{"id":21801,"date":"2015-06-29T17:09:58","date_gmt":"2015-06-29T17:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/the-sinfulness-and-destructiveness-of-conspiracy-theories\/"},"modified":"2015-06-29T17:09:58","modified_gmt":"2015-06-29T17:09:58","slug":"the-sinfulness-and-destructiveness-of-conspiracy-theories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/the-sinfulness-and-destructiveness-of-conspiracy-theories\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sinfulness and Destructiveness of Conspiracy Theories"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p><em>Chasing conspiracy theories is not going to solve any problems. True restoration begins when God\u2019s people repent and walk in righteousness.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/SinfulnessConspiracyTheories.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"590\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A recent conspiracy theory has garnered much national attention. It involves \u201cJade Helm 15,\u201d an Armed Services training exercise employing the elite units of the Armed Forces in counter-terrorist warfare. About 1,200 servicemen will run exercises throughout the South West states including California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. It is somewhat larger in area than the normal exercise of this sort, but the planners wanted to focus on problems of long range intrusion and evacuation of troops in sparsely populated desert terrain. That was certainly prudent in view of the ISIS situation in Syria, Iraq, and in West Africa.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><div class=\"pullquote\"> \u201cDo not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The\u00a0Lord\u00a0Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Isaiah 8: 12-13 (NIV)<\/div><\/em><\/strong>The conspiracy theory about the Jade Helm maneuvers is not the first time that such exercises have aroused suspicion from the far Right. Something similar happened in the 1960s when John F. Kennedy was President. He was Catholic, which right off made his suspicious to many in the far right. They suspected that an Army exercise, \u201cWater Moccasin,\u201d was really designed to open the door for a foreign invasion of the United States. Several versions of this conspiracy theory circulated, but US Congressman,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_B._Utt\">James Utt<\/a>\u00a0(R-CA) spread the most popular version in a letter to his constituents. It suggested that Water Moccasin was the first stage of a UN (and ultimately communist) plot to invade the United States. <a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>War exercises have been held since the 1940\u2019s, when the Army began mobilizing for World War II. General Eisenhower (then a Colonel) was a staff office in the \u201cBattle of Louisiana\u201d back in 1940 when that state was \u201cinvaded\u201d by two American Armies. The Louisiana residents warmly welcomed the roughly 400,000 soldiers, who were often graciously billeted in private homes without cost. It was the last big exercise before the real war, and important lessons were learned, including the need for independent armored divisions.<\/p>\n<p>But back to the present. The surprising and disheartening aspect of Jade Helm 15 is the reaction of many sincere Christians who see this exercise through the eyes of a far right conspiracy theory. They are informed, or rather misinformed, by right-wing anti-Obama web sites, and talk radio commentators such as Alex Jones.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"pullquote\"><strong><em>A pattern of suspended logical thinking is one of the marks of a true conspiracy theory.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>The current conspiracy theory affirms that Jade Helm is a preparation for the invasion of Texas by some sort of politicized U.S. Armed Forces task force. The ultimate intent of which is the disarming and arresting of those Texans opposed to the Obama Administration. Part of this conspiracy theory includes the belief that certain temporarily vacant Wal-Marts will be used by these elite forces as staging areas and\/or prisons for the arrested Texans. Some of the \u201cevidence\u201d that this theory is true is the fact that the Jade Helms exercise maps have Texas labeled as \u201cenemy territory.\u201d (Indeed, Eisenhower had a similar map with parts of Louisiana labeled as \u201cenemy.\u201d That\u2019s part of what you do in a training exercise.)<\/p>\n<p>The public briefing about Jade Helm in Bastrop, Texas, by the Army information officer, Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria, turned nasty. The conspiracy theory believers called the officer a liar, and that he was hiding the \u201ctrue intent\u201d of the exercise.<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a> The conspiracy theory believers credit the soldiers participating as true patriots but, \u201cThey are merely following orders. What are under question are those who are pulling the strings at the top of Jade Helm 15 back in Washington.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But possibly the worst element of this conspiracy theory incident is that it has been given partial credence by the current governor of Texas, Greg Abbott. He ordered the Texas National Guard to \u201cmonitor\u201d the various Armed Forces units that are taking part in the exercise.<a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The elements of this conspiracy theory, like most others, are illogical and ludicrous. This irrationality is occulted in the believer\u2019s mind by the accumulated distrust, disdain and fear of the Obama administration. This pattern of suspended logical thinking is one of the marks of a true conspiracy theory.<\/p>\n<p>Let me take more time than I should to deconstruct this particular conspiracy theory.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A majority of Texans disapprove of the Obama Administration. Using \u201cback of the envelope\u201d figures, that comes to at least 10,000,000 Texans who seriously dislike or distrust Obama. That is a whole lot of \u201copposition\u201d to disarm and herd into various Wal-Marts. Especially given that Texans are among the most heavily armed segment of the American population, with untold numbers of hand-guns, assault rifles, 50 caliber sniper rifles, etc., in their possession. Our Special Forces and Seals and other anti-terrorist units contain some of the best soldiers in the world, but 1,200 against 10,000,000 is not possible except in action hero comic books.<\/li>\n<li>Most officers and enlisted personnel of our Armed Forces are of a center, or right-wing political opinion. Left leaning youth generally have distrust or contempt for our Armed Forces. Thus, few left-wing persons join our Armed forces, either at the officer or enlisted level. The demographics of the Armed Forces makes any campaign against right-wing civilians in Texas, or any other part of America that is \u201copposed to Obama\u201d impossible.<\/li>\n<li>Officers and non-commissioned officers of all branches are educated, as part of their training, to disobey \u201cillegal orders.\u201d I remember instructions on this in my training during the Vietnam War. We had a film showing an imaginary incident in which an officer instructed a sergeant to force prisoners to march in front of his platoon to set off mines in a suspected minefield. That is against the Geneva Convention and the order by the officer was an illegal order. Our class was shown how to disobey such an order. The Armed forces still do that type of instruction. No American officer or soldier would obey the \u201cmother and father\u201d of all illegal orders\u2014to arrest the \u201cObama opposition\u201d even if such an insane order were given. Next time your son or cousin comes home for leave ask him if he would obey an order to arrest and possibly shoot the \u201cObama opposition.\u201d This conspiracy theory is a slander to the American Armed Forces.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Even before this current Jade Helm conspiracy theory started doing its rounds, there were other web-based conspiracy theories about a government takeover on the web and talk-radio. One was that the Federal Government agents were disarming the American population by buying up all small arms ammunition. Again, Wal-Mart got into the myth, with the claim that Wal-Mart was completely sold out of small arms ammunition. Actually, many Wal-Marts, which are known for their low pricing on ammo, routinely sell out of stock and then restock within a day or two.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"pullquote\"><strong>\u201cBut I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Matthew 12:36-38<\/strong><\/div>To deconstruct: this conspiracy theory is impossible. Small arms ammo is easy to manufacture, and manufacturers would be delighted to have the government agents try to outstrip their production capacity. This does not even take into account that so many people in the country have home repacking machines in which they reload their spent cartridges. I was told this conspiracy theory by a very nice, intelligent couple in a church I attended for a while. Again, the anger and distrust accumulated against Obama occulted reasonableness and logic.