Humble. Courageous. Awake.
[Mat 10:16 ESV] 16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
My Dad is a sheep farmer. The sheep are keenly aware if a person or other animal are near their pasture that are not usual patrons of the pasture. The sheep will skittishly watch and if any sudden movements are made, then they will dart off. (Insert image of sheep in pasture)
I am calling God’s people, HIS sheep, to awaken because there are wolves near the pasture and in some cases in the pasture.
What do we need to awaken to? Some conspiracy theories we have thought were false may actually be true and without knowledge of them, we could perish because we are not being wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Conspiracy Theory
Let us lead with a sometimes much ridiculed subject: Conspiracy Theory. I for one, who in the privacy of my own home, poked fun at conspiracy theories until the day I began looking into them. It is easy to poke fun at something or dismiss something if you think you are right. It takes a much humbler and secure person to investigate something just in case you are wrong.
Let us start by defining Conspiracy and Theory and then put the two definitions together.
con•spir•a•cy kən-spîr′ə-sē
- n. An agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act.
- n. A group of conspirators.
- n. An agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime or accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action.
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
Our working definition of Conspiracy:
A Conspiracy can be an agreement by two or more persons to perform a crime, wrongful, or subversive act or accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action.
the•o•ry thē′ə-rē, thîr′ē
- n. A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.
- n .The branch of a science or art consisting of its explanatory statements, accepted principles, and methods of analysis, as opposed to practice.
- n. A set of theorems that constitute a systematic view of a branch of mathematics.
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
Our working definition of Theory:
A Theory can be a set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested.
Our working definition of Conspiracy Theory is a combination of persons to perform a crime, wrongful, or subversive act or accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action, which can be shown through a set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested.
The true definition of Conspiracy Theory does not disprove the conspiracy theory but proves it. What is really going on and why do so many people dismiss Conspiracy Theories? Enter Ad Hominem to the stage.
Ad Hominem
The issue is that when others attack some conspiracy theories they do so by committing an Ad Hominem Fallacy, which is attacking the person’s character and not the actual argument. Attacking a person’s character and not the argument is an Informal Logical Fallacy. This is called Ad Hominem.
Here is a link to learn more about Ad Hominem:
Attacking the person does not mean an argument or Conspiracy Theory is false. It means the person attacking another’s character committed a logical fallacy in the argument and failed to refute it. What do we see happening in media, politics, etc. People attack the character and do not actually refute the argument. In some cases, they resort to the Ad Hominem fallacy because the argument is true. An argument, based on truth, cannot be disproven. The issue with attacking truth is that it is self-defending.
Truth
Truth cannot be disproved. If it is, it is not truth. Truth is not error. Truth is right by its very nature. It cannot be wrong, or it would not be Truth. Truth is not dishonest and is self-defending. Truth cannot be undone.
The Declaration of Independence stated:
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,…
If an argument is true and someone knows that they will fail by attacking the argument, then attacking the person is a great distraction technique. Someone can attack character all day long and never touch the actual argument.
For those who dismiss Conspiracy Theories, the conscious or unconscious thought looks like this:
The case is closed to the conspiracy theory because 1) those who support a conspiracy theory are ill-informed, crazy, delusional, etc. (pick your favorite adjective) 2) I already know that conspiracy theory is false.
Or do you? Have you heard of confirmation bias?
Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias, the tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with one’s existing beliefs. This biased approach to decision making is largely unintentional and often results in ignoring inconsistent information. Existing beliefs can include one’s expectations in a given situation and predictions about a particular outcome. People are especially likely to process information to support their own beliefs when the issue is highly important or self-relevant.
Casad, Bettina J.. “Confirmation bias”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Oct. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/science/confirmation-bias. Accessed 30 January 2021.
We all have confirmation bias. Without it, we would not be able to process the world around us because it would be too overwhelming. It would be safe to say that, most all believe that the sky is blue and the grass is green etc. Confirmation Bias is a more efficient way to process information so that we are not paralyzed by having to validate everything we believe, however there are times we need to question what we believe.
What are some steps to reduce confirmation bias?
To reduce confirmation bias, look at various sources and not only the ones that support your theory. Take the opposite viewpoint from which you agree and try to prove it. Looking at every piece of information available on a subject is not feasible so people tend to look solely at the information that supports their belief. Take the opposite viewpoint from which you agree and try to prove it. This forces one to look at other information.
Example 1: If I believe the COVid vaccine is safe and my friend does not and urges me to investigate it, then I would do research to prove my friend’s argument as true that vaccines are unsafe. I am taking the opposite of my own stance and working to prove it is true.
Example 2: If I believe the earth is a globe and my friend believes the flat earth theory, then to avoid confirmation bias I would try to prove that the flat earth theory is correct in order avoid confirmation bias.
Conclusion
Ad Hominem and Confirmation Bias are two major culprits for not looking into conspiracy theories or at least not looking into them properly. Be on the lookout for “debunked” conspiracy theories that primarily attack the person. That can be a signal that there is a hidden gem – Truth. Be humble enough entertain the idea that you could be wrong and courageous enough to do proper research (10 minutes or 30 minutes does not count) to prove the opposite of your opinion. Be willing to dig. In preparing for debates, one should not only know your side of the argument, but also your opponent’s side of the argument. Really dig. Digging unearths the buried treasure. In some cases, dismissing things as conspiracy theory can be life or death and sometimes the conspiracy theory is so dark that people do not want to believe that it is true. This too calls for courage. Ignoring something does not make something untrue, it makes one ignorant on the subject. Children of Yahweh, it is time to awaken.
[Hos 4:6 KJV] 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
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