Wild (Religion and History)
This week’s top post is a repost of M.I.A’s December 2022 tweet that she faced backlash for saying “Jesus is real.” While the post is simple and doesn’t need an in-depth skeptical treatment (she made the post, Christianity is one of the major religions, she probably did get some backlash from folks), the comments are interesting in that they highlight a deep connection between religiosity and conspiracy interest or conspiracy thinking.
The comments include a raft of Biblical quotes regarding how the world (meaning non-Christians) will hate Christians for their faith. There are also claims that MIA went beyond simply saying “Jesus is real” to saying that she interacts with Jesus and actually sees and speaks with him. In other words, there may be a mental health component the original text misses.
Oddly though, while a lot of the top comments promote religion and discussion of religion, a few of the commenters are 180 degrees separated from their peers. Some go so far as to call religion “the original psy op” or brainwashing even. In other words, there are folks espousing a conspiracy against a religion, and a conspiracy that creates religion.
Makes Sense (Voting, Election Integrity, and Law)
One of the more complicated comment sections rose up in this post about voter id laws. The gist is that the original poster lists a variety of things that people need an ID to do, such as driving, buying alcohol, and getting a loan. They then close by noting that ID requirements for voting are considered discrimination by some.
The comment section rightly points out that only one of the actions listed in the post is a right, voting. The rest are almost all private business transactions where the business needs ID (gambling and getting a loan). The lone exception is traveling abroad, which does require a passport for most countries.
Surprisingly, the actual discussion of whether voting ID laws are a good or bad thing is relatively subdued in the comments section. Instead, the largest threads tended to discuss whether or not ID is required in all elections, and whether or not purchasing a firearm should require an ID or not.
In a welcoming bit of rationality and care, one poster notes that an ID bill that provides a free and easy ID would lead to support for ID bills and that voting holidays would increase turnout. While not perfect, I want to praise and note the shared ideals here of making voting easier for everyone that both skeptics and members of r/conspiracy can get behind.
Maine Incident Finally Convinced Me (Gangstalking, mental health, and mass shootings)
This is perhaps the most disheartening pair of posts I have seen on r/conspiracy to date. The first post is someone acknowledging that the Maine shooter’s claims of hearing voices have led the poster to believe that gangstalking is a real phenomenon. The second is a post reinforcing this narrative.
What makes me concerned is that the posters and commenters ignore the simple explanation (auditory hallucinations) in favor of an elaborate conspiracy that ignores mental health concerns. Instead of getting people help, the posts and narratives are about working against the presumed stalkers. While there are historical examples of gangstalking and targeting (e.g. MLK Jr. being targeted by the FBI), the vast majority of people claiming to be gangstalked appear to be mentally ill and suffering from delusions or hallucinations. Put simply, mental illness couples with community and becomes a shared delusion among those who call themselves “gangstalked” or “targeted individuals” online.
While there are millions of folks with mental illness worldwide, and the vast majority of folks do not engage in terrible acts, the gangstalking phenomenon is one set of beliefs I feel safe calling a red flag when it shows up.
Imagine if politicians had to send their kids… (Israel/Hamas conflict and antisemitism)
In full disclosure, I am an anti-war person. All too often when the rich go to war it’s the poor who die and pay the price. And the world is large enough that every person alive could have 4 acres of land and there would still be some left over. There’s no need for conflict or violence to resolve conflicts. So while I do not agree with r/conspiracy often, I think me and the folks there would agree that politicians are too eager to send the poor into war.
The MH370 Videos have been proved real (MH370 and UFOs)
The original post on reddit is sadly one of the most credulous bits of writing I have ever encountered. While the videos have been thoroughly debunked elsewhere previously I want to focus on the amount of work and research the poster made.
Put simply, they know a lot about this topic and the lore around MH370’s disappearance. While their explanation of events is wrong, no UFOs were involved and the videos are fake, they clearly have spent a ton of time learning about the story they tell.
This is what makes conspiracy thinking such a tricky topic to discuss. This poster knows their wrong conclusion better than I ever will or would want to. They are familiar with the bad arguments and fictional lore more than most folks. To dismantle and deconstruct their wrong conclusions would require spending hours, or perhaps even years, or discussion, education, and collaboration with them. They are mentally trapped in a spiderweb of misinformation, pseudoscience, and illogical thinking.