Christian Conspiracy Theorists

Gnarwhal

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I'm curious to know what your guys' thoughts are on "Christian Conspiracy Theorists".

I never knew such a segment even existed until about four years ago when I met my wife, shortly after I was introduced to her mother and bombarded with a barrage of ludicrous conspiracy theories. I indulged in that stuff for a (thankfully) very brief season. Eventually I saw it for what it was and stopped engaging in those things. From my experience, this sort of thing is exclusive to the end-times prophetic crowd, usually from some sort of non-denominational and/or evangelical "tradition".

One thing I've noticed is that I've never encountered an Orthodox Christian who aligns with anyone from this sphere of Christians.

When you see or hear Christians either on CF or in real life who espouse extremely bizarre beliefs mainly pertaining to eschatology, how do you feel?
 

Gnarwhal

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could you give me an example of such a conspiracy theory?

It could be anything from the well-known "New World Order" conspiracy theory to some of the most ridiculous ones like "there are reptilian people walking amongst us", "UFO's are Satanic instrument of deception for the end-times", etc.
 
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Ortho_Cat

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It could be anything from the well-known "New World Order" conspiracy theory to some of the most ridiculous ones like "there are reptilian people walking amongst us", "UFO's are Satanic instrument of deception for the end-times", etc.

Oh my brother laid one of those out today. Said that the Nephilim came to earth in the guise of aleins and set some heavy stones on top of one another. :doh: Does she watch history channel by chance? That might explain alot... :idea:
 
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Gnarwhal

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Oh my brother laid one of those out today. Said that the Nephilim came to earth in the guise of aleins and set some heavy stones on top of one another. :doh: Does she watch history channel by chance? That might explain alot... :idea:

Haha! Yeah that sounds vaguely familiar. She believes the whole Nephilim thing and all of the subsequent theories revolving around them. I'm sure she indulges in some of the stuff the History Channel airs (I think it's sad in an ironic way that a channel called "History Channel" airs things that are so unsubstantiated and frankly rubbish, History is supposed to be facts).

She's been into personal revelation and prophecy for over 10 years, she believes every jot and tittle of dispensationalism and is completely engulfed in the fear that stems from such beliefs, letting it actually dictate the day-to-day decisions of her and husband. All of the most bizarre things that people post in Eschatology here on CF, she would be right there beside them perpetuating those theories and speculations. :doh:
 
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Ortho_Cat

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Ya, i'd say we should make a conscious effort to live our life for Christ in the moment and be mindful that life here is fleeting and be aware of our own mortality, i think it will help us to appreciate our lives more and lead us to repentance. Like Christ said, we don't know the day nor the hour, and let tomorrow worry about itself! :thumbsup: A big part about Orthodoxy is being mindful of this moment and opportunity that we have, and not getting caught up in the past or speculating too far in the future :)
 
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Gnarwhal

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Ya, i'd say we should make a conscious effort to live our life for Christ in the moment and be mindful that life here is fleeting and be aware of our own mortality, i think it will help us to appreciate our lives more and lead us to repentance. Like Christ said, we don't know the day nor the hour, and let tomorrow worry about itself! :thumbsup: A big part about Orthodoxy is being mindful of this moment and opportunity that we have, and not getting caught up in the past or speculating too far in the future :)

That's why I find Orthodoxy so attractive! :thumbsup:
 
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There are always conspiracy-minded people. I remember back in the 1980's, all my friends were Baptists or evangelicals of some kind. I was the only Catholic.

I had a friend, Josh, who was concerned about me because I listened to heavy metal like Iron Maiden and Led Zeppelin. He thought I was dabbling in dangerous stuff so he let me borrow this evangelical guy on a cassette talking about backwards masking and how heavy metal and even more softcore rock were all in a conspiracy to indoctrinate all the youth into Satanism. The guy went from Iron Maiden to Zeppelin to Blue Oyster Cult to Electric Light Orchestra (!!! :p) to, yes, even the Eagles!!! I couldn't get over how nutty that tape was. It just made me want to listen to those bands more! :p

Josh ended up the biggest doper in high school and all my evangelical buddies got way into drugs while I never lit even a cigarette or drank a beer. ^_^

Back in the 60's, Republicans tried to spread the word that Kennedy's election would mean the Pope controlling the country. That was a good conspiracy. Now it's Romney supposedly handing over the country to the LDS powers-that-be sounds like. Always a conspiracy.

Guys like Jack Van Impe, that fruit loop on TBN, thinks the EU is the Beast and that the end of the world is here. He swears every episode it'll happen and it never does.

This stuff is silly and more fodder for a good laugh than serious.

The Tea Party thinks Obama is an atheist one minute hell-bent on making sure we're all Soviet communist atheists by the time he's done melting our brains. Then the next minute Obama is supposedly a Muslim who's on a world apology tour trying to make us accept Islam. So the dude's a Muslim atheist. Interesting combo. They can't even get the story straight.

