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Tag Archives: conspiracy theories
Eight Reasons People Believe Conspiracy Theories
There was a great bit of reportage by Maggie Koerth-Baker on critical thinking (or rather, its failure) in The New York Times recently. The article explored the psychology behind conspiracy theories, honing in on eight key reasons so many people believe in them: … Continue reading
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Tagged apologetics, atheism, conspiracy theories, critical thinking, philosophy, psychology, theism
1 Comment
A Nice Example of How Conspiracy Theories (and Religions) Work
The below video is a perfect deconstruction of conspiracy theories and religious stories (in my view). Lay before the world an engaging and logically possible narrative, highlighting along the way anything that might lend it plausibility. Then wait for people … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, atheist, conspiracy theories, God, Islam, Jesus, psychology, religion
2 Comments
Anti-Science and Conspiracy Culture: Is Postmodernism to Blame?
How much responsibility should postmodern academics assume for America’s pervasive anti-science and conspiracy culture? A helpful route into thinking about this question is Bruno Latour’s 2003 essay, “Why Has Critique Run out of Steam? From Matters of Fact to Matters … Continue reading
Are Scientists Part of a Grand Conspiracy to Deny God’s Existence?
As part of a conspiracy series for British television, the BBC took five young earth creationists on a road trip to meet some prominent American scientists, including biologist Jerry Coyne of the University of Chicago and anthropologist Tim White of Berkeley. Were the … Continue reading
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Tagged apologetics, Charles Darwin, conspiracy theories, creationism, evolution, God, jerry coyne, Jesus, science, YEC
3 Comments
Our Ten Public Virtues and Why It’s So Difficult to Think Clearly
Jonathan Kay’s Among the Truthers was reviewed by Jacob Heilbrunn for the New York Times this past month, and, in discussing the cult-like epistemic closure characteristic of so many people in America, this part of the review jumped out at me: As Kay … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, conspiracy theories, critical thinking, doubt, faith, God, madness, religion, Sarah Palin, virtue
8 Comments
The United Nations: An Emanation of Lucifer?
At Talk To Action, a website devoted to reporting on, and deconstructing, the Christian fundamentalist right, Rachel Tabachnick flags the following overhead projection that appeared in an End Times talk by Col. Jim Ammerman. In ascending order, the projection portrays elite societies and global institutions as emanations of … Continue reading
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Tagged America, conspiracy theories, critical thinking, End Times, glenn beck, Jesus, lucifer, Sarah Palin, Satan, United Nations
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Video of the Apparent Missile Launch Seen over Los Angeles Yesterday
As of right now, the Pentagon is denying responsibility for Monday’s apparent missile launch near Los Angeles, claiming not to have any idea what might have caused the appearance of so large a contrail (“condensation trail”). Might it be from a submarine? … Continue reading
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Tagged airplanes, chemtrails, clouds, conspiracy theories, contrails, mystery, reason, skepticism, sky, the navy, the pentagon
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Conspiracy Bait: Greenscreens are Everywhere—and Maybe Even Coming to the News
You certainly couldn’t fake a moon landing in 1969, but I suppose that, with contemporary technology, you might almost get away with it today. In the future, will government and corporate officials—and those in our assorted propaganda industries—start using the greenscreen technology below to … Continue reading
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Tagged advertising, conspiracy, conspiracy bait, conspiracy theories, Fox News, greenscreen, media, moon landing, predictions, propaganda, the future
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David Aaronovich on the Growing Skeptics’ Movement
In a Salon interview, David Aaronovich, the author of a new book that historically contextualizes and debunks conspiracy theories, praises the post-9-11 growing skeptics’ movement in the United States and Britain: Maybe I’m a false optimist, but I think we have a … Continue reading
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Tagged apologetics, atheism, conspiracy theories, critical thinking, david aaronovich, history, reason, Richard Dawkins, skeptic, skepticism
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Three Examples of 21st Century Anti-Semitism
The former Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir, at an Islamic conference in 2003: And Richard Williamson, a Catholic bishop: And the Drudge Report, using an anti-Semitic trope—the large and overshadowing Jew—in reporting on the Pope’s visit to Israel (May 12, 2009): … Continue reading
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Tagged anti-Semitism, Catholicism, Christianity, conspiracy theories, Freud, Islam, Israel, Judaism, paranoia, projection, psychology
1 Comment
Conspiracy Theory Taken to a New Level: The Haiti Earthquake is Now the U.S. Navy’s Fault
This today at Reason: Both Venezuelan state-owned radio and television properties zeroed in on a secret U.S. “weapon of earthquakes” as the cause of the earthquake that struck Haiti last week causing a death toll [that] could exceed 200,000 according … Continue reading
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Tagged anti-Semitism, conspiracy, conspiracy theories, Drudge Report, earthquakes, God, haiti, Illuminati, james bond, Judaism, technology, theodicy
5 Comments
Weight Watchers Meets the Book of Revelation—and Denis Dutton
In the New York Times today, philosopher Denis Dutton meditates on our cultural fondness for the apocalyptic: We wallow in the idea that one day everything might change in, as St. Paul put it, the “twinkling of an eye” — … Continue reading
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Tagged apocalypse, Calvinism, conspiracy theories, guilt, last days, modernism, philosophy, psychology, Revelation, The Book of Revelation, weight watchers
6 Comments
A 2012 Prophecy: Suicides Will Accompany the Advent of December 21, 2012
It’s not a nice thought, but this is an easy prophecy to make. And it’s the singular prophecy surrounding December 21, 2012 that will almost surely come to pass. Perhaps you remember Heaven’s Gate. Heaven’s Gate was a San Diego based cult whose … Continue reading
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Tagged 2012, atheist, conspiracy theories, December 21, End Times, New Age, predictions, prophecy, rush limbaugh, science, suicide, the second coming
22 Comments
Here’s the Groovy UFO Historian Dude I Went to Lunch with on Saturday
At a Burbank UFO conference I attended on Saturday, I had lunch with Richard Dolan (I tell that story here). In the clip below, Dolan is being interviewed at a UFO conference in Nevada: And here’s Dolan’s website and the Amazon link to … Continue reading
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Tagged aliens, atheist, conspiracy theories, NASA, project camelot, richard dolan, SETI, skeptic, UFOs
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John Polkinghorne’s Book of Christian Apologetics Gets a Tart Takedown from Philosopher AC Grayling
Philosopher AC Grayling’s review of John Polkinghorne’s new book, Questions of Truth, is a tough one and can be read here. Money quote: [T]he painful experience of wading through this book gave me an epiphany: that religious faith is extremely … Continue reading
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Tagged AC Grayling, apologetics, Christianity, conspiracy theories, Illuminati, Jesus, john polkinghorne, philosophy, physics, psychology, religion, the Bible
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