist encourage conspirational thinking among their people. I have found that people who believe who admit that they believe in X conspiracy usually believe most of the other ones; I don’t want to encourage that kind of thinking.
[dgszweda]Of course, that’s a bit difficult to do when it’s your own wife who is believing all sorts of conspiracy stuff. Someone asked her on a Facebook post if she was bothered by something that promoted conspiracy theories. This is how she answered:you don’t. you recommend to them Parler and you dump them.
“First, I have two questions for you. Do you know where the term conspiracy theory originated and why? The second question is, are you aware that the number of “conspiracy theorists” is rising dramatically? Not just in the United States but in other countries as well. Jesus said in Luke 12:2 + 3 ” but there is nothing so carefully concealed that it will not be revealed, nor so hidden that it will not be made known. For that reason, whatever has been said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what has been whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.” We will be seeing the truth of that statement in the days to come.”
So she thinks the conspiracy theories are actually God’s way of making truth come to light when most people aren’t seeing truth.
Also, she is adamant that I don’t get vaccinated, since we have a pregnant daughter in our home and she’s heard accounts of people having miscarriages from being in the same house as vaccinated people.
You might reconsider posting about your own wife publicly. It’s not likely to help the situation at home. It might make it worse.
[Larry]I’m in an email group with a bunch of friends and I’ve posted this situation in that group, and then I read my emails to her to make sure I was representing her thoughts correctly. In this thread here, I quoted a post she made publicly on Facebook. I’m sure she stands by it, so it wouldn’t get me in trouble. She hasn’t posted her miscarriage worry on Facebook, but I know I represented her position accurately. She’s probably even talking to her friends to figure out how to get me to see the truth as she’s come to realize it. We both want each other to see the truth, and we can love each other even if we disagree about certain things.You might reconsider posting about your own wife publicly. It’s not likely to help the situation at home. It might make it worse.
[Kevin Miller]Of course, that’s a bit difficult to do when it’s your own wife who is believing all sorts of conspiracy stuff.
I still might hold to my statement. There is nothing that I hate more, from a personal standpoint, than conspiracy theories. I am glad my wife and I are on the same page. It probably isn’t going to get better. I have pretty much abandoned the Republican party, after what they did to Liz Cheney today. The party has gone off the deep end. Ronald Regan would flip in his grave if he saw what was taking place.
Josh must be a better debater than I, as I’ve rarely if ever had success in arguing/debating (in the good sense) anyone out of nonsense. (I’m smiling, BTW) I agree that it’s worth a try, but overall, I’m of the view that the best way of addressing things is to pray for them and look for a wide open piece of evidence that’s really, really hard to deny. I’m doing it at my church with many people.
One other thing I think is important is to remember that a lot of people are going to alternative media because the standard authorities are not exactly distinguishing themselves these days in terms of credibility. Beyond my favorite—CDC not reading the riot act to governors who sent COVID patients to nursing homes—you’ve got the FBI declaring that the shooting of Steve Scalise a few years back was “suicide by cop” and not domestic terrorism (the perp had a trail of anti-GOP hate a mile long), the CDC overestimating outside transmission fo COVID by at least a factor of 100, the abuse of FISA courts….and my new favorite, that the AP, NY Times, Washington Post, and pretty much every other mainstream news outlet has quietly accepted the Biden administration’s demand to be able to edit stories before they go out.
Let’s be honest here; the list of offenses by our authorities is long and compelling, and if we wish to deal well with those who adhere to conspiracy theories, we’ve got to concede that the sources we used to think were really good have been politicized.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
[Bert Perry]we’ve got to concede that the sources we used to think were really good have been politicized.
The problem is that people felt that it was ever not politicized. News has always been politicized. Peoples oblivious view otherwise is a problem. People are just moving to news sources that fit the narrative that they are comfortable with. What we have lost is the ability of people to discern much of anything for themselves. I gather my news from sources that are on all sides of the fence. I look at independent sites that rate sources by how far they lean and how accurate there information is typically. Then you use that to discern what you are consuming. Something that leans left isn’t necessarily wrong, and something that leans right isn’t necessarily correct. But what we have now is that people are looking for echo chambers and because anyone can have a platform than there is always an opportunity. Sometimes what people are spouting in news channels isn’t even what they believe, but they found a way to capitalize and monetize on the narrative.
