The Church and Conspiracy Theories: Good People, Wrong Path

aog17 said:

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You've posted nothing about this video.

Conspiracy theories are believed only by the gullible, so is there anything you have to say?

Going by the title of this thread as my guide, then > being on topic with the title, as well as I can >

The Bible says Satan has the whole world under his sway > 1 John 5:9. And I understand this includes by means of conspiracies . . . with their deceptions >

"But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." (2 Timothy 3:13)

So, I would say, then, of course there are conspiracies.

One conspiracy is to keep people worrying about conspiracies, so our attention is away from God who knows whatever is really going on, plus He is personally guiding anyone who submits to how He rules us in His own peace. He guides anyone reliably according to all He knows is really true . . . while we certainly do not know all the details and conspiracies operating. Still, though we do not have reliable ways of sorting out every detail of what is deception and what is not, we can stay submissive to how He cares for us and personally guides each of us so we are not fooled >

We need our attention guided by God; it is not our responsibility to control Satan and his world, I understand through 1 Corinthians 5:12-13.

But in case we try to investigate every claim, or assume what we please to assume, this can have us elsewhere.

One trick of a cult can be that the ringleaders claim there is some enemy who is a major threat to us. And the ringleaders get people to suppose the ringleaders and their organization are their only hope against that enemy. The trick includes, then, to get people to put their hope in humans, instead of in God.

And we see this trick working, every time there is a democratic election. Ones, though not all, are emotionally hooked on hoping some human will give them what they want . . . what they dictate. The voters are dictators, then!! And so this can get nasty, with ones not first depending on God. And away from God they are in the dark, supposing that judging by appearance is reliable.

There is the conspiracy, ongoing, to get people to evaluate candidates by their acting and smart talking and claims. Ones can tend to believe the claims of whoever promises them what they want, it now seems to me. So, in case we are our own dictators, instead of first seeking and obeying and depending on God, this is where we can get ourselves.

I consider, then, that no conspiracy can work unless I am hooked on self; if I am hooked on getting what my self dictates, instead of trusting God to decide and guide things, ones can get my attention and control me by claiming there is some threat to what my self can want and dictate . . . and feel entitled to

There are ones who claim that someone in some other party is the big enemy. And they blame some other person. But Jesus says each of us needs to deny our own self > Luke 9:23. I am the one who can be my biggest enemy and problem, then!! Jesus knows this; but there is a conspiracy to get us to look to some other person who is likewise his or her own worst enemy, and trust and depend on that lost person, of all things . . . so I do not see how I am the real problem.

My own self's character can make me able to evaluate by false ways of evaluating, so then I can fool myself into trusting wrong people . . . for marriage, for pastoring me, for secular government. It appears to me how many have so fooled their own selves into using unreliable ways of evaluating who they trust . . . instead of seeking and trusting Jesus to guide us.

And then, when we trust ones God did not guide us to trust, we cleverly blame that person. There is an ongoing conspiracy to get us to keep doing this. But Jesus does guide His sheep, and His sheep hear His voice > John 10:1-30, and James says we are wise to be >

"swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." (in James 1:19-20)

I personally see now that this means to be swift always to hear God. And so, if this is true, then surely Satan has plenty of people and ways conspiring to keep us from trusting that our Father personally cares for us and therefore personally communicates with us and guides us who submit to Him >

"casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7)

aog17 said:

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/video/all?video=592033

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Good to hear some believers putting this up to a real level.
QAnon is truly evil, a sin to be involved with.

There was an interview I listened to, to a supporter who worked in the territorial army and knew about new weapons. He took his knowledge and projected it into the conspiracy area, and ended up saying the government was planning to reduce the population down from 7.8 billion to 500 million over the next 10 years.

This is a psychotic break logic, where a plausible there maybe a problem here to this is the end of the world by the most evil people imaginable who appear as normal caring civil servants and politicians. If you step into this world, you do end up with civil unrest, because in their imaginary world it is justified.

We live in a nice world where executions are no longer happening, and life terms in prisons the norm, people live normally into old age, and death is occasionally felt. The types of claims being spoken of now, in the past would lead to imprisonment and/or death for treason and sedition. It is like poison, where trust in a stranger is being challenged, and replaced with hatred and antipathy, where the news media, which bring reassurance, is being called liars. Any culture especially our own has to defend the reality of trust, which is worthy and brilliant, and not give in to liars, conspiracy speakers and the delusional.

Jesus brings that trust, Jesus underpins our trust in the future and the Kingdom and the ways of truth, honesty and integrity.

God bless you

I watched it. It's mostly about Q, saying that the Church has to stand for truth and reject this kind of thing. At the very end it deals with false claims that the invasion of the capital was really by antifa. It then says we need to come together based on truth.

But it has serious omissions, which weaken the effect of the request at the end

• It blames conspiracy theories on the liberal media, saying that because they are false people turn to conspiracy theories. There are plenty of reasonably accurate mainstream media. Indeed most of them. We won't bring people together until people start by looking critically at causes in their own group first. Jesus talked about looking for the problem with your own eyes first.
  
• It omits talking about the conspiracy theory that's doing the most damage: that Trump really won the election.
• It claims that Democrats are trying to get all Republicans out of office. There have been some suggestions that a few leaders who directly encouraged the mob should leave office, but no actual attempt to remove or censure (the more likely alternative) them yet pending investigation, and certainly not extended to all Republicans. This is exactly the kind of false rumor they say needs to stop.

I just took in the video. It is a Christian Broadcasting Network thing, I think.

It seems to be claiming that the Qanon thing is a false thing. But it claims "good people" are falling for it. And we need to trust Christ, instead.

They seem to be saying that ones promoting this Qanon thing claim to have access to people in government with top secret information.

My consideration > this is not what is coming as mainstream reporting confirmed. If the Qanon is as represented by the video, people are going by say-so about what is said to be the say-so of ones not identified who claim to have top secret information.

So, if I trust what Qanon people say, I am going by what is coming from ones who are not eyewitnesses of what they claim.

And our Apostle Paul says he will establish every word "By the mouth of two or three witnesses" (2 Corinthians 13:1).

Even so, God's word says Satan has the whole world under his sway > 1 John 5:7. So, I do understand that any conspiracy is possible. One example we have is in Joshua chapter nine. That conspiracy had people presenting what was obvious evidence . . . but of what was false. The Jewish leaders did not make sure with God. So, yes even apparently obvious evidence can be rigged. So, part of a conspiracy can be to get people to rely on what can not be proven and what is appearance or claims.

One trick of a wrong person is he or she can point out something which is really wrong with me. Then the person can say look how reliable I am, if I can point out how you are wrong. But a wrong individual does not have the ability to take me the way which is right. And cult and false conspiracy people can point our attention maybe to someone or something that really is wrong, and say look how trustworthy we are to point out that wrong thing or person. Then they get us to assume they are always reliable.

But God's word says,

"Test all things; hold fast what is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

If a weather forecaster tells me correctly that the sky will be blue for the next ten minutes, this does not prove the person is a reliable weather person And yet look at how many people keep assuming a weather forecast will turn out to be correct.

So, we can so keep fooling ourselves, then, I would say. We need to get wise to our own selves, then. And if I am not an eyewitness to something of a conspiracy claim, I don't need to assume anyone else is. But do what God has us doing, according to all He knows.

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