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conspiracy Theories Defined<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Let me give a tentative definition of just what a conspiracy theory is:<\/p>\n<p>It is a story that focuses on one group or person to explain of the \u201cwrongness,\u201d or evil of a historical event, present situation, or <em>future imagined event<\/em>. Such theories avoid the issue of mankind\u2019s universal sinfulness, error and foolishness. Conspiracy theories usually hold that when something bad happened in history, it was intentional by some group or person.\u00a0Many such reinterpretations of history assume that that there are no accidents or random events\u2014everything was intentional. Similarly, a <em>predictive conspiracy theory<\/em> (as in the Jade Helm 15 conspiracy theory) is an invented story that an evil group or person is about to do something terrible. In conspiracy theories, suspicions are considered facts, and little or no attempt is made to verify the information on logical or evidential grounds. The anger, suspicion and distrust embraced by the conspiracy theory believer diminishes or destroys logical or factual verification.<\/p>\n<p>It is often easier to understand the false logic of a conspiracy theory from a foreign country than one that deals with our own fears and suspicions. For instance, few Americans would hold the conspiracy theory that the crash that killed Princess Diana was a conspiracy devised by Queen Elizabeth and carried out by British intelligence (or the CIA\u2014pick your villain, perhaps even a Bulgarian intelligence operative).<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"pullquote\"><strong><em>Some conspiracy theories are far from harmless.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>Let me again deconstruct this one. The tragic accident that led to Diana\u2019s death was one of those things impossible to fine tune into a planned assassination. How do you manipulate the driver to be inebriated enough to crash, but not so staggering drunk that the Princess would have not gotten into the car with him? What about the speed of the car and angle of the crash? Minor differences would have resulted in a broken leg and arm, not death, etc. Car crashes are poor instruments of assassinations\u2014much better some poisoned food from the Queen\u2019s kitchen, again with a Bulgarian intelligence operative as the agent! The Princess Diana conspiracy theory has been mostly harmless, except that, as all conspiracy theories, it reinforced the hold of unwarranted suspicion and illogical thinking on the conspiracy theory believer\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/274px-Surveyor_3-Apollo_12.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>Other conspiracy theories leave wide wakes of destructiveness. When I taught public school at a predominantly African American high school in the 1970\u2019s I saw the establishment of a conspiracy theory that was far from harmless. It related to recent moon landings by the NASA astronauts (first one was in 1969). Most of the children in the school refused to believe the landing really took place, but were staged in some warehouse.<a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a> Given the state of alienation of the African American children from the government and its scientific efforts, it is easy to see why this conspiracy theory was attractive. The NASA team had no visible African-American presence. Less easy to discern was why it was destructive, aside from the fact that it was an accepted lie.<\/p>\n<p>This conspiracy theory made science and scientific achievement less exciting and important among the children who accepted it, than those who understood that a lunar landing had really taken place. Great scientists and engineers are generally people who as children got excited about science, making model airplanes, rockets, etc., and did special library research (now internet) and school science projects with enthusiasm. Much of that was short circuited among African American children by the conspiracy theory about the faked moon landing. Why do science if it is just a White Man\u2019s plot to fool people? It is impossible for us to know how many potential scientists among the African American community were side tracked from developing their true talents in science and engineering. From my experience at this one school, I suspect it was many (but have no conspiracy theory on this yet).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Anti-Semitism as Multiple Conspiracy Theories<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 128px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/wiki_ProtocolsZion_US1934.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"128\" height=\"199\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;The Protocols&#8221; distributed from Chicago in 1934.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Some conspiracy theories are more destructive, and even genocidal in their effects. The Nazi extermination of the Jews in Europe can be seen as the product of multiple conspiracy theories, some dating back centuries which blamed the Jews for all sorts of evil. One of the most infamous was <em>The Protocols of the Elders of Zion<\/em>, a concoction written about 1903, which purported to be the minutes of a plot by prominent Jewish leaders to rule the world through increasing control of banking, newspapers and government. It was definitively exposed in 1921 as a fraud. But no matter, it continued to be believed in as authentic by many, including Henry Ford who paid to have half a million copies printed and distributed in the United States.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Protocols of the Elders of Zion<\/em> was one of the cornerstones of Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda. The Nazis added to it by inventing the conspiracy theory that they had lost the World War I because they had been \u201cstabbed in the back\u201d by Jewish radicals and communists. That was not true of course, but as in many conspiracy theories, it had a shadow of truth. Radical and Marxist Jews did take part in the anti-war agitation in Germany in 1918, and had leading roles in the Communist ruled temporary governments that appeared in 1918-1919, as in Bavaria and Berlin. But the main factors in the German\u2019s loss of the War were the injection in 1918 of fresh American divisions in the fighting, and the effective blockade of the British fleet which left the German people and Army in starvation status. Again, plain facts are of little importance over the emotional need of a conspiracy theory to give comfort or reassurance. That is, the new conspiracy theory confirms a set of older ones, and the German public had a great backlog of older conspiracy theories about the Jews.<\/p>\n<p>Most Christians today are aware of Nazi anti-Semitism and its conspiracy theory myths, but have little knowledge of the long and tragic history of anti-Semitism in European Christianity and the part that conspiracy theories played in that tragic history. There were pogroms against Jews by Christians throughout the Middle Ages. This reached a murderous crescendo when the bubonic plague spread among in Europe in the years 1347 to 1352, killing over 30% of the population. As the plague was taking its deadly toll a conspiracy theory spread that the Jews were causing it by poisoning the wells and other imagined means. No one had the slightest idea that the disease was spread by rat lice. Mobs rioted, chased down and murdered hundreds of thousands of Jews, often burning them to death. Jews were banished from most countries in Western Europe and fled to Poland, where the plague had not spread, and to Arab lands.<a href=\"#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The illogical coupling of death by plague and Jews in a causative relationship points to how easily conspiracy theories are generated. All that is needed is a negative or tragic situation, and a hated group or person\u2014no provable or logical connections needed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The CIA Did It!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A recent example of a conspiracy theory with no discernible connection grew out of the tragic floods that afflicted Pakistan in 2010. The floods were unprecedented in Pakistan history. In some areas twelve feet of rain fell in a week\u2019s time. Over 700,000 people were made homeless and the death toll was very high (and suppressed by the government to avoid political fallout). The immediate cause was an unusual shift in the jet stream which pushed the monsoon rains to the north and upon the treeless mountains of north Pakistan. A strong high pressure front in China kept the rains in place. Weather scientists blamed this unusual chain of events on climate change.<\/p>\n<p>But the disaster was also man-made. In 1948 the newly independent Pakistan was one-third forest, mostly in the mountains. Only about 4% remained forested when the rains came in 2010. Few trees were left to absorb the rains and slow the water. That change had been caused by the expanding population\u2019s needs for wood for cooking, but mostly by the \u201ctree mafia\u201d which illegally cut trees in great numbers and bribed politicians and police in order to get away with it.<a href=\"#_ftn7\" name=\"_ftnref7\">[7]<\/a> However, on the city streets another reason was given for the floods; \u201cThe Americans did it!\u201d How? No explanations were given; the CIA is known to be evil, smart and technically savvy. Further, when the chaos of the situation prevented the quick arrival of US Aid the Pakistanis anger towards the Americans went up another notch.