With the power invested in me by a persistent state of shock, I proclaim January 6 as Insurrection Day. Continue reading “Insurrection Day, a National Day of Remembrance”
Category: intellectual honesty
Civil War or War on Civilians?
“I admit that political polarization may bring it all to an end, we’re going to have a hung election and a civil war.” Bill Gates, September 2022
This is my third, and I hope last, article on the woeful condition of politics and “Christianity” in the United States. Earlier, I remarked with shock and sadness on the conservative Christians’ penchant for conspiracy theories. Later, under the influence of heterogeneous sources, I predicted the violence likely as a result of the November presidential election—but never thought anything like the violence of Jan. 6, 2021 would occur.
Update 6/11/24: Nearly two years after publishing this article, I realize I was contaminated by fear mongering when I referred to “hundreds of thousands of mostly armed people truly believing they and their families are about to lose their livelihood.” The leap from being armed and upset to opening fire in the streets on a grand scale remains inconceivable. Perhaps the most durable bit of this article is the Civilian Manifesto toward the end.
Christians and Conspiracy Theories
“Just because I’m paranoid,
doesn’t mean they are not after me”
We say this with a wink… and then glance over our shoulder
“Just because it’s a conspiracy theory,
doesn’t mean it’s not true”
We say this straight-faced… and then take another sip of Kool-Aid
This article’s focus is deliberately narrow: to explain to myself and perhaps to others how it is that so many politically and theologically conservative Christians entertain so many conspiracy theories. Following are a discussion of what’s so bad about Christians being conspiracy-theory prone, a definition of “conspiracy theory,” a short list of conspiracy-theory candidates, and a two-prong argument to explain the Christian proclivity.
Continue reading “Christians and Conspiracy Theories”