Conspiracy theorists harass Sutherland Springs churchgoers, pastor whose daughter was killed

Halbhh · Mar 9, 2018

“The truth shall set you free” is the message that two conspiracy theorists were writing on a poster at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, the site of the November mass shooting that left 26 congregants dead.

But what they’re peddling is anything but the truth.

Robert Mikell Ussery and Jodi Marie Mann (Wilson County Sheriff’s Office)
The conspiracy theorists, Jodi Mann and Robert Ussery, say they believe the mass shooting never happened and instead that it was staged by the Department of Homeland Security, according to Ussery’s website, “Side Thorn Journalist.”

They don’t believe the victims are real or that their graves are real. And the pastor, Frank Pomeroy, told the San Antonio Express-News that the conspiracy theorists had gone so far as to demand proof of his daughter’s birth certificate. His daughter, 14-year-old Annabelle, was killed in the shooting.
www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/03/08/conspiracy-theorists-harass-sutherland-springs-churchgoers-pastor-whose-daughter-was-killed/?utm_term=.13eb6526b46b

This is so terrible I both hesitated to post it, but also so important to help us see our human problem of conspiracy theory that I felt it best to post it.

The innate tendency in our minds to imagine enemies working against us....requires much discernment in us. How can we guess at the motives even of our own family members correctly? It's not easy. Consider how many spats in your own family or circles were based on wrongly guessing the motives or aims of the person you got into an argument with.

See? This is an extreme example of a real problem we face all the time, everywhere.

I feel it helps me enormously to pray the prayer Christ gave us to pray in Matthew chapter 6. I notice how much better all situations go on days when I ask for that aid!

Dave-W · Mar 9, 2018

Halbhh said:
They don’t believe the victims are real or that their graves are real. And the pastor, Frank Pomeroy, told the San Antonio Express-News that the conspiracy theorists had gone so far as to demand proof of his daughter’s birth certificate. His daughter, 14-year-old Annabelle, was killed in the shooting.

The parents of the kids killed at the Sandy Hook elementary shooting had the same accusations. (probably from the same people)

The Last Word on Twitter
Sandy Hook parents: Online platforms are caving to hoaxers (opinion) - CNN

com7fy8 · Mar 9, 2018

Halbhh said:
say they believe the mass shooting never happened and instead that it was staged by the Department of Homeland Security,

That is sick.

But that does not automatically mean that every person who suspects a conspiracy is somehow deranged or whatever.

Because this evil world is Satan's kingdom; he had conspiracies to take out Jesus and get Jesus crucified. So, yes there are conspiracies by Satan and his people.

And one very sneaky conspiracy now, I would say, is the ongoing conspiracy to tangle up our attention with things away from God. And make-believe conspiracies can get a lot of attention, and so these fake theories can help with Satan's conspiracy to keep our attention away from God.

We can be so busy with dealing with how wrong the obvious nonsense is, that we do not notice how our attention is being tricked away from seeking and submitting to God and learning how to love any and all people the way Jesus wants.

Halbhh said:
to demand proof of his daughter’s birth certificate. His daughter, 14-year-old Annabelle, was killed in the shooting.

This is beyond sick.

Also, I think, this proves how they are not being objective. If the pastor was a real conspiracy person, he could have already faked a birth certificate, in case he was asked for one. Or, they could fake one, in not much time, after being asked for one. So, asking for a birth certificate is not being objective.

And even if the conspiracy people were allowed to dig up the graves and see there were new remains there, they could claim those were John and Jane Does, not real church members. And they could claim the lab faked the results, if DNA was taken to test.

So, they aren't objective, I would say.

And look at how this has people investing our attention.

Pray, attention to God, with attention of compassion. Jesus wants us to love and care for and pray blessing to any and all people. I would say we need to make sure we invest in this

Part of the devil's scheme of certain conspiracy people is to make it look like they are hopeless cases, so we will be tricked into not having hope for them. And so, because love "hopes all things" (in 1 Corinthians 13:7), this would be an anti-love conspiracy of Satan.

So we need to be prayerfully careful about how we view people who are made to look as though it is impossible for them to change and become reasonable. Hasn't our God and Father changed us from how we were impossible cases?