<a href=\"#_ftn8\" name=\"_ftnref8\">[8]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Similarly, certain left-wing and Afro-centric groups in America blamed the CIA or other government agencies for creating the HIV virus as a purposeful genocidal tool aimed at African Americans and homosexuals. Unlike other conspiracy theories which have nebulous origins, we now know where this one came from. It originated as a propaganda piece produced by the Communist East German Government as part of the anti-American campaign they supported for decades.<a href=\"#_ftn9\" name=\"_ftnref9\">[9]<\/a> That claim was repeated in African American and left-wing journals in the United States and overseas. Scientific studies have conclusively shown that the HIV virus jumped from Green Monkeys (where it was non-lethal to the monkeys) to humans sometime in the early Twentieth Century, but remained localized until the 1970s when better transportation made the spread possible.<a href=\"#_ftn10\" name=\"_ftnref10\">[10]<\/a> Even today many people believe in this \u201cmade in America\u201d conspiracy theory. Again, good science does not matter in the face of a need to invent a villain as the cause of a great tragedy.<\/p>\n<p>The majority of the conspiracy theories circulating in the United States nowadays come from right-wing sources. But this has not always been the case. Jim Jones of Guyana was a radical left-winger who disguised himself as a Christian pastor although he was really a non-believer. He established a commune in California which he then moved to Guyana. His group was known for placing social activism and racial integration on top of their agenda. Before they relocated to South America they had attracted many luminaries of the Democratic Party who did not discern Jones\u2019 radically communist agenda (or chose to ignore it).<\/p>\n<p>Jones blended Marxist doctrine with New Age ideas and topped it off with a conspiracy theory that CIA was coming to destroy the group in a paratrooper attack. Jones assured his group that the way out was to be \u201ctranslated\u201d to a socialist paradise in another planet by way of suicide. That mass suicide\/murder<a href=\"#_ftn11\" name=\"_ftnref11\">[11]<\/a> of his commune in 1978 cost the lives of over nine hundred people, three hundred of which were children.<a href=\"#_ftn12\" name=\"_ftnref12\">[12]<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>William Buckley Spares the Republicans of Conspiracy Theory Domination<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 80px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/WilliammBuckley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"80\" height=\"114\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">William F. Buckley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The founder of the modern American Conservative Movement was William F. Buckley, Jr. His book <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/God-Man-Yale-Superstitions-Academic\/dp\/089526692X?tag=pneuma08-20&amp;linkCode=ptl&amp;linkId=da40bdc6bdd91c3744364930c816b4ef\"><em>God and Man at Yale<\/em><\/a> launched him as the preeminent spokesman for the anti-liberal and conservative view.<a href=\"#_ftn13\" name=\"_ftnref13\">[13]<\/a> He worked for several years in the conservative Journal, <em>The American Mercury<\/em>, but resigned from it when he noticed a creeping anti-Semitism in its writers. In 1955 he established the <em>National Review<\/em> that serves to this day as the main voice of American Conservatism. He was a devout Catholic, and strong anti-Communist. Significantly, he strongly opposed the influence of Ayn Rand on conservatism, seeing her atheism as destructive to the conservative\u2019s sense of religion and spiritual accountability.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"pullquote\"><strong><em>And what if their goals are reached? Paradise will still not be achieved because man is inherently sinful. There are always unforeseen, unintended consequences.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>Few people remember that Buckley was the main figure in banishing Robert Welch and his conspiracy theory laden John Birch Society from the Republican Party. Ironically, it was a real conspiracy between him, Russell Kirk, Senator Barry Goldwater and a few others who met secretly in 1961 in Palm Beach, Florida. For those under forty, Senator Goldwater was the spokesman of the conservative wing of the Republican Party in the Senate. He was the Republican nominee for president in 1964, and was defeated by Lyndon Johnson in that election. The Palm Beach group brainstormed what to do about the John Birch Society\u2019s growing influence on both the Conservative movement and the Republican Party.<a href=\"#_ftn14\" name=\"_ftnref14\">[14]<\/a><\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 114px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/RobertWelch.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"114\" height=\"125\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Robert Welch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The John Birch Society was founded just after World War II by Robert Welch, a businessman, to counter the rise of communism. This laudable goal was marred by a cluster of conspiracy theories about why communism was advancing, as in for instance, the fall of anti-Communist Nationalist China and the triumph of Mao\u2019s Communist \u201cPeoples\u2019 Republic.\u201d Robert Welch believed it was due to a Communist takeover of the American government that ultimately allowed the triumph of Mao\u2019s Red Army. Among other things Welch believed that President Dwight Eisenhower was a \u201cconscious agent of communism\u201d and American foreign policy was a sly scheme to turn the world over to communism, just as in China. Other conspiracy theories of the Society included the belief that the fluoridation of water was also a communist conspiracy to ruin the health of the American people.<a href=\"#_ftn15\" name=\"_ftnref15\">[15]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>At the Palm Beach meeting Senator Goldwater, who was preparing to run for president, expressed both his admiration and concern for the John Birchers. They were enthusiastic anti-Communists and great donors to the Republican Party. But these crazy conspiracy theories, what was wrong with them? Buckley answered that the fallacy was \u201cthe assumption that you can infer subjective intention from objective consequence: we lost China to the Communists, therefore the President of the United States and the Secretary of State wished China to go to the Communists.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn16\" name=\"_ftnref16\">[16]<\/a> This of course is at the heart of many conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 90px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/BGoldwater.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"90\" height=\"135\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Senator Barry Goldwater<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Goldwater thanked Buckley for his insight, and those at the meeting agreed on a plan to finesse the Birchers out of the Republican Party. Goldwater proceeded to publicly attack the Birchers\u2019 conspiracy theories, while still lauding its members as patriots. Buckley used the <em>National Review<\/em> to publish a series of searing articles, by himself and others, on the Society and Robert Welch. In a letter to the <em>National Review<\/em>, Goldwater publicly affirmed Buckley\u2019s position:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I think you have clearly stated the problem which Mr. Welch\u2019s continued leadership of the John Birch Society poses for sincere conservatives. \u2026 Mr. Welch is only one man, and I do not believe his views, far removed from reality and common sense as they are, represent the feelings of most members of the John Birch Society. \u2026 Because of this, I believe the best thing Mr. Welch could do to serve the cause of anti-Communism in the United States would be to resign. \u2026 We cannot allow the emblem of irresponsibility to attach to the conservative banner.<a href=\"#_ftn17\" name=\"_ftnref17\">[17]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The \u201cPalm Beach Conspiracy\u201d ultimately worked. Although Welch did not resign, and the John Birch Society continued in its conspiracy theories, it was shunned and marginalized by the Republican leadership and faded from influence. The Republican Party became rationally conservative (i.e. reasoned argument which avoided conspiracy theories) and became the party that ultimately got Ronald Regan elected president.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 118px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/BirchSociety-bluebook.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"118\" height=\"170\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An anthology of conspiracy theories, <em>The Blue Book of the John Birch Society<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Unfortunately, in the recent decade some of the John Birch Society\u2019s now gray-haired veterans and their literature have influenced the Tea Party.<a href=\"#_ftn18\" name=\"_ftnref18\">[18]<\/a> Several commentators on both the left and right of American politics have lamented that at the present moment there is no one among American conservatives with the prestige, intelligence and authority of Buckley to place the Tea Party and its conspiracy theories, including the Jade Helm conspiracy theory, in its place.