What we are seeing is that while information and access to information has increased, intelligence has actually decreased in society.
Get Hollywood to start making good movies again so people will stop trying to entertain themselves with other wild narratives.
I’m only partly joking here.
@Josh and Bert: I admire your patience. I mostly can’t quite muster it right now for that particular purpose. I’m pretty much in the “change the subject and try to forget what I just heard” mode in most settings… because I just find it so disturbing.
Which raises a question. Why do we often find that particular brand of “having a wrong opinion” so much more disturbing than other things we disagree with people about?
- Because the intuitive implausibility level is so high… and so the obviousness level feels (and usually really is!) so high?
- Because it’s coming from someone we expected better thinking from?
- Because it feels like they’re making Christianity look stupid and crazy? (Some are going to see it that way anyway, yes, but in this case, because they’re right?)
- Because that level of irrationality makes you wonder what they’ll believe next?
Maybe it’s a mix or all of the above. I just know I tend to get overwhelmed pretty quickly when someone proves to be impervious to reason.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
J/K, but if you want the kind of insanity I indulge, and Josh may indulge more, it might help. :^)
Seriously, thanks. I admit, though, that I often back off at a certain point, too, for about the same reason.
Regarding “it’s always been politicized”, absolutely true. I remember having “Impeach Rather” bumper stickers back in the 1980s for exactly that reason. That noted, it at least used to be a little bit difficult to figure out when the fix was in. I don’t see that as much anymore—the politicization seems a lot more brazen these days.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
Irrational thinking is certainly exasperating but we all have blind spots. I think part of my motivation is that some conspiracies can be enslaving to the degree that the person is consumed with it. I too give up or avoid the conversation a lot of the time but if it’s an otherwise rational person it’s usually worth a shot.
If the person obsessed with conspiracy theories is professing Christian, you might try the tack of “What does God want you to think about and put your energy into?”
Along the line of what Chesterton said in Orthodoxy:
The lunatic’s theory explains a large number of things, but it does not explain them in a large way. I mean that if you or I were dealing with a mind that was growing morbid, we should be chiefly concerned not so much to give it arguments as to give it air, to convince it that there was something cleaner and cooler outside the suffocation of a single argument.
Whatever you believe may or may not happen in the future, it doesn’t change Matthew 28 and the Great Commission, and God’s plan to save sinners through a gospel witness. They need to watch the world for what God is doing through the church and put their prayers and efforts into that.
This should be the “expulsive power of a new affection.” I’ve been counseling a guy who is literally debilitated because he cannot stop thinking about a past hurtful situation, and I am trying to just teach him, baby steps, to get in the Word and stay there and focus on how he can love and serve others. A mind completely fixated on the wrong things is a terrible thing to watch.
Michael Osborne
Philadelphia, PA
I am not in favor of conspiracy theories. But, it seems to me we need to be careful what we call a “conspiracy theory.” Say you know 2 people who won’t get vaccinated. You could say they are prey to conspiracy theories. If you ask:
1. Is concerned about side effects and thinks more testing is needed.
2. Thinks there is an international conspiracy to use the virus to sterilize women for population control.
Are they both believing conspiracy theories? Perhaps the first person is misinformed, but I wouldn’t call them a conspiracy theorist.
What about this one. 2 friends think the 2020 election “was stolen.” You ask for details.
1.Believes the changes several states made to election procedures were at best deceitful and likely unconstitutional.
2. Believes that vans full of paper ballots drove around delivering bogus ballots all over to win the vote for Biden.
The first is a potentially real concern. It is dismissed by the media but it seems reasonable. Trump even predicted with the 2020 election rules changes it was essentially impossible for him to win. The second is a conspiracy theory.
The point here is to be careful about labeling thoughts you disagree with as conspiracy theories.
Discussion