by Jared Stacey, a PhD candidate in Theological Ethics at the University of Aberdeen.
You can follow him at Homeward Dispatches.
Just what *is* a conspiracy theory?
Baden & Sharon argue in a recent paper that a conspiracy theory involves three things:
1) a belief in both a secret and pervasive controlling force;
2) dissent framed in terms of a Manichean binary (totally good or totally evil); and
3) the theory practices fluid epistemology—meaning it is difficult to disprove!
How conspiracy theories are generated and amplified on digital platforms is a whole different conversation but it’s important to know they can be shared as misinformation (by those who are tricked by a less than reliable news source) and disinformation (by those who know the claims are false but are advancing them for ulterior motives).
Christian Nationalism is an ideology that grows by both misinformation and disinformation amplified through the digital space. Conspiracy theories play into this ideology to give it the illusion of epistemological stability and often trade in the authority of Christian theology by dressing false claims in recognizably Biblical language or concepts. Sadly, this isn’t new.
The Historical Link
We might be living through a revival of conspiracy theories in the mainstream but the truth is they’ve always been latent in American culture. During the American Revolution, conspiracy theories were actually considered legitimate forms of knowledge. This was because Enlightenment understandings of cause-and-effect gave new epistemological frameworks for politics. If British troops fired at Rebels at Concord, it must be because King George III ordered them to. More recently, in the 1950’s, this conspiratorial culture fueled the Red Scare. And it’s resurfaced again in the digital landscape with global resurgences of populisms and nationalisms. Evangelicalism in particular has always traded and trafficked on conspiracy theories. Christian Nationalism is one ideology that plays well with Conspiracism.
Conspiracy Theorists Next Door
All this might be helpful as a framework or for background knowledge since it can help us name the crisis and locate ourselves in terms of the big picture. But what about the conspiracy theorist next door? Let me give three practical things you can do or be aware of.
First, if there’s one theory there’s many theories.
We need to understand that people who are buying conspiracy theories are doing so by a prior commitment to ideology. If you already believe you’re being lied to, or that the world you inhabit is totally and completely untrustworthy, you’ve already created a plausibility structure for conspiracy theories to live and breathe in. Don’t try and disprove one theory, because conspiracism is like a carousel that is impossible to exit.
Second, ask penetrating and disrupting questions from a place of curiosity.
The goal is not to get people to double down and renegotiate their conspiratorial claims but to draw them generously and gently into the inconsistencies of their own patterns of thought and embrace of reality. For example: asking “why does that need to be true?” Or “what happens if that claim isn’t true?” is a helpful follow up after sharing the facts of the 2020 election.
Finally, prayer.
Yes if you’re serious about confronting Conspiracism in Christian Nationalism you have to commit yourself to giving up the very sense of control that fuels many conspiratorial beliefs. Psychology points out that conspiratorial beliefs meet a deep need for control and safety. Prayer as a theological and spiritual exercise acknowledges that we ourselves are just as susceptible to seeking out beliefs that assuage our blind spots and defend our ideological homes from inspection.
This is by no means exhaustive but in time spent researching conspiracy theories, these are some crucial outcomes and possibilities that I have been wrestling with. I saw this as a pastor before I was ever a researcher and I know the pain and the difficulty of this reality on the ground. But there are steps we can take, and perspectives we can help by generate that can stem the tide of this ideology and it’s penchant for conspiracy theory.