<a href=\"#_ftn19\" name=\"_ftnref19\">[19]<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>A Classic American Conspiracy Theory: Roosevelt and Pearl Harbor<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When I was in high school, our history teacher was a fervent Republican and an avowed Roosevelt hater. He was a believer in the conspiracy theory that FDR enticed the Japanese into attacking the US fleet at Pearl Harbor in order to get the United States into World War II. Further, Roosevelt prevented the American fleet from being forewarned of the attack. That conspiracy theory was based on a book written in 1944 and subsequently elaborated in other works. The conspiracy theory was thrashed about in the 1950s and 1960s, but rebutted by reputable historians. It made a new appearance in 2000 with the book <em>Day of Deceit.<\/em><a href=\"#_ftn20\" name=\"_ftnref20\">[20]<\/a> Again, reputable military historians have dismissed it. It supposes a large and extremely close knit group of conspirators all the way from General Marshall, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a man of enormous integrity, to mid-level and junior offers all over the Pacific.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 303px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/USS_Arizona_JapaneseAttack.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"303\" height=\"240\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The USS Arizona during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>Day of Deceit<\/em> is elaborate nonsense that confuses the mistakes and oversights with conspiracies. Militarily informed reviewers, such as Dr. Conrad Crane of the US Army War College, have lambasted the book as inaccurate at its critical points.<a href=\"#_ftn21\" name=\"_ftnref21\">[21]<\/a> But many anti-Obama Republicans enjoy reading <em>Day of Deceit<\/em>, as it confirms their suspicion that in the past there was another Democratic president as destructive and evil as Obama.<\/p>\n<p>The movie <em>Tora, Tora, Tora<\/em> gave an excellent presentation of what really happened and how the sneak attack was <em>almost<\/em> intercepted. Part of the conspiracy theory was that the US Pacific Fleet moved from San Diego to Pearl Harbor in order to lure the Japanese into an attack. No, the intention was to dissuade the Japanese, who were already in a war with China, form further attacking the Dutch East Indies and other areas in the Pacific. The move was a form of intimidation.<\/p>\n<p>Roosevelt and his military planners in the US really wanted to postpone war with Japan while limiting its advances, and fight Nazi Germany first. The Administration was indeed moving to get the American public to go to war with Germany. In fact there was an undeclared destroyer vs. submarines war with Germany for weeks before December 7 in which one U.S. destroyer had already been sunk.<\/p>\n<p>The American Navy believed that a Japanese attack would likely target the Panama Canal or the Philippines, with a fast battleship fleet, not the well defended base at Pearl Harbor. The cross ocean attack by five large carries and supporting ships was a daring innovation, and something that was only devised early in 1941. The ability to launch a massive 500 plane attack was something not anticipated by American naval planers, especially as they believed the Japanese to be technically behind our forces. In fact Japanese carrier operations, including ground crew training and their Zero fighter, were superior to ours.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, an important diplomatic message from Tokyo was decoded by American code-breakers a few hours before the attack. It was to the Japanese staff in Washington informing the delegation to end negotiations with Washington on December 7, and that \u201cthings will automatically happen.\u201d This seems to be a huge red flag to the American decoders, and an indicator to place all the Pacific Forces on a war footing. However, the warning message had a problem in transmission via short wave radio and was sent via telegram, which was much slower. The telegram arrived in the middle of the Japanese attack. There was a sin and arrogance fueled mistake here. The Army officer in charge of the decoding saw the problem at the Army short wave facility and suggested the message be sent via the Navy short wave radio. His superior officer ridiculed the idea, believing the Navy short wave could not be clear if the Army one was not\u2014in fact it was.<\/p>\n<p>At Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7<sup>th<\/sup> the newly installed Army radar operators saw the massive Japanese attack coming and warned the duty office. He had been briefed the night before that a squadron of B-17s was coming in to reinforce Pearl. He disregarded even the second warning by the radar operator as some sort of inexperience and exaggeration. There was no conspiracy in these events, merely carelessness and arrogance which led to mistakes.<\/p>\n<p>In Battle of Jutland, the greatest naval battle of World War I, there was a similar communications error. The German Navy could have been trapped and destroyed in the battle, possibly ending the war earlier. The German naval code had been broken by a secret group of British mathematicians. However an important message deciphered during the battle and giving the location and destination of the German fleet was delayed as the officer in charge thought it was of little importance. Again, the mistake was made in part because of the sin of pride, as the officer was an aristocrat who disdained his middle class cryptographers.<a href=\"#_ftn22\" name=\"_ftnref22\">[22]<\/a><\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 294px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/JapanesePlanesOverPhilippines.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"294\" height=\"172\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Japanese planes over the Philippines sending MacArthur a message that his idea of a neutral Philippines was not going to work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We should also note about the Pearl Harbor conspiracy theory, its writers, who are passionately anti-Roosevelt, have never invented a conspiracy theory about how General MacArthur \u201callowed\u201d the American Army in the Philippines to be surprised by the initial Japanese attack, which took place twelve hours <em>after<\/em> the attack on Pearl Harbor. Most of the American planes were destroyed on the ground, just as at Pearl harbor.<\/p>\n<p>The truth is clear but somewhat complex. MacArthur wore two hats in the Philippines. He was commander of the American Armed forces there, but also the commander of the semi-autonomous Philippine Armed Forces. He and Philippine President Quezon had a hope that a war between the US and Japan would bypass the Philippines. Thus MacArthur initially avoided any aggressive moves against Japanese targets, as in sending out his B-17 bombers. Also, his Air Corps chief, who knew more about aerial warfare than MacArthur and would have immediately dispersed the aircraft, was in Australia coordinating with that government for the possible war. It was a misjudgment on MacArthur\u2019s part.<a href=\"#_ftn23\" name=\"_ftnref23\">[23]<\/a> Of course, General MacArthur is one of the heroes of the American Right and so there is no emotional gain from forming a conspiracy theory about how he supposedly enticed the Japanese to attack.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lack of Historical Wisdom is Costly<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We in the West live in societies that are normally supportive and appreciative of historical knowledge and the wisdom it gives. Conspiracy theories are normally looked upon with suspicion. This heritage of sound historical understanding is due to the Biblical foundations of Western culture, with an assist from the Greek and Roman classical tradition.<a href=\"#_ftn24\" name=\"_ftnref24\">[24]<\/a> Here in the West, it is possible to find a wide variety of well written histories that ultimately follow the biblical model of telling the truth. They attempt to understand the true motives and goals of all the persons involved, which may include criticizing the faults and mistakes of national heroes.<\/p>\n<p>Cultures that do not have this biblical and classical heritage are less historically conscious, and their history books are often little more than propaganda for the national or religious elites. This is most obvious in Islamic cultures. Bernard Lewis, the great Arab scholar noted this in his recent book, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/What-Went-Wrong-Between-Modernity\/dp\/0060516054?tag=pneuma08-20&amp;linkCode=ptl&amp;linkId=20d7b3d24784e8e1cf796050aafce918\">What Went Wrong? The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East<\/a>. <\/em>He saw that Arab countries have been anxious to adopt Western technology and science, but have been disinterested in adopting the Western tradition of critical historical thinking and writing.