Conspiracy theories, the truth and the appropriate Christian responses

This blog is yet another example of me rewinding the proverbial gramophone record (given I have already written on these subjects), sparked off by two mini happenings that got me fired up.

My blogs “How should Christians respond to conspiracy theories?” and “Tying up the loose ends – Truth” are two good “old gramophone record” examples, which while both written three years ago are remarkably relevant. “Conspiracy theory” is a pejorative term and something many thinking people who have influence go out of their way to distant themselves from, for fear of being ridiculed or rejected. Some conspiracy theories are bogus of course and others cannot be proven at the time (and is why they are theories); yet over time many prove to be facts. I regularly follow the likes of arch conspiracy theorists Alex Jones, David Icke and Charlie Ward, unashamedly, who may not always get it right but are often more spot on than mainstream media when it comes making sense of what is going on in today’s crazy world, run largely by the evil cabal, yet are the very people who we are told we should avoid.

A few days back, I posted the above meme and got taken to task by a friend suggesting I can’t both take the high ground when expressing my views and yet not be surprised if people object. I responded: “it is not about me. I’m not a very good Christian I know but those who are often understand the Parable of the Unprofitable Servant, when at the end of a day, of thankless toil and rejection by the baddies and the duped, said servant reflected that it was ok since he/she was merely doing his/her duty, which wrt said meme meant speaking the truth. I had in mind the good people who get called names and worse by worthless scum. I thought my posting might encourage them and wake up their detractors.”

All of which brings me to the second happening to get me worked up, and especially so as it came from what I once thought to be a bastion of sound Christian views of the world: Premier Christian. The article, written by a no doubt influential mover and shaker of Christians who are close to “my own tribe” was titled: “Will US evangelicalism survive a second Trump term?” (see here). It was decidedly anti-Trump and expressed sad bemusement that “the Donald”, decidedly in the dodgy dude camp, should be getting so much support from US Evangelicals, and were pushing a brand of Christianity putting off impressionable, young Christians, notions supported by several strong Christians. It reminded me of another bastion of Evangelical “orthodoxy” – Spring Harvest. A couple of years ago it had a well-known speaker deliver a seminar on “truth”, that turned out to be more about rubbishing Trump!

Going back to the article, which while making pertinent points, in essence I disagreed, what followed was (to date) 133 comments, mostly supporting the writer. Refreshingly (at least imho), there were some detractors, which suggest to me that, in this world of deception, Christians are waking up (and so they should be), not just to how evil the cabal who are pulling the strings on world events are but that DJT may be one hope (at least humanly speaking), when it comes to leading a resistance. Ironically, US Christians, often looked upon as being gullible by their compatriots across the Pond, seem more awake to what is really going on than UK Christians.

My own response (that was to receive mixed reactions) was: “Disappointed but not surprised with a perspective I’ve seen from many a Christian mover and shaker, I am sad to note. The first thing to say is I care not for politicians of any colour and reject any sniff of cultism. The only person I support wholeheartedly is the Lord Jesus Christ. Even more, following the stolen 2020 US presidential election, I can see the hand of Satan orchestrating world events. Humanly speaking, we may look to men for a way out but as people of God our hope has to be in Him, yet God uses unlikely people to accomplish his purposes, including “orange man bad”, which is how lying mainstream media likes to portray the newly arrested DJT, and all too often, as is the case here, people fall for it when the real villains are his detractors. When Trump was elected in 2016 on the “drain the swamp” promise, among other things, hardly anyone knew how deep and dirty the swamp was – now those who are awake know a lot more. “Trumpwatch (59) – the End Game” (see here) relates. Personally, I’m not surprised when Evangelicals support him if, as should be the case, truth is their mantra and they do watch and pray. While sad when younger folk may not do so, I am less surprised when they don’t see things as I do given the brainwashing our culture has subjected them to, yet even here I am hopeful, for God will not be mocked. He will have His way and He will not be thwarted. As for DJT, God has anointed him to drain the swamp, a big challenge. He needs our prayers as that’s the last thing the Devil wants to happen.”

In my blog “Bible prophecy and current events” (see here) posted three weeks ago, I reflected on twelve points pertaining to significant goings on in the world that I raised at the end of 2022 (see here). As I look down the list and, notwithstanding, mindful Satan does his greatest damage operating in “Angel of Light” rather than “Prince of Darkness” mode, from what I can make out, of these twelve points when taken as a whole, Trump is closer to what is true, just and right (the very essence of the King who is coming the reign in Psalm 45) than any other major world figure I can think off – and he is even seemingly making progress when it comes to meekness! 

So where does that leave our “Christian response”? I began my journey as a Christian a little over fifty years ago when I soon became aware of three main camps: Catholic, Liberal and Evangelical. While I recognised from the outset I was more into the Evangelical camp, I soon discovered there were concerns and insights from the other two camps that I could subscribe to and those in the Evangelical camp I could not. In recent years that included response to conspiracy theories. My views, for example, on the Covid-19 pandemic, which I have argued was a Plan/Scam demic, did not go well in some circles. Ironically, given these past 20 years I have been into community activism, for example in the areas of homelessness, mental health and building bridges with our diverse communities, I have fallen out with some on matters like Climate “Emergency”, Black Lives Matter and LBGT inclusion. I have seen increasing polarisation, even among Evangelicals that might be generally seen to be doctrinally sound followers of Jesus.

It thus begs the question what to do, especially in the light of “Priests of the Bible: Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer” (see here). I was taken by my anti-Trump(ism) writer’s statement: “Today’s young people will be turned off by rhetoric that says spiritual revival means a return to the nostalgia of a bygone era, signified in the numbers of people wearing Make America Great Again hats. Does Jesus really care about that? This is not what revival looks like. As evangelical preacher AW Tozer once wrote: “A widespread revival of the kind of Christianity we know today in America might prove to be a moral tragedy from which we would not recover in a hundred years.”” Not just because I agree wearing MAGA hats is not what should identify authentic followers of Jesus but because the author quoted from one who I regarded as one of the stand out twentieth century Christian prophets, AW Tozer. Like the author, I want a revival of the right kind of Christianity. As for what the “right kind” may look like, check out my “Priests of the Bible: The Ark, the Glory and revival” blog (see here).

I conclude with (I suspect) questions begged and unanswered. Given I blog a lot, if you want to know what I think, check these out (see here). But it isn’t about me or any other human (however wise or holy he/she may be), but what God thinks. The preceding quote was written at a time when Israel and Judah were facing the Assyrian threat and all sorts of conspiracy theories were being banded around what was happening or about to happen. As for what Isaiah, who was merely relaying God’s word, said, this is pertinent to our own grave situation we are seeing today and also, pertinently, to the disunity, even among real Christians, when it comes to what preoccupies us (we all need to learn to agree to disagree when it comes to what is not essential, and agree when it comes to giving God all the glory and seeing a manifestation of authentic Christianity young people are not seeing). As for truth, we cannot compromise on this and it has to be our mantra as God-fearing believers, and just as wise King Solomon pointed out, we need to …