Conspireligion

I am fascinated by the recent videos of two of my favorite YouTubers — AronRa and Thunderf00t. In their videos, AronRa discusses the futility of debating creationists, and Thunderf00t talks about the pointlessness of debating conspiracy theorists. In fact, Thunderf00t goes a step further by suggesting a similar thought process exists among conspiracy believers and religionists.

These videos have had me thinking all week about the hopelessness of debating ANY religious person, and that anyone who easily buys into conspiracy theories is also likely religious. And, perhaps, religion is the mother of ALL conspiracy theories.

Thunderf00t makes his point by focusing on one point — how 9/11 Truthers claim that Building No. 7 was a "controlled demolition." Truthers also make claims that the second jet never hit the tower, and instead was flown to a secret base. And, of course, Muslims say 9/11 was orchestrated by the Jews.

Reality Invention

The sad thing is that people invent their own reality and they get so lost in it, that they actually believe it's real, no matter how nuts it is.

Drawing from the experiences of the last two churches I attended, I can say that many religionists are deep in their own little world. A typical Christian evangelical believes that humans are simply proxies in a great spiritual war between Satan and God. I remember during church services "prayer warriors" were stationed behind the stage during the sermon to ward of demons. At the time, I really didn't have an opinion about that either way, but now that I look back I realize how totally silly that was. I mean, why must you have several people praying constantly during a church service asking God to keep evil spirits away. Why doesn't God just do it?

Going back to 7 World Trade Center, the 9/11 Truthers talk about the time the building took to collapse, how the fires were "too small" to destroy the building, etc... In an effort to build their case, people who support the conspiracy bend and manipulate facts and video footage to make their case. And once you become a Truther, no rational debate will sway you.

Evolution Debate

I am more familiar with the evolution debate. First, the evidence for evolution is massive and overwhelming. But if you are a creationist, evidence means nothing. For one thing, most people don't know enough about evolution to truly understand it. And, secondly, a lot of other people hold on to either old information, partial information, or downright false information that they heard from their religious leaders. Even if you present a creationist with solid facts, they'll simply dismiss it. So, no, you won't EVER catch me having a rational debate with a religious person because, first of all, you CAN'T BE religious and rational at the same time.

Let's talk about the Holocaust deniers. How do I know the Holocaust existed? Because of the many things I've read all my life, and I even met a survivor once. But suddenly, a handful of people say the Holocaust never existed — as a way to attack Jews — and suddenly many people believe it. They will believe their own lies because, hey, can you prove otherwise?

If someone asks me to prove there is NOT a God, I'll ask them to prove that my cat is NOT an alien space probe. After all, I really can't do it. Sure, my cat poops, eats, and occasionally vomits on the carpet, so I really think it's a cat. But what if the aliens were REALLY GOOD at making space probes mimic cats? I mean, I dunno.

Is Reality Even Real?

So, it's really hard to say what is reality and what is not. I find the best solution on any issue is to get your information from a variety of sources and make your own decision based on the "preponderance of the evidence." I mean, there really is no one truth. For one thing, you can't trust the media at all. As a former journalist I know how easy it is to put a slant on a story by engineering what you do say, what you don't say, and how you say it. Sometimes I'll watch Fox News to see just how they skillfully add their right-wing spin, while still being factual.

I really have no idea what reality is, but I THINK that I do. I do know that the evidence for evolution is vast. At the same time, the evidence for God, Jesus, King David, and Moses is scant to none. Maybe each of those figures were legends and/or symbols? Maybe Paul Bunyen was real? Maybe Santa Claus is real? Okay, we know that he is sort of based on a real person.

The problem with all this made up reality is that people are so detached from the REAL WORLD that they can't respond to its needs or solve its problems. For example, a typical conservative Christian wouldn't care less about recycling or global warming. In their fantasy, the Earth is temporal and the real living begins after they die (does that sound weird to you?). These same folks are also typically pumped with political propaganda, and those "family values" politicians they vote for tell them that global warming is a CONSPIRACY!!! Chalk one up for the oil companies.

Fantasy Is Easier Than Caring

But what may REALLY be the bottom line is that people just don't care much about ANYTHING — just like I didn't care when those prayer warriors were begging God for a "hedge of protection" around the Church — you know, angels with flame swords who would whack the shit out of any demon who dared cross the line. And in the meantime, the pastor was shaking us down for cash using the most subtle guilt techniques. So, I really didn't care. I was just there because my parents and wife's grandparents hounded me to attend church. I was there because it made me a "good person." I was there because I was told I needed to be a "strong Christian example" for my children. And as I'm sitting in church I'm not picturing an angel's flame sword cutting off a demon's pointed ears. Actually, I'm thinking about lunch. And, really, I JUST DON'T CARE. So why would I expect a Christian to care about saving the environment. I mean, really...