<a href=\"#_ftn25\" name=\"_ftnref25\">[25]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Koran has no separate historical books such as 1 &amp; 2 Chronicles, Acts, etc. Rather, there are historical vignettes scattered about the Koran, with no clear chain of historical consequences. There is nothing in Koran to parallel the magnificent and tragic ending of 2 Chronicles where the author relentlessly exposes the ultimate cause of the destruction of Solomon\u2019s Temple via the apostasy and disobedience of the Jewish people:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The\u00a0Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers\u00a0again and again,\u00a0because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.\u00a0But they mocked God\u2019s messengers, despised his words and scoffed\u00a0at his prophets until the wrath\u00a0of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.\u00a0He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians,\u00a0who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men\u00a0or young women, the elderly or the infirm.\u00a0God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.\u00a0He carried to Babylon all the articles\u00a0from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord\u2019s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials.\u00a0They set fire\u00a0to God\u2019s temple\u00a0and broke down the wall\u00a0of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed\u00a0everything of value there (2 Chron 36:15-19, NIV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Nor does the Koran have any prophetic books similar to Isaiah or Jeremiah which criticize the People of God for forsaking the Law of God. In the Bible, even the historical books blend in the prophetic and reproof motif, as in Nathan\u2019s reproof of David for his sins of murder and adultery (2 Sam 12:1-13).<\/p>\n<p>Lacking these models, some Muslims, with their heightened sense of God\u2019s sovereignty, can often only think in terms of Allah\u2019s will, and the faults and sins of <em>other peoples<\/em>. Accepting fault for national sins seems to be an insult on the Koran and Islam. For instance, the attempt of Turkey to join the European Union was obstructed by the Turkish government\u2019s refusal to acknowledge their responsibility in the Armenian genocide of 1915-1918. There is simply no model for such a critical self-judgment in the Koran.<\/p>\n<p>Often the Muslim reaction to critical and embarrassing aspects of their own history is to ignore the matter or cover it up. Again, for instance, the Turkish government has gone to great lengths to bulldoze the remnants of its abandoned Armenian villages. Similarly, Palestinians in the West Bank have frequently purposely pulverized ancient Temple artifacts in the attempt to negate that there really was an ancient Jewish temple in Jerusalem.<a href=\"#_ftn26\" name=\"_ftnref26\">[26]<\/a> Without a true sense of critical history, Islamic peoples are wide open to conspiracy theories. This happens even at a local business enterprise level where offices and plants are riddled by factionalism because disputes and normal disagreements devolve into local conspiracy theories between \u201cthem\u201d vs. \u201cus.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn27\" name=\"_ftnref27\">[27]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This comparison is important to the discussion of our current epidemic of conspiracy theories. The more the American public gives way to the conspiracy theory pattern of thinking, the more it walks away from its heritage of biblical and Western ways of historical thinking.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Suspicion as Necessary in a Sinful World<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In this article I have used \u201csuspicion\u201d in a negative sense as a major component of conspiracy theories. But suspicion is not necessarily evil, and in fact is a necessary component of wisdom in a fallen and sinful world. Let me give an example by telling a parable of an imaginary church.<a href=\"#_ftn28\" name=\"_ftnref28\">[28]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>At St. John\u2019s Church, a visitor comes on Sunday and is convicted of his sins during the sermon. He continues in attendance and later gives witness to his conversion. He had been a card shark and gambler, and often cheated at gambling with slights of hand. He was skilled at this and never caught. He vowed to live clean and now has a job as a salesman. At church he volunteered to be an usher.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"pullquote\"><strong><em>Restoration to how things should be does not hinge on the elimination of an evil conspiracy. Restoration depends on one thing: the repentance of God\u2019s people and their return to righteousness.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>However, from the Sunday he began ushering there was a noticeable decrease in the cash receipts of the offering. The rector became suspicious. He thought, perhaps the man was tempted by the cash fell into his old habits. Discreetly the rector moved him to the greeters\u2019 ministry. The shortfall ceased. At this point the rector\u2019s suspicion seemed to have been verified, although there was no proof of any theft. Perhaps the shortfall variations were a coincidence? The rector considered sharing his suspicion with his vestry, but decided not to, as there was no direct evidence about the matter and the shortfalls had ceased. Six months later his organist comes to him, guilt ridden, and confesses that she took the money from the safe. When she leaves he gives a sigh of relief that he never shared his suspicion with the vestry. It would have been merely gossip.<\/p>\n<p>In this parable we see the right use of suspicion. Suspicions should not be shared until there is positive evidence. What separates normal and useful suspicions from conspiracy theories is that in conspiracy theories suspicions are given the credence of facts, and any coincidences are viewed as verification of the conspiracy. For instance, that a map at a war game room labels Texas as \u201cenemy\u201d verifies that Obama is planning an invasion of Texas.<\/p>\n<p>Some conspiracies are not evil and may even be necessary. They happen all the time. A company develops a new product at great expense and secretly plans its launch and marketing program. That is a conspiracy of sorts, and it is necessary to profit on its innovation. We saw also how William Buckley, Senator Goldwater and others conspired to remove the John Birch Society from the center of the Republican Party. That Palm Beach meeting had to be secret, and it ultimately did much good. Conspiracies are secret plans, conspiracy theories are beliefs that secret plans have been launched and have produced evil when there is only a suspicion of such plans.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Biblical View of History Contrasted to the Conspiracy Theories of History<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Why is it that so many of the books of the Bible are historical? That type of religious writings is not found in the scriptures of other world religions. Especially unique in the Bible are the historical books that repeat with different perspectives the same events, as the Gospels or the books of 1 &amp;2 Chronicles. What type of wisdom does God expect us to receive from historical books? These are important questions that we must keep in mind as we compare the Biblical view of history with conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"pullquote\"><strong><em>Why is so much of the Bible historical?<\/em><\/strong><\/div>The historical books of the Bible stress man\u2019s freedom and responsibility in obeying or disobeying God and His commandments. God does not interfere in man\u2019s freedom to obey or disobey, or to be foolish, but rather <em>works though sin and foolishness<\/em> to get His providential way. An example is found in the account of Joseph and his brothers. After all the sin and pain Joseph experienced he said to his brothers:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!\u00a0And now, do not be distressed\u00a0and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.\u00a0For two years now there has been famine\u00a0in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping.\u00a0But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant\u00a0on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance\u201d (Gen 45: 4-7).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In the Bible evil and destruction are often the fruit of mankind\u2019s own foolishness and sin. Note that in the fall of Jerusalem described in 2 Chronicles 36 (cited above), there is no hint of a conspiracy. Jerusalem fell and the Temple was destroyed not because some traitorous and conspiratorial party within Jerusalem opened the grates to the Babylonian Army. No, the Babylonians succeeded via the superiority of their army that was ultimately put in motion by Israel\u2019s sins and disobedience.<\/p>\n<p>The Bible sense of history gives us hope. We may be disobedient, but after pain there is restoration and gain. But in contrast to conspiracy theories, restoration does not depend on the elimination or political ousting of an evil conspiratorial group, but on repentance and a return to righteousness of God\u2019s people. Those things bring about positive circumstances and divine protection.