Then Frank Costanza on Seinfeld thought the Orthodox Church mutilates squirrels. Everyone has a conspiracy theory! ^_^
 
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Conspiracy theories are groundless and aim to give people sth to be afraid of, something to hate so that they don't bother with the real problems in life.
I deslike them, whether they are made from Christians or atheists (*COUGH*zeitgeist*COUGH*).
 
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rusmeister

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There are certainly plenty of silly or crazy ideas about conspiracy.

But it seems to me that we have a tendency to take it to the point where we begin to think that there is no such thing as conspiracy at all. While men in secret may or may not be rubbing their hands in conspiratorial anticipation or glee, it is obvious to me that men do conspire for wealth and power. So obviously we shouldn't write aoff all ideas of conspiracy as crazy.
 
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gzt

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Oh, there are some Orthodox out there with conspiracy theories. You haven't run into them because you're running into Orthodoxy mostly on the internet, probably, and the Orthodox internet in these parts is mostly from a demographic that isn't into conspiracies. If not on the Internet, again, you're probably running into a demographic that isn't much into conspiracies.
 
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Dylan Michael

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Back during WWI, Florida's governor was Sidney Catts. He was anti-german and anti-catholic) He honestly believed
"German" monks at St. Leo had an arsenal and were planning to arm Florida Negroes for an insurrection in favor of Kaiser Wilhelm II, after which the Pope would take over Florida and move the Vatican to San Antonio (and, of course, close all protestant churches)
(San Antonio is a tiny town which was made up of German Catholic immigrants, most of which are related to me)
 
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GTAsoldier

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2 words: Dan Brown

DaVinci.jpg


Enough said....

- Jadd
 
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Colleen1

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There are always conspiracy-minded people. I remember back in the 1980's, all my friends were Baptists or evangelicals of some kind. I was the only Catholic.

I had a friend, Josh, who was concerned about me because I listened to heavy metal like Iron Maiden and Led Zeppelin. He thought I was dabbling in dangerous stuff so he let me borrow this evangelical guy on a cassette talking about backwards masking and how heavy metal and even more softcore rock were all in a conspiracy to indoctrinate all the youth into Satanism. The guy went from Iron Maiden to Zeppelin to Blue Oyster Cult to Electric Light Orchestra (!!! :p) to, yes, even the Eagles!!! I couldn't get over how nutty that tape was. It just made me want to listen to those bands more! :p

Josh ended up the biggest doper in high school and all my evangelical buddies got way into drugs while I never lit even a cigarette or drank a beer. ^_^

Back in the 60's, Republicans tried to spread the word that Kennedy's election would mean the Pope controlling the country. That was a good conspiracy. Now it's Romney supposedly handing over the country to the LDS powers-that-be sounds like. Always a conspiracy.

Guys like Jack Van Impe, that fruit loop on TBN, thinks the EU is the Beast and that the end of the world is here. He swears every episode it'll happen and it never does.

This stuff is silly and more fodder for a good laugh than serious.

The Tea Party thinks Obama is an atheist one minute hell-bent on making sure we're all Soviet communist atheists by the time he's done melting our brains. Then the next minute Obama is supposedly a Muslim who's on a world apology tour trying to make us accept Islam. So the dude's a Muslim atheist. Interesting combo. They can't even get the story straight.

Then Frank Costanza on Seinfeld thought the Orthodox Church mutilates squirrels. Everyone has a conspiracy theory! ^_^

:thumbsup: I'm with you there. They've always seemed to be around and will always be around.
 
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Colleen1

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Conspiracy theories are groundless and aim to give people sth to be afraid of, something to hate so that they don't bother with the real problems in life.
I deslike them, whether they are made from Christians or atheists (*COUGH*zeitgeist*COUGH*).

agree :thumbsup:
 
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Colleen1

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There are certainly plenty of silly or crazy ideas about conspiracy.

But it seems to me that we have a tendency to take it to the point where we begin to think that there is no such thing as conspiracy at all. While men in secret may or may not be rubbing their hands in conspiratorial anticipation or glee, it is obvious to me that men do conspire for wealth and power. So obviously we shouldn't write aoff all ideas of conspiracy as crazy.

Agreed, there are dishonest things that do happen. Corruption does exist. Some times the truth is stranger than fiction but I understand what Bourne is saying. Some of these situations can be beyond nutty when it comes to religious interpretation.
 
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Dorothea

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There are certainly plenty of silly or crazy ideas about conspiracy.

But it seems to me that we have a tendency to take it to the point where we begin to think that there is no such thing as conspiracy at all. While men in secret may or may not be rubbing their hands in conspiratorial anticipation or glee, it is obvious to me that men do conspire for wealth and power. So obviously we shouldn't write aoff all ideas of conspiracy as crazy.
There are some really nutty theories on the End Times and Christ's return that I've heard and read, and some from a friend from a forum I used to frequent. Sweet guy, but his ideas on the End Times is very convoluted.

Having said that, I tend to agree with Rus. Not all are hogwash. I don't have examples of ones that aren't, but just speaking generally.
 
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