My dad is a massive conspiracy theorist and it's so frustrating

How on earth do Evangelical Christians justify supporting Trump when he is a proven adulterer and adjudicated rapist?

Setting aside all the racism, attempts to overturn the election and his complete unfitness for the office of President, surely Evangelical Christians are hot on chastity and faithfulness in marriage?

Ahh, that's because it's not for phone signals but frequencies to infiltrate brains to control..😉

They are often one and the same. I grew up with Evangelical Christians and many are full-on conspiracy theorists, especially where it concerns Trump, Democrats, Covid, and so on.

A friend has a dh like this..bores the tits off me
I just tell him I'm not interested and if he won't shut up I start talking to someone else or leave.
It's like the fanatical vegans..they feel compelled to tell you why they are vegan and why you should be too.
I'm a woman on the menopause so fuck off to the far side of fuckery and then fuck off some more

I think that’s completely believable.

Isn’t it already fairly well known that tobacco companies played down research about the dangers of smoking?

They would rather believe that someone 'they' are controlling everything rather than believe that bad stuff can happen randomly to a lot of people!

Yeah. I do think evangelical Christians and conspiracy theorists recruit from a similar group of people. Except Christians have a much more positive message that someone good is in control and all will be right in the end, and conspiracy theorists have a miserable message that very bad people are in control for undefined nefarious reasons. I guess they meet similar psychological needs in the people who believe ( to think things aren’t random and someone’s in control), but the Christian message is much more positive and makes people happier.

Very true. Conspiracy theorists are very fearful people. Mental health seems fragile in many and their echo chambers of the 'ones that are awake' don't help.

Yea the government and evil corporations and capitalists like Soros and Zuckerberg are all out to get us.

Luckily Trump and Elon Musk are coming to the rescue! For no apparent reason....

patrilla · Today 15:08

My dad told me there's a video where Hillary Clinton kills a child - apparently it's clear as day and the fact she's not in prison is because she's part of the elite.

Oh dear. People like that can never show you the video, even though they've seen it, as it keeps getting taken down, before anyone can see it. Except them and other conspiracy delusionists, who also never manage to show anyone.

They spend their time in their social media echo chambers where they talk to the other enlightened ones, who know what's really going on because they are so smart while the rest of us are dim, but will eventually realise the truth and become enlightened like them. There is absolutely no reasoning because they know they are right, Fred Bloggs on the internet said so, so it must be true.

I don't understand the anti-5G stuff. I can't even get National Rail Enquiries to load in a main station with 5 bars of 5G signal, so it's clearly not that good

Gulp ...my brother. Although he is fairly easy going in person , online he comes across as a real Grassy Knollington. We literally don't have time to watch or read all the stuff he shares. You need to interest your dad in some hobby or activity that gets him off the computer. Because I've learned there is no use arguing 😱 with people who are emotionally invested in these theories.

I have a near neighbour that I avoid because she says much the same sort of things.

Well yeah cos it's done in secrecy innit - you need to be one of Hilary Clinton's gang to get in on it!

I hate these sorts of people too. Talking about it doesn't change anything, but

everything is proof that we are controlled by this elite group of people who just want to make sure we are controlled

That's not exactly a mystery is it? I mean let's face it, they could stop a lot of suffering in a heartbeat but they don't. It's easier to control the downtrodden. I can see why conspiracy theories are gathering pace because social mobility is being eroded.

With these people I just say yeah you're probably right, everyone probably agrees, but what are you actively doing to change it other than making other people feel hopeless with your rantings?

We all know powerful people don't give a shit about us and try to create division, but getting cult like and angry at others because they don't hold identical views is what they bloody want anyway.

gladrefrain · Today 12:51

I agree there are high levels of anti-semitism generally. The events since October 7th have shown me that in appalling clarity.

True, I'm not a supporter of how Israel has handled it, but I think that it was exactly what Hamas wanted and planned for. People seem to have a problem not understanding that not all Israelis, never mind Jewish people all over the world have different views on the war.

People seem to have no problem understanding that the British might support Labour, the Conservatives, Greens etc and have opinions broadly based on their ethoses. Or Republicans and Democrats in the USA, but have the opinion that "The Jews!" are a hive mind.

Amen. 😁
Some humans just need this to feel in control of their lives. It’s why we invented all the religions. Comforting and helps to deal with the human condition.

Well, my husband is 75, I'm 45 and it's the same.
Never thought about it being irritating though, since I'm probably very similar, therefore the choice in marriage 20 years ago and other stuff.
😊

And Hollywood/ Music elites are all paedophile satanists..

I know someone like this, it’s the only thing that really seems to animate her. Definitely not a low intellect thing, more a total lack of any interests or activities offline. In fact when asked about her hobbies she can only think of the internet and her favourite YouTubers.

It is strange that being a conspiracy theorist is not considered a mental illness, given how odd many of the beliefs are. You’d think they’d count as delusions.

One of my good friends is like this. The way I've dealt with it is massively distancing myself. She still posts stuff online about this kind of rubbish. The sad thing is she never used to be racist, now she posts Tommy Robinson shite. I couldn't be around that but I guess it's not quite so easy when it's your dad.

@thepariscrimefiles Well, exactly - there’s no internal sense at all. But non of these positions or theories are internally consistent, are they?

It’s not a new thing really, believing in the frankly unbelievable. It’s just that there is a much wider range of weird and wonderful theories all whirling around on a much wider mix of communication outlets.

Not wanting to upset anyone, but think how many hundreds of years mankind all over the World has immersed itself into all sorts of religious beliefs, some still very mainstream. It can be a huge comfort zone many many, no matter how eyebrow raising or 🤷‍♀️ others find it, to the point of defining lots of cultures. But most folks extrapolate what they want from it, and try to live a moral, well balanced life.