Sunday, December 21, 2008

A good close look at conspiracy theorists

I am frustrated and outraged to various degrees with conspiracy theorists, over and over. It is hard for me to understand exactly why conspiracy theories are so appealing. People seem to lose all rationality when they start dealing with conspiracy theories.

I have recently volunteered to help with the Obama Eligibility Controversy. There are a number of proponents of the position that there is some issue with President Elect Barack Obama's eligibility. Most have dismissed those holding this position as mere "conspiracy theorists". And I did so myself for weeks and months. Then, I realized that Obama's and his associates were prepared to spend large sums of money in legal proceedings for months on end rather than produce the documentation that would show convincingly he was eligible. Documentation that I would have to show to get a US passport. And he was not willing to do so.

Now I became more interested. After all, where there is smoke, there is fire. I looked in a bit more deeply, and found other troubling evidence.

However, for the first time in a long time, I found myself part of a movement populated by a HUGE number of conspiracy theorists of various flavors. And the fact that there was a controversy about Obama's eligibility was latched onto by them as the perfect vehicle for them to promote their favorite conspiracy theory, including:

*The USSR never broke up but still is secretly in existence. The breakup was staged to trick us as part of a multi-decade plan. Condeleezza Rice is part of this plan, and is a secret KGB agent. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is also a secret KGB agent. And on and on. And the proof of this? Obama's reluctance to produce a birth certificate.

*Obama is the Antichrist. And the proof of this? Obama's reluctance to produce a birth certificate.

*Obama plans to institute Sharia Law as part of a Worldwide Caliphate, since he is a secret Muslim. And the proof of this? Obama's reluctance to produce a birth certificate.

*The world is coming to an end any day now. And the proof of this? Obama's reluctance to produce a birth certificate.

*Obama is a secret Nazi. And the proof of this? Obama's reluctance to produce a birth certificate.

*Obama's presidency will be the first step in a communist takeover of the US. And the proof of this? Obama's reluctance to produce a birth certificate.
*Obama is an artificial human, an android or a robot, the product of a laboratory in the military-industrial complex. And the proof of this? Obama's reluctance to produce a birth certificate.

*There is a secret shadowy one world government/cabal controlling everything behind the scenes. And they are called or associated with the Bilderbergers/The Trilateral Commission/The Illuminati/The Nazis/The Jews/The Council on Foreign Relations/The Rothschilds/The Marxists/The Masons/The British Royal Family/The Vatican/The Masons/Skull and Bones etc. And the proof of this? Obama's reluctance to produce a birth certificate.

*Bush and Cheney are secretly members of Hamas and Hizbollah, and are attempting to destroy Israel. But God saw this, and ordered the Israeli Air Force to attack the rockets in Gaza as a warning to Bush and Cheney. And the proof of this? Obama's reluctance to produce a birth certificate.

One young lady believes that the best way to get publicity for Obama's reluctance to produce a birth certificate is to enlist the help of people in the media. She has chosen Valerie Plame, the outed CIA field agent, and Thomas Tamm, a whistleblower who revealed the warrantless wiretapping program to the press and now is fighting to stay out of prison. She believes that these two people are perfect for revealing the truth about Obama's reluctance to produce a birth certificate and that everyone will listen to them and will rally 'round and join the cause.

When I try to work with these groups, things go along fine as long as I do not touch on their own personal beliefs, particularly the beliefs of those that subscribe to one or more of the assorted conspiracy theories. However, over and over, eventually they cannot seem to help themselves, and cannot stay quiet any longer about their pet theory (which always seems to have very limited evidence to support it). And they want to crow on and on and on about their own personal theory. Discrediting themselves and the movement completely.

And when I try to stop them, I am attacked. Visciously.

Look, some of these wild conspiracy theories might be correct. However, most reasonable people do not subscribe to them, and will just dismiss anything else said if statements are riddled with conspiracy theory nonsense. Even if you have 5 solid pieces of evidence that Obama has an eligibility problem, the instant you bring a poorly supported conspiracy theory into the mix, any credence you might have had goes out the window.

And over and over, I see people unwilling to just put the conspiracy theories aside until there can be evidence developed to support them. They don't seem to want to care about getting the evidence. They want to preach about the conspiracy theory. And the original substantive issue, with all its evidence, gets lost in the noise.

Wow.