Jude1:3Contendforthefaith · Mar 9, 2018

Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, And Whoever Loves And Practices A LIE.
• Revelation 22:14-15

FireDragon76 · Mar 9, 2018

Dave-W said:
The parents of the kids killed at the Sandy Hook elementary shooting had the same accusations. (probably from the same people)

The Last Word on Twitter
Sandy Hook parents: Online platforms are caving to hoaxers (opinion) - CNN

Back in the days when Al Gore invented the internet, no one would have imagined the Web being an easy conduit for disinformation and alternative facts.

Halbhh · Mar 9, 2018

Dave-W said:
The parents of the kids killed at the Sandy Hook elementary shooting had the same accusations. (probably from the same people)

The Last Word on Twitter
Sandy Hook parents: Online platforms are caving to hoaxers (opinion) - CNN

I'm afraid conspiracy theorists aren't that rare. They are numerous I already know from discussing with a variety, in a variety of different types of topics also, (even stuff like science conspiracy theories that aren't at all religious in any way, etc.) over the years. It's just....almost universal. You will be able to find some conspiracy theories in any group of any dozen average people. Some partly true, and others more imagined. If you talk long enough and listen well enough, and they open up. I know. I've done this hundreds of times, this kind of listening and then people telling me all manner of beliefs/thoughts.

Good video link there!

Halbhh · Mar 9, 2018

Jude1:3Contendforthefaith said:
Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, And Whoever Loves And Practices A LIE.
• Revelation 22:14-15

That's right. Only through Christ, following Him, do we have any chance! We have to remain focused on Him. Thank you for this invaluable quote.

Halbhh · Mar 9, 2018

com7fy8 said:
That is sick.

But that does not automatically mean that every person who suspects a conspiracy is somehow deranged or whatever.

Because this evil world is Satan's kingdom; he had conspiracies to take out Jesus and get Jesus crucified. So, yes there are conspiracies by Satan and his people.

And one very sneaky conspiracy now, I would say, is the ongoing conspiracy to tangle up our attention with things away from God. And make-believe conspiracies can get a lot of attention, and so these fake theories can help with Satan's conspiracy to keep our attention away from God.

We can be so busy with dealing with how wrong the obvious nonsense is, that we do not notice how our attention is being tricked away from seeking and submitting to God and learning how to love any and all people the way Jesus wants.

This is beyond sick.

Also, I think, this proves how they are not being objective. If the pastor was a real conspiracy person, he could have already faked a birth certificate, in case he was asked for one. Or, they could fake one, in not much time, after being asked for one. So, asking for a birth certificate is not being objective.

And even if the conspiracy people were allowed to dig up the graves and see there were new remains there, they could claim those were John and Jane Does, not real church members. And they could claim the lab faked the results, if DNA was taken to test.

So, they aren't objective, I would say.

And look at how this has people investing our attention.

Pray, attention to God, with attention of compassion. Jesus wants us to love and care for and pray blessing to any and all people. I would say we need to make sure we invest in this

Part of the devil's scheme of certain conspiracy people is to make it look like they are hopeless cases, so we will be tricked into not having hope for them. And so, because love "hopes all things" (in 1 Corinthians 13:7), this would be an anti-love conspiracy of Satan.

So we need to be prayerfully careful about how we view people who are made to look as though it is impossible for them to change and become reasonable. Hasn't our God and Father changed us from how we were impossible cases?

Yes, it's such a good point about distraction away from what matters! Such good things to remember! And it's good to be encouraged to continue to try to pray for and love and embrace our brothers and sisters even when they are caught up in such distractions. So true.

Jamsie · Mar 9, 2018

Halbhh said:
“The truth shall set you free” is the message that two conspiracy theorists were writing on a poster at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, the site of the November mass shooting that left 26 congregants dead.

What is sad too is the number of people who without any critical thought simply parrot or promote such things. Alex Jones promulgates myriad ridiculous conspiracy theories, Donald Trump, Jr. touted a meme that one of the students at Parkland was an FBI plant, sites state that the students were "crisis actors", Carlson and Hannity had to admit their false reporting of CNN scripting, and yet people believe thee things and cling to their bias...essentially wanting to believe with truth set to the side.