<\/p>\n<p>We see this work out in the Israeli exile and return from their captivity in Babylon. In fact, the captives were first enticed by false prophecy to believe that they would be returned to Jerusalem by a prophet called Hananiah. He was prophesying out of his \u201cflesh,\u201d as Paul would put it, and confused his yearnings for God\u2019s word. It pleased, and confused the exiles. But Jeremiah put Hananiah in his place:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, \u201cListen, Hananiah! The\u00a0Lord\u00a0has not sent\u00a0you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. Therefore this is what the\u00a0Lord\u00a0says: \u2018I am about to remove you from the face of the earth.\u00a0This very year you are going to die,\u00a0because you have preached rebellion\u00a0against the\u00a0Lord\u2019\u201d (Jer 28: 15-16).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>To the contrary Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles which really reflected God\u2019s will and plans for them. It deflated heroic expectancy of the exiles. No hero would rescue them, the Babylonian King would not die in battle, etc.. Instead the true prophet had mundane but spiritually significant instructions:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>This is what the\u00a0Lord\u00a0Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:\u00a0\u201cBuild\u00a0houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.\u00a0Also, seek\u00a0the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray\u00a0to the\u00a0Lord\u00a0for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper\u201d (Jer 29:4-7).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The exiles obeyed the true word of God, settled, blessed and prayed for the local government, and awaited Divine restoration. That came, as described in the same chapter of Chronicles which described the horrible fall of the Jerusalem, via an unexpected source, a pagan king:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In the first year of Cyrus\u00a0king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the\u00a0Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the\u00a0Lord\u00a0moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: \u201cThis is what Cyrus king of Persia says: \u201c\u2018The\u00a0Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed\u00a0me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the\u00a0Lord\u00a0their God be with them\u2019\u201d (2 Chron 36: 22-23).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><div class=\"pullquote\"><strong><em>Conspiracy theories are counterfeit history.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>This passage also suggests that Divine Providence is most often different from natural expectations and the \u201cwisdom\u201d of conspiracy theories which play on the fears of their host group. God, in his respect for human freedom allows great tragedy to happen in the lives of nations, but there is always his hidden hand to make a way out. Let us take the example of China. Mao triumphed over Chang-Kai-Check, and this led to horrific consequences in millions of persons, executed, starved to death by irrational communist policies, and a \u201cGreat Leap Forward\u201d that left tens of millions dead, imprisoned and exiled for no reason.<a href=\"#_ftn29\" name=\"_ftnref29\">[29]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But through the ashes of destruction and millions killed came a rebirth of the Christian church in China, totally indigenous, evangelical and powerful in prayer. That was an unexpected event. Western Christians were horrified by the destruction of the churches, and the take-over of hospitals and schools founded by its missionaries. They had no idea that a rebirth of Chinese Christianity could happen until reports of the new Chinese house churches began filtering out in the 1990s. Mao was not overthrown, the communists still rule in China, but so does God\u2019s providence.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conspiracy Theory as a Counterfeit to the Wisdom of History<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><div class=\"pullquote\"><strong><em>Christians who buy into conspiracy theories often cannot see, and are not willing to allow, God\u2019s providential work in history and culture.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>From the biblical standard, conspiracy theories are counterfeit history. They rob a person of the wisdom one should have in reading and understanding historical situations and present crises. Persons under the sway of a conspiracy theory, Christian or not, assume that the elimination of an evil group and the triumph of a \u201cgood\u201d faction will bring about peace and harmony. This over values the worth of whatever faction is favored, Tea Party, John Birch Society, etc. and exaggerates the evil and power of the opposite political faction or party. In effect, politics is confused with messianic expectations.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"pullquote\"><strong><em>Our political views are marred by our sinful limitations in discerning which news stories and sources are most accurate.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>Christians who buy into conspiracy theories often cannot see, and are not willing to allow, God\u2019s providential work in history and culture. They believe they must give divine providence a hand. They want the offensive group or faction removed so that the golden age may come forth. That dream might be as the Tea Party wishes, a liberal-free America and a return to a minimalist interpretation of the Constitution. A left-wing Christian might dream of a Republican-free America with a socialist economic system. And what if their goals are reached? Paradise will still not be achieved because man is inherently sinful. Unintended consequences of policies will breed a new generation of problems. Let us recall that the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and communism in its virulent, state-established form was destroyed.<a href=\"#_ftn30\" name=\"_ftnref30\">[30]<\/a> A political scientist declared in a famous essay that the world had come to \u201cThe end of history.\u201d That is, that democracy and free enterprise had won out and serious world conflicts would not reoccur.<a href=\"#_ftn31\" name=\"_ftnref31\">[31]<\/a> Well, guess what?<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Spiritual Harm of Conspiracy Theories<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Christians who hold to conspiracy theories are subject to various distortions and detours in their Christian walk. For one, they acquire a sense of superiority over the common folk who don\u2019t believe in their conspiracy theory. They view themselves as having superior wisdom and discernment, when in fact the opposite is true. Conspiracy theories create a form of Gnosticism in the congregation in which an elite status is reserved for those who are in the know.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"pullquote\"><strong><em>Real spiritual progress demands the humility to know we are all sinners.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>Real spiritual progress demands the humility to know we are all sinners. Our political views are marred by our sinful limitations in discerning which news stories and sources are most accurate.<\/p>\n<p>In many mono-political churches in the United States, conspiracy theories of one sort or another are believed by practically everyone in the congregation. This makes a critical evaluation of conspiracy theories not only difficult, but grounds for being disfellowshipped. For instance, Anglo congregations in the Bible Belt accept right-wing conspiracy theories such as the one surrounding Jade Helm with little attempt at logical or factual analysis. Similarly, churches that have a predominantly left-wing congregation will be captivated by left-wing conspiracy theories, such as the CIA invention of AIDS. The end result is that these churches will have less empathy for Christians of opposite political leanings and conflicting conspiracy theories. This leads to less communication and cooperation in areas where the church should be united. In short, conspiracy theories function as one more tool for Satan to use in further dividing an already divided church.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What Can Christians Do to Resist Falling into Conspiracy Theories? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><div class=\"pullquote\"><strong><em>The first thing to do when hearing about what might be a conspiracy is to ask if it is probable.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>First, as a negative story about an opposing person or group begins to circulate, ask the question, is this <em>probable<\/em>? Asking if it is possible is not helpful, since practically anything is possible. Also ask which factors would diminish the possibility of this being true. Invite the Holy Spirit to assist in this discernment.<\/p>\n<p>Second, beware of explanatory theories of history or the present world situation that explain too much or are too simple. I once had a member of my congregation try to convince me that World War I began because cars and trucks had just been invented, and Britain, Germany and France all wanted to dominate the new market. This is, of course, nonsense.<a href=\"#_ftn32\" name=\"_ftnref32\">[32]<\/a> But he felt good about being able to understand a major world event in terms of this fantasy Marxist explanation.