After mentally awakening to the idea that JWs don't have the truth I strangely found myself delving into all encompassing conspiracy theories. Not that I believed them but something about them seemed quite fascinating. I was especially drawn to the idea of a New World Order/One World Government. This idea is espoused by many extreme right wingers and they back it up with quotes from prominent intellectuals like Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger, George Soros and Ted Turner. This theory takes in many other theories such as secret eugenics, chemtrails, consolidation of currency, agenda 21 and US martial law. Crazy? Or maybe just a way to detach from reality?
Do you ever feel strangely drawn towards Conspiracy Theories?
by JW_Rogue 34 Replies latest jw experiences
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cofty
Crazy? Or maybe just a way to detach from reality?
Yep
It is a human trait to want to simplify the things that make us anxious. It makes us feel less helpless.
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freemindfade
I have always found them entertaining. Maybe in the way some people watch professional wrestling. I joke about them. Some are good some are really out there. My thought is this. With religion. Conspiracies. Everything. You should be able to entertain any thought and be able at the end to not accept it I think that is where many get lost. They accept god. Religion. And conspiracy. I think all these things exercise the mind and imagination. But you should really only accept as fact what is truly solidly evidence based. I love to tell people the moon landing didn't happen to get a rouse out of them. But really I have no freaking idea if it did or didn't and I really don't care much lol. -
1rebelheart
Well, you lose you main conspiracy theory with the Dubs, and now the world is just what... a chaotic place ruled by evolution and chance? Nawwwww, no way, not possible.... Many people as they leave or when they are fresh out find conspiracy theories attractive because it gives order to the world in a familiar fashion - a secret order that few others know about.
The truth is much less comforting. Let's avoid it and believe in UFOs and divine intervention. :D
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1rebelheart
One World government and the phrase "New World Order" was used heavily by Churchill and other leaders in the WWII period, which might explain why it became part of Dub terminology around the same time. It was a pretty common idea in the early 20th century. People really thought the UN was going to be the new world government for a while, but today it has evolved into an international peace keeping and aide organization not a replacement for autonomous government.
Unless you have some first hand knowledge of plans to wipe out the 207 sovereign nations of the earth and establish one worldwide Orwellian-style tyranny, I'd ignore this stuff.
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LisaRose
The Watchtower is not completely dissimilar to a group of conspiracy theorists. They believe they have special knowledge that the rest of the world doesn't have, they believe the experts are all wrong and in on the conspiracy and there is an imminent threat. Perhaps you feel the loss of a belief system and want to look for something else to believe in.
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Tornintwo
Sometimes you read conspiracy theories and think, there could be some truth in that, but most are probably greatly exaggerated...
one thing I'm convinced of is that we don't know a fraction of what really goes on between politics and big business, and how they are controlling a lot of events, world conflicts and regime change, financial markets etc..I have a conspiracy loving jw friend who's convinced they're controlling the weather with chemtrails too...not sure I believed that but then I found out it is a credible science so who knows? God help us!
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jws
Maybe I'm a conspiracy theorist too, but I believe big money gets their way. That's not to say Illuminati or Masons are secretly pulling the strings. Just that big money knows how to game the system and persuade others to their way of thinking.
I have an ex-JW friend who believes in almost every conspiracy there is. He listens to or reads right wing pundits. Ironically for all the "reasearch" he does,he knows very little. I spoke to him this weekend and much of what he told me was verifiably wrong. So if you're building your conspiracies on shaky ground, you're not going to come to the right conclusion.
Furthermore, and this probably goes back to JW days, he believes there's all this secret knowledge that ancients once had and is being passed down or discovered by few and scoffed at by those in power. They range from miracle health cures, to unlimited energy to secret bible meanings. He easily falls for MLMs. He'll happily pay hundreds/month because some new vitamin is going to fix EVERYTHING.
He also believes one world order is coming and the government is preparing for unrest when they declare martial law. Although you can probably trace this back decades, for some reason it's never happened. Probably a decade ago, he heard from "a reliable source" that income tax as we know it was suddenly going to be gone entirely "any day now". Umm, not such a reliable source.
But none of this ever deters him. None of this ever makes him think, well, none of this happened like I was assured it was, maybe I'm listening to the wrong people.
Right now,he believes the Illuminati and/or Masons worship the devil and are trying to bring back the Nephilim. And they're also in league with aliens who live deep underground.
When you list it all out, he sounds absolutely crazy. Yet, he holds a regular high-tech job and is actually quite smart. And often seems well thought out when explaining his reasoning.
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coalize
When i ran away from all this religious bullshit of JW, I was delving too on some conspiracy theories. Especially that it was in 2001-2002, just after the WTC planes attack!
And now i'm really over that, because I understood that these theories are built with thé same scheme than the WTBTS dogma : nothing is due to chance or mistakes. Everything is written and planned. If something happen this is because someone wanted that it happen and made everything for that to happen.
That's not for nothing that these conspiracy theories are largely accepted in very religious background like right-wing christians and left-wing muslims...
But don't worry, the fact you are interrested and seduced by these theories is not crazy. It's normal. And the fact you're asking this question prove that you are already on the process to look at them with critical mind. Then I have no worries about the fact you will deal very well with that!
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punkofnice
jws6 minutes agoMaybe I'm a conspiracy theorist too, but I believe big money gets their way. That's not to say Illuminati or Masons are secretly pulling the strings. Just that big money knows how to game the system and persuade others to their way of thinking.
This is where I'm at too. There is no illuminati, that's all hype. What there is, is money people getting their way. Big businesses running things.
I do sometimes wonder if there is a big meds company in league with food maunfacturers to spike our food and drink with depressants so that we have to buy their meds. But then why don't they just keep the money and.........ah, I dunno.
Then there's the bloomin' chemtrail thing.....ah, I dunno.
Shoot me now and be done with it!