Conspiracy!

For the record, last election cycle two Facebook friends passed along a story that, in one fell swoop, made Hillary into a criminal and a pervert. Of its origins, I'm not sure; but the prominence of that myth laid some stripes on her candidacy, although the story's sheer madness was likely a reflection of the hate she'd long ago generated among those who perpetuated it. 

In case you missed it, that story grew out of the trove of personal Clinton emails Wikileaks published, correspondence between Democratic party officials, Clinton-aide John Podesta, and Hillary herself. People believed they were written in a code that discussed a criminal human trafficking and child sex ring those high-level Democrats were involved in, a criminal ring run out of the basement of a Washington D.C. pizza parlor--hence, the name "pizzagate." 

Seems insane now, but that bizarre story showed up twice in on my FB page, offered by two of my FB friends, who, if they didn't believe it, at least felt prompted to air the story as "free speech"--you know, "the story is out there, people are talking about it." It was nuts. Pure fruitcake. Madness. But people believed it.

Christianity Today republished an old blog post from Ed Stetzer a week or so ago, warning Christians especially to be wary of conspiracy theories like "pizzagate." CT pulled the post out of mothballs; it had been written in 2017, when the murder myth of Seth Rich was all the rage. The Seth Rich story grew out of the same cauldron of hate of Hillary, blamed her and her minions for his death (he was a young, Democratic staffer), even linked him into pizzagate by claiming he was responsible for leaking the Hillary emails. All of this made Clinton, the Democratic nominee, a pervert, a criminal, and a murderer. And it was all bullshit.

Years ago, I served on the committee that operated a broadcast ministry named Back to God Hour, a ministry led by Dr. Joel Nederhood, a thoughtful man who was, in matters political and ecclesiastical, a true conservative. At several meetings, he made it a point of the agenda to say how important it was for us to let our supporters know this madness about the Madeline Murray O'Hare was poppycock. O'Hare was a convenient demon for those who were determined to believe that the government was out to get Christians. 

Whoever was driving the conspiracy claimed the infamous atheist Madeline Murray O'Hare (the name still sends chills) was ginning up support to have Christian broadcasting silenced (like prayer in schools). The response to that conspiracy theory grew so huge that the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) would regularly get deluged with heated correspondence. 

"It's false, she's dead, and all it does is make Christians look like idiots," he'd say, or words to that effect. 

Yesterday, our President begat yet another conspiracy theory, something he called "Obamagate." (Did you know that Obama is a Muslim, born in Kenya?) When a reporter asked him what specific crime "Obamagate" referred to, the President said the Washington Post reporter knew full well what it was, but he wouldn't write about it because the reporter was and is, I suppose, "an enemy of the people."

We have a President who, were he a potato, would sprout conspiracy theories.

And all of this doesn't bode well for the 2020 election. The President had, single-handedly, built the most powerful economy in the history of the world, if you believe him, and a microscopic virus, a tiny volleyball stuck with little trumpets, Samson-like, brought it all down. It's just not right. He was not going to run on his good looks or his love for the American people. It was "the economy, stupid," and now the economy is tanked.

Someone has to shoulder the blame.

Time is ripe for conspiracy theories. We've got an invisible enemy who's tallied a body count of more than 80,000 Americans. Scientists around the world are working to save the planet. The Republican-controlled government is throwing out cash to try to keep the economy afloat. There's all sorts of open spaces to fill in with fruitcake answers.

We all want--and even need--someone to blame. 

Seems to me that we have, these days, lots and lots to fear. Honestly, we don't need more than we already have.