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"pullquote\">Another way not to avoid falling for conspiracy theories: expose yourself to some good history. <\/div>Third, understand that divine providence does not move in ways we expect. The chaos and destructiveness of groups such as ISIS and drug cartels will continue until the Lord comes. Certainly, good policies and good government can make way for positive change. But even if it were possible to disable or eliminate every enemy, it will not lead to a Christian utopia or socialist paradise. We are stuck with an imperfect world until the Lord returns.<\/p>\n<p>Fourth, become historically literate to the extent that your state in life allows. For instance, read a good history book periodically, or watch a fine TV history series, like Ken Burns \u201cThe Civil War.\u201d Such things bring into focus the complexity and difficulty of history. Real conspiracies are rarely the engine of history.<\/p>\n<p>Fifth, take seriously the Bible\u2019s admonition to respect and honor the governing powers. This is especially lacking among right-wing Christians who often have a fog of hatred for the Democratic party and everything they do. Paul wrote to the Romans who often lived under the rule of less than nice emperors:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities,\u00a0for there is no authority except that which God has established.\u00a0The authorities that exist have been established by God.\u00a0Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted,\u00a0and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.\u00a0For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God\u2019s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God\u2019s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.\u00a0Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes,\u00a0for the authorities are God\u2019s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes;\u00a0if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor (Romans 13:1-7).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Now Paul\u2019s admonitions here have been misinterpreted and abused. For instance, many sincere Christians in Nazi Germany believed they could not oppose Hitler because he was established by God. But in reality, Paul is saying we need to give <em>legitimate governments<\/em> the benefit of the doubt and be respectful of those that govern over us. In another epistle (1 Tim 2:1-3), we are commanded to pray for them. For us in a blessed country such as America, all this can mean respectful but passionate opposition to the government\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n<p>If you as reader are a person who lives in a fog of anger or hatred for those who lead our nation and spread every negative story about them you can find, you need to repent of that attitude. Your biblical duty is to pray for them that the Holy Spirit move on them every day and give them guidance. Only revival will solve the ungodly state of our nation. Let us pray that it comes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>PR<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LN5QhKEaQZ8\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/WDeArteaga-SinfulnessOfConspiracyTheories.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"168\" height=\"111\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A sermon version of this article was given by the author at Light of Christ Anglican Church on May 17, 2015. A video of it is available at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LN5QhKEaQZ8\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LN5QhKEaQZ8<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Notes <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a>Coverage of this brief conspiracy theory episode is found in the blog posting by Paul Matzko, \u201cJade Helm, Operation Water Moccasin, and Conservative Conspiracy Theories,\u201d which includes a photo-copy of Utt\u2019s letter. Posted May 6, 2015. <a href=\"http:\/\/paulmatzko.com\/jade-helm-operation-water-moccasin-and-conservative-conspiracy-theories\/\">http:\/\/paulmatzko.com\/jade-helm-operation-water-moccasin-and-conservative-conspiracy-theories\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> See this on video: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.occupydemocrats.com\/watch-paranoid-texas-lunatics-harass-an-army-colonel-with-texas-takeover-conspiracies-2\/\">http:\/\/www.occupydemocrats.com\/watch-paranoid-texas-lunatics-harass-an-army-colonel-with-texas-takeover-conspiracies-2\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com\/author\/rwilonsky\/\">Robert Wilonsky<\/a>, \u201cChuck Norris, Greg Abbott still sweating U.S. military\u2019s Texas takeover (and Wal-Mart\u2019s secret tunnels?)\u201d <em>Dallas Morning News,<\/em> May 5, 2015. <a href=\"http:\/\/trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com\/2015\/05\/chuck-norris-and-greg-abbott-continue-to-fret-over-military-takeover-of-texas-and-wal-marts-secret-tunnels.html\/\">http:\/\/trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com\/2015\/05\/chuck-norris-and-greg-abbott-continue-to-fret-over-military-takeover-of-texas-and-wal-marts-secret-tunnels.html\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a> The Wikipedia article \u201cMoon landing conspiracy theories\u201d gives a splendid summary of the theory and how it has been debunked by independent third parties. Verification of the moon landings include pictures from new, high-resolution telescopes which can identify the various lunar landers which are still on the moon.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" name=\"_ftn6\">[6]<\/a> For instance, Jews only returned to England in 1656 at the invitation of Oliver Cromwell, as he believed that the Jews had an important role to play in the end times.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" name=\"_ftn7\">[7]<\/a> Nathanial Gronewold, \u201cWhat Caused the Massive Flooding in Pakistan?\u201d <em>Scientific American.<\/em> Posted October 12, 2010. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/what-caused-the-massive-flooding-in-pakistan\/\">http:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/what-caused-the-massive-flooding-in-pakistan\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref8\" name=\"_ftn8\">[8]<\/a>\u00a0Jill McGivering, &#8220;Pakistani flood victims&#8217; anger at US.\u201d\u00a0<em>BBC World News<\/em>. Posted August 21 2010. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-south-asia-11040904\">http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-south-asia-11040904<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref9\" name=\"_ftn9\">[9]<\/a> Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-Sword-Shield-Mitrokhin-Archive\/dp\/0465003125?tag=pneuma08-20&amp;linkCode=ptl&amp;linkId=952835fe65f90d95f0fcb1a5227cda75\">The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB<\/a><\/em> (New York: Basic Books: 1999) 319.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref10\" name=\"_ftn10\">[10]<\/a> P. M. Sharp. et al, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC1088480\">&#8220;The origins of acquired immune deficiency syndrome viruses: Where and when?&#8221;<\/a> <em>Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,<\/em>\u00a0Vol. 356 No.1410 (2001) 867\u201376.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref11\" name=\"_ftn11\">[11]<\/a> I am of the opinion that suicides, especially when combined with multiple murders, are a mark of demonic obsession\/possession. See my controversial blog posting on this, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/anglicalpentecostal.blogspot.com\/2013\/04\/the-demonic-factor-in-mass-shootings.html\">The Demonic Factor in Mass Shootings<\/a>,\u201d <em>The Anglican Pentecostal<\/em>. Posted, April 25, 2013.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref12\" name=\"_ftn12\">[12]<\/a> On the Jones cult see: David Chidester,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Salvation-Suicide-Interpretation-Jonestown-Religion\/dp\/025321632X?tag=pneuma08-20&amp;linkCode=ptl&amp;linkId=a52a2f30fe879a4e1523e7ae4bbd9af0\"><em>Salvation and Suicide: Jim Jones, the People&#8217;s Temple and Jonestown <\/em><\/a>(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref13\" name=\"_ftn13\">[13]<\/a> William F. Buckley, Jr<em>. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/God-Man-Yale-Superstitions-Academic\/dp\/089526692X?tag=pneuma08-20&amp;linkCode=ptl&amp;linkId=da40bdc6bdd91c3744364930c816b4ef\">God and Man at Yale: The Superstition of \u201cAcademic Freedom\u201d<\/a><\/em> (New York: Henry Regency, 1951).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref14\" name=\"_ftn14\">[14]<\/a> The conspiracy is described by Buckley himself, who calls it the \u201cPalm Beach Conspiracy.\u201d See his article, \u201cGoldwater, the John Birch Society, and Me,\u201d <em>Commentary<\/em>. Posted March 1, 2008. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commentarymagazine.com\/article\/goldwater-the-john-birch-society-and-me\/\">https:\/\/www.commentarymagazine.com\/article\/goldwater-the-john-birch-society-and-me\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref15\" name=\"_ftn15\">[15]<\/a> For a book length study of the Society see, D. T. Mulloy,<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-World-John-Birch-Society\/dp\/0826519814?tag=pneuma08-20&amp;linkCode=ptl&amp;linkId=e72b87a7466ad7ee69d6b29f373bdaaa\"> <em>The World of the John Birch Society: Conspiracy, Conservatism, and the Cold War<\/em><\/a> (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2014).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref16\" name=\"_ftn16\">[16]<\/a> Buckley, \u201cGoldwater.