Conspiracy Theories

“Hypersensitivity about ‘systemic racism’ has many people, of every race, hesitating about being honest about what they think. But honesty and forthright argument are the only antidotes to the fear many people feel, and the only road ahead to racial justice. I expect ad hominem responses to the essay that follows, or willful misunderstandings of its argument….But only good arguments—not silent cowering—can defeat bad ones.

“What fascinates me though, is some people’s propensity to send a link to a YouTube clip, news article, or Facebook post as the final word. Little is done to check its source or accuracy: ‘I saw this, and it contradicts what you’re saying, so you’re wrong.’ That’s their message over and over.” - Rob Buckingham

In a recent USA Today article, “I concluded that ‘we need pastors, leaders, and everyday Christians to address this conspiracy, and others like it, before others are fooled.’ With this in mind, I wanted to address some pushback and offer some steps leaders can take.” - Ed Stetzer

“Mary Ann Mendoza, a member of the advisory board of President Trump’s reelection campaign, was due to speak on Aug. 25. But she was suddenly pulled from the schedule after she had retweeted a link to a conspiracy theory about Jewish elites plotting to take over the world.” - The Conversation

“Many Christians have sunk so deeply into Q that it fills a lot of their conversations and most of their time online. Cult expert Steve Hassan said he is swamped with thousands of emails from family members concerned about their loved ones who are suddenly deep into QAnon.” - WORLD

President Trum’s recent “explicit endorsement of the theory’s believers, if not quite the theory itself, is new territory for Trump. It will bring QAnon further into the political mainstream and make this cultic movement a greater threat to the American church.” - C.Today

“Mark Fugitt, senior pastor of Round Grove Baptist Church in Miller, Missouri, recently sat down to count the conspiracy theories that people in his church are sharing on Facebook. The list was long…. But since 2017, a sort of ur-conspiracy theory, QAnon, has coalesced in online forums and created millions of believers.” - RNS

“An Alaskan reader challenged us to share 10 reasons to take the coronavirus pandemic seriously—to believe that it is ‘not a hoax,’ as she put it.” - WORLD

“Given the enduring importance of conspiracy theories, I want to circle back to some of the criticism of the DNS article before focusing on few preliminary suggestions on how Christians can begin to think through healthy online habits.” - Andrew MacDonald

“I tend to listen to people, who, from the beginning, acknowledge the uncertainty and live in the humility of ‘this is what we think we know to the best of our knowledge, but our the data are flawed, and it will change as we improve our understanding—we are trying our best.’ It’s hard to get a good tweet to go viral with that though (although some manage to do so!).