Matt, Derek, and Alastair sit down to discuss why people are attracted to conspiracy theories. Listen in to hear the difference between credulity and conspiracy, why fringe groups matter, and how to handle those in the church who embrace QAnon and conspiracy theories.
Timestamps:
Why do people gravitate toward conspiracy theories and...did Epstein kill himself? [0:00 - 12:25]
How do we maintain appropriate levels of credulity without falling into conspiracy theories? [12:25 - 21:03]
What it means when conspiracy theorists have skin in the game [21:03 - 24:00]
Evil, incompetence, and structural problems [24:00 - 28:48]
Why fringe groups matter [28:48 - 32:05]
How do we handle those in the church who embrace QAnon and other conspiracy theories? [32:05 - 41:05]
How to argue effectively with conspiracy theorists [41:05 - 45:50]
Resources mentioned:
Article: "The Prophecies of Q," by Adrienne LaFrance
If you’re interested in supporting the show financially, you can check out our Patreon here.
Finally, as always, follow Derek, Andrew, and Alastair for more tweet-sized brilliance. Thanks to Timothy Motte for his sound editing work. And thanks to The Joy Eternal for lending us their music, which everybody should download out of gratitude for their kindness.
Caleb Wait
Caleb Wait (MATS, Westminster Seminary California) is a writer and the producer of Mere Fidelity. He and his wife Kristin have two children and live in Northern California. You can follow him on Twitter @calebwait and he invites you to email him at ciwait93@gmail.com.
