The Folly of Condemning All “Conspiracy Theories”
by Stuart DiNenno
Any Christian who makes a blanket condemnation of belief in “conspiracy theories” and mocks a conspiratorial view of history is either being disingenuous or is rather dense. There have always been conspiracies throughout history and the existence of every one of them could easily have been dismissed as a mere theory before all the facts came to light.
One example of a known conspiracy is the crime syndicate we refer to as the Mafia, which at one time was believed by many to be non-existent, but now it is widely known that there are more than a few such conspiratorial criminal organizations. Another was the conspiracy of the Jesuits to overthrow Protestantism which we call the counter-Reformation. Then there was the Marxist conspiracy to take over Russia which ended in the murder of the Russian Czar and his family, and resulted in decades of Communist rule. And, of course, there is the biblically recorded conspiracy of the Jews to kill Jesus Christ. All of these have been denied at some point in history and some are still denied to this day.
And usually those who sneer at others for believing in “conspiracy theories” still accept the existence of things such as “insider trading”, “backroom deals”, “Russian collusion”, “the old boys’ club”, “institutional white supremacy”, etc. and quite predictably never call into question the existence of a German plot to exterminate the Jews, all of which belies the fact that they have their own conspiracy theories.
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” — Declaration of Independence
The founders all saw “a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism” in the actions of King George and the English Parliament? This sure sounds like a conspiracy theory to me.
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
[and then the list of grievances begins] http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/