The fact that we can at some level know God is because he gave us a mind to reason. We often don't seem to use it when it comes to our entrenched political bias..... me included.

Almost there · Mar 9, 2018

FireDragon76 said:
Back in the days when Al Gore invented the internet, no one would have imagined the Web being an easy conduit for disinformation and alternative facts.

Yep. Look how many people in youtube video comments are actually seriously discussing that the earth is flat. It's kinda comical.

Halbhh · Mar 9, 2018

Almost there said:
Yep. Look how many people in youtube video comments are actually seriously discussing that the earth is flat. It's kinda comical.

Good point. That's really just conspiracy theory at heart I think, in terms of what causes it to be meaningful to the person advocating it. So, it's like an...imbalance of some kind, inside. Perhaps we could think of it as even...a cry for help. Not to have their wrong ideas corrected (which is 99% of the time going to end up in just argument), but to have instead that real unmet need inside somehow found and helped with.

Halbhh · Mar 9, 2018

Jamsie said:
What is sad too is the number of people who without any critical thought simply parrot or promote such things. Alex Jones promulgates myriad ridiculous conspiracy theories, Donald Trump, Jr. touted a meme that one of the students at Parkland was an FBI plant, sites state that the students were "crisis actors", Carlson and Hannity had to admit their false reporting of CNN scripting, and yet people believe thee things and cling to their bias...essentially wanting to believe with truth set to the side.

The fact that we can at some level know God is because he gave us a mind to reason. We often don't seem to use it when it comes to our entrenched political bias..... me included.

Hmm. I'm remembering a time in my 20s when I was able to hole up in an apartment and just read and read and read to my heart's content, as I wanted to, for weeks on end. An interesting thing happened! I learned a lot, but the interesting thing that happened is I began to wonder if I was being watched through the windows! This is fascinating to remember. I knew objectively it was about 0.001% or less likely. But!....that didn't stop my brain from managing to imagine this and make me turn off the lights and look out the window and try to catch someone watching. lol. I can laugh now. I didn't get disturbed even then, but consider the situation! See? That isolation, even just temporary for a few weeks -- that was enough to cause that natural urge to get activated. This is quite interesting to suddenly remember here. I bet this is one key part of this. There could be some kind of profound alienation behind the paranoia that drives the conspiracy theories. That is, being disconnected. So, then, the cure isn't to correct them, but to give them love!

FireDragon76 · Mar 9, 2018

Almost there said:
Yep. Look how many people in youtube video comments are actually seriously discussing that the earth is flat. It's kinda comical.

The notion of a "flat earth" being taken seriously by anyone was inconceivable back then, as well. Every classroom I've ever been in had a globe, after all. And while kids didn't necessarily know where Uganda was on that globe, they at least understood it was a more-or-less accurate representation of the world.

I think the change in the culture is also partly to blame. Whimsical films like The Matrix are easily misunderstood and can inculcate a kind of thinking that is inherently schizotypal, where reality is seen as far more uncertain than is warranted. It used to be the fantastical was restricted to religion or the counter-culture, but now it's become more pervasive.

Almost there · Mar 9, 2018

Halbhh said:
Good point. That's really just conspiracy theory at heart I think, in terms of what causes it to be meaningful to the person advocating it. So, it's like an...imbalance of some kind, inside. Perhaps we could think of it as even...a cry for help. Not to have their wrong ideas corrected (which is 99% of the time going to end up in just argument), but to have instead that real unmet need inside somehow found and helped with.

The problem is that there really are a lot of things we've been told for decades or even centuries that turned out to not be true. What's happening is people are taking the concept too far and questioning things that they have personal knowledge of. It's fine to say, "Is this true", but with a lot of things the answer is, "Yes, it's true, and here's why." And then you move on.

John Stossel makes a living showing us that what we "know" is actually wrong, regarding some things. The Love Canal scare is an excellent example.

pat34lee · Mar 11, 2018

Conspiracy theorists harass Sutherland Springs churchgoers, pastor whose daughter was killed

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