Thinking Caps, not Tin Foil Hats

While most people have responded to Hurricanes Helene and Milton with concern and compassion, others are promoting conspiracies about the storms. With a pair of tweets, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene alleged that “they” (whoever “they” are) sent the hurricanes to target red state citizens inclined to vote for her party.

Conspiracy theories are nothing new. They go back to the Puritans hunting down and executing witches. More contemporary examples include the belief that the moon landing was faked, that 9/11 was an inside job, that vaccines cause autism, and the reprehensible lie that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax.

As Christians, how should we think about conspiracy theories? How can we avoid conspiratorial thinking?

According to a Scientific American article, feelings of anxiety and disenfranchisement drive conspiratorial thinking. There is a lot to be anxious about! We’ve just come out of a global pandemic. Wars are raging in Ukraine and the Middle East. Wildfires and hurricanes are doing great damage. Surges in migrants and asylum seekers have put strain on social services in border towns and big cities. Anxious people who feel like they are losing power want to know who to blame. They will rally around leaders or movements who identify a scapegoat or a cabal of bad guys behind it all.

Rather than scapegoating, the Bible advises anxious people to “cast their cares on (Christ) because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Find your comfort in God’s love and not in hatred of shadowy forces beyond your control. And while there is always a need for accountability, there is no longer any need for scapegoats. Jesus himself is the “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

Jesus once asked the crowds, “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?” This is not an invitation to “do your own research” and shun expertise, whether it comes from NASA or the CDC or the National Weather Service. Instead, Jesus invites us to use our rational minds to come to thoughtful conclusions about what is “good, acceptable, and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

As you prayerfully and thoughtfully evaluate claims, look for three factors that distinguish conspiracy theories from valid ones.

1. Conspiracy theories contain contradictions. For instance, if “they” are using hurricanes to stop red state citizens from voting, why are “they” burning down a blue state like California?
2. Conspiracy theories are based on shaky assumptions. For example, the belief that vaccines cause autism is based on two critically flawed scientific studies a quarter-century old.
3. Conspiracy theorists take evidence against their theory and turn it into evidence for their theory. For instance, a top political advisor to the founder of LinkedIn speculated that what was clearly an attempt on former President Trump’s life had been staged to garner sympathy for Mr. Trump.

When you are having a conversation with someone who holds to a conspiracy theory, ask them three questions: What is your evidence? What is your source? What is the logic that ties your evidence to your conclusions? These questions can help people turn on their thinking caps and take off their tin foil hats.

Most of all, love them. Love reassures anxious people that they are not alone. Knowing that real people care about you is the best medicine against thinking that some imagined enemy has come out of the woodwork for you.

(Image Attribution: NeferJanah Meistrup, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)