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref17\" name=\"_ftn17\">[17]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref18\" name=\"_ftn18\">[18]<\/a> See from the current John Birch Society website: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jbs.org\/about-jbs\/frequently-asked-questions\">http:\/\/www.jbs.org\/about-jbs\/frequently-asked-questions<\/a> The similarities between the John Birch Society and the Tea Party has been noted by various writers, see for example: Adam Gopnik, \u201cThe John Birchers\u2019 Tea Party,\u201d <em>New Yorker<\/em>, Posted, October 11, 2013.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref19\" name=\"_ftn19\">[19]<\/a> David Welch, \u201cWhere Have You Gone, Bill Buckley?\u201d <em>New York Times,<\/em> Posted December 3, 2012 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/12\/04\/opinion\/where-have-you-gone-bill-buckley.html\">http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/12\/04\/opinion\/where-have-you-gone-bill-buckley.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref20\" name=\"_ftn20\">[20]<\/a> Robert Stinnett, <em>Day of Deceit: the Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor<\/em> (New York: Simon &amp; Schuster, 2000).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref21\" name=\"_ftn21\">[21]<\/a> For an authoritative, critical review of how Sinnett overstates his case and weaves improbable chains of conspiracy to involve such persons as General Marshall as well as dozens of others and confuses mistakes for purposeful actions, See Dr. Conrad Crane, Professor at the US Army Military College, \u201cBook Reviews,\u201d <em>US Army War College Quarterly,<\/em> 31 No. 1 (Spring 2001). Accessed, May 26, 2015. <a href=\"http:\/\/strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil\/pubs\/parameters\/Articles\/01spring\/spr-rev.htm\">http:\/\/strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil\/pubs\/parameters\/Articles\/01spring\/spr-rev.htm<\/a> See also the more caustic review by Judith Greer, \u201cDive-bombing FDR,\u201d <em>Salon<\/em>, Posted June 14, 200. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2001\/06\/14\/fdr\/\">http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2001\/06\/14\/fdr\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref22\" name=\"_ftn22\">[22]<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arthur_Marder\">Arthur J. Marder<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/From-Dreadnought-Scapa-Flow-Volume\/dp\/1848322003?tag=pneuma08-20&amp;linkCode=ptl&amp;linkId=74f326a7fe22891d4ec35a48a8cf6e40\"><em><span id=\"productTitle\" class=\"a-size-large\">From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow<\/span><\/em><span id=\"productTitle\" class=\"a-size-large\">,<\/span><em><span id=\"productTitle\" class=\"a-size-large\"> Volume III: Jutland and After, May to December 1916 <\/span><\/em><\/a>(London: Oxford University Press, 1966) 148-151.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref23\" name=\"_ftn23\">[23]<\/a> For a discussion of this, see William Manchester, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/American-Caesar-Douglas-MacArthur-1880\/dp\/0316024740?tag=pneuma08-20&amp;linkCode=ptl&amp;linkId=e3ba6e54e490b52ed9e51840d68bf0d8\"><em>American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964<\/em><\/a> (New York: Little, Brown and Co., 1978), chapter 5, \u201cTo the Colors, 1941-1942.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref24\" name=\"_ftn24\">[24]<\/a> Most scholars of the history of historical writings (\u201chistiography\u201d) would reverse this and say that the West\u2019s\u2019 robust appreciation of historical writings comes mainly from its Greco-Roman tradition. I plan to elaborate my view that the Biblical influence is preeminent in a future book, \u201cThe Wisdom of God in History\u201d (forthcoming\u2026with God\u2019s help). For now I would refer the reader to the classic study of historical method and analysis: R.G. Collingwood\u2019s <em>The Idea of History<\/em> (New York: Oxford University Press, 1956) Part II. Collingwood shows that Christian historical writing introduced the concept of character development, or decline, a concept not found in the classical Greco-Roman writers who believed in set destiny and character.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref25\" name=\"_ftn25\">[25]<\/a> (New York: Harper Collins, 2003). See chapter 6, \u201cTime, Space and Modernity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref26\" name=\"_ftn26\">[26]<\/a> Mark Ami-El, \u201cThe Destruction of the Temple Mount Antiquities,\u201d <em>Jerusalem Letter\/Viewpoints<\/em>. Posted August 1, 2002. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jcpa.org\/jl\/vp483.htm\">http:\/\/www.jcpa.org\/jl\/vp483.htm<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref27\" name=\"_ftn27\">[27]<\/a> Arndt Graf, Schirin Fathi, and Ludwig Paul, eds., <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Orientalism-Conspiracy-Politics-Islamic-Library-ebook\/dp\/B008R7Z05S?tag=pneuma08-20&amp;linkCode=ptl&amp;linkId=ab37c06db6df2db26b26a0d9f1d6f1e2\"><em>Orientalism and Conspiracy: Politics and Conspiracy Theory in the Islamic World<\/em><\/a> (London: I. B. Tauris, 2011). The seminal study on the prevalence of conspiracy theory in Muslim thought.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref28\" name=\"_ftn28\">[28]<\/a> In this parable I am following the example of Collingwood, who used a parable of a detective solving a murder mystery as a way to demonstrate the principals of historical research. <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-Idea-History-R-Collingwood\/dp\/0192853066?tag=pneuma08-20&amp;linkCode=ptl&amp;linkId=7912be6a9abbd38c220fc54e28fffd4b\">Idea of History<\/a>, <\/em>270-273.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref29\" name=\"_ftn29\">[29]<\/a> Leftist are tempted to glamorize and excuse Mao\u2019s reign \u2013 its propaganda was so effective and politically romantic. The antidote is real history. See Jung Chang, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Mao-Unknown-Story-Jung-Chang\/dp\/0679746323?tag=pneuma08-20&amp;linkCode=ptl&amp;linkId=8fc5c7343534e805b3af392eb41a77be\"><em>Mao, The Unknown Story<\/em><\/a> (London Jonathan Cape, 2005) For my speculative and tentative understanding of historical tragedy, and God\u2019s ultimate mercy, see my blog posting, \u201cThe Wrath of God in the Present Sunni-Shia War.\u201d The posting mostly examines the wrath of God and His mercy on Germany in World War II. Posted June 20, 2014. <a href=\"http:\/\/anglicalpentecostal.blogspot.ca\/2014\/06\/the-wrath-of-god-in-present-sunni-shia.html\">http:\/\/anglicalpentecostal.blogspot.ca\/2014\/06\/the-wrath-of-god-in-present-sunni-shia.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref30\" name=\"_ftn30\">[30]<\/a>Incidentally, this definitively proved the John Birch\u2019s conspiracy theory that Truman, Eisenhower and other US presidents were presiding over a conscious conspiracy to turn the world over to the Communists. Rather, the policy of \u201ccontainment,\u201d first articulated by the diplomat George F. Kennan, which urged that the Communist nations be contained but not attacked, proved true. Kennan foresaw that Communist society would fall apart in time.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref31\" name=\"_ftn31\">[31]<\/a>Francis Fukuyama, &#8220;The End of History,\u201d <em>National Interest<\/em> (Summer 1989).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref32\" name=\"_ftn32\">[32]<\/a>The causes of World War I were complex and tragic. See the classic study on this by Barbara Tuchman, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-Guns-August-Pulitzer-Prize-Winning\/dp\/0345476093?tag=pneuma08-20&amp;linkCode=ptl&amp;linkId=119025c3aa959434e0e586a74ef46478\">The Guns of August<\/a><\/em> (New York: Macmillian, 1962). In short, the usual suspects of a quest for revenge, a desire for domination, inflamed nationalism, Germanic racism, and Austrian diplomatic bumbling were all causes for the war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chasing conspiracy theories is not going to solve any problems. True restoration begins when God\u2019s people repent and walk in righteousness. A recent conspiracy theory has garnered much national attention. It involves \u201cJade Helm 15,\u201d an Armed Services training exercise employing the elite units of the Armed Forces in counter-terrorist warfare. About 1,200 servicemen will&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2886,"featured_media":21802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,2733],"tags":[2746,2747,2748,2749,2750],"ppma_author":[4771],"class_list":["post-21801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living-the-faith","category-spring-2015","tag-conspiracy","tag-destructiveness","tag-featured","tag-sinfulness","tag-theories","author-williamldearteaga"],"authors":[{"term_id":4771,"user_id":2886,"is_guest":0,"slug":"williamldearteaga","display_name":"William De Arteaga","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Bill-Dearteaga-1--150x150.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Bill-Dearteaga-1--150x150.jpg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2886"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21801"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=21801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}