How Should We Respond to Christian Conspiracy Theories?

My concern with this question relates mainly to the first thing that Lindsay asks about; namely, What should we think and do in response to people who gravitate to what Lindsay calls “spiritual conspiracy theories”?

Old News, New Media

And that’s not a new question. In every generation, there have been predictions of the end of the world, and speculations about world leaders as the antichrist, and calamities that definitely signify the near end of the world, and political events that definitely fulfill last-day biblical prophecies, and bizarre sequences of events that cause the spinning out of conspiratorial webs. These have an uncanny way of being self-confirming, and then they peter out in the end and are forgotten for a few decades until they start all over again.

That’s not new. What’s new is not the alarmist mentalities or conspiracy theories or vocal doomsayers. What’s new is the presence of social media and the speed and ease and extent to which these theories spread.

So, how should we respond now, especially personally, if we know someone who is given to this kind of speculation and intrigue? What should we do if we know someone who always seems to be sniffing out something other than what is plainly there? And my answer to this is based on a certain diagnosis of what’s going on in their mind. Read More