Thursday, August 17, 2006
So what are you going to DO about it?
Lions and tigers and bugbears - OH MY! Excuse me while I knock your tinfoil hat off...
Haven't checked in on Mr. Fitzpatrick in a long time - my loss!
...those who believe in these (conspiracy) theories do so because they want to believe them... (T)he conspiracy theories enable them to see the world in a way that satisfies a need of some sort.
...(T)hose who hold to these conspiracy theories have an obligation to ask themselves why it makes sense for them to picture a world where the particular villains in question — Jews, Freemasons, Halliburton executives, Karl Rove, Bilderbergers, whoever — have so much power to shape our lives. Why does a scenario with this villain make sense for them? It is a question that should be asked, and asking it honestly may open some doors to beneficial self-understanding for conspiracy theorists.
There is another angle to consider: focusing on the machinations of these conspirators can be a distraction that leads one to ignore the impact of the ideas that challenge us in the modern world. Plans for world federalism do not depend upon the existence of the Illuminati or the Bilderbergers for their vitality; they can be found in every faculty room in the country. The theologians who call for a secular humanist interpretation of Christ’s teachings do not depend upon a cadre of Masons in the Vatican for their inspiration. They can go to their local libraries to get that. These ideas will not be defeated through a search for clues to the existence of a secret group that is promulgating them. They must be defeated intellectually in the marketplace of ideas.
One last thing: there is the danger that focusing on these conspiracy theories — in the absence of some new evidence for their existence — can make our side in the culture wars look unserious, even kooky. Anti-communists, defenders of traditional values and those who defend the nation-state system are put on the defensive. Why give that advantage to the opposition? ~James Fitpatrick
Haven't checked in on Mr. Fitzpatrick in a long time - my loss!
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