Is Christian paranoia increasing?

[Wertbag]

I'm not sure if there is more paranoia around at the moment or if its just a case that I avoided it in the past and its been this crazy for a long time...

There is this idea that a secret group wants to rule the world, take away rights, destroy god/Christianity and bring about the end of the world. There doesn't seem to be agreement on which group it is; NWO, illuminati, zionist, bulshevick, communist, globalist, lizard people or the Rockerfeller family, but whoever it is they are satanists first and foremost. 

This group wants to take your guns, teach your children, poison your water, create wars, fake mass shootings, hide the flat earth, push evolution and are going to burn your bible. 

I always thought the lizard people meme was just a joke at the excessive lengths conspiracy nuts go to, then I met a lizard people believer... 

But when these ideas are voiced they aren't being met with the mocking they deserve. You see people threatening bloody warfare and civil war, against things that don't exist. The rage on display is frightening considering the lack of real enemy. It feels like it would only take a charismatic leader to play on that anger and fear and you could get violent cults who truly believe they are doing gods work. 

 

Am I paranoid of paranoia or are you seeing this upswing in crazy too? 

[midniterider]

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/04/12-million-americans-believe-lizard-people-run-our-country/316706/

 

Black helicopter overhead. I gotta get in my bunker. Later.

[Bhim]

Back when I was a Christian last decade, beliefs such as these were quite popular. Remember Tim LaHaye (of Left Behind fame) who claimed that the rapture was near? With regards to the Lizard People theory, I agree that Christian's are becoming a bit stranger. But I don't know that the popularity of these beliefs is increasing. Indeed, the rise of the millennial generation has made Christianity less popular overall.

 

As far as I can tell, the faith is dying a slow death.

[florduh]

I think perhaps now YouTube fans the flames that were always there.

[Lucy]

I had a professor in college that believed in lizard people. And there was a woman at AlienCon last week that thinks she is one of the lizard people.

 

I've noticed these beliefs for the last couple of decades. I've always known people who believe all this stuff. I can't tell it's any more common now, but it seems like it would be since the internet made it easier for it to spread and become normalized.

 

I met one of these people back in the 90s for the first time. She wanted to tell us all this stuff because "nobody knows it." That's why she home schooled her kids. She needs to make sure they know the true history of the world and none of the brainwashing they teach in public schools. Her kids were super cocky brats. She also kept talking about moving to Canada because there will be a war soon and they will start drafting women. I was in a special art class for home school children. She sat through the classes because she wanted to make sure her kids were not exposed to something without her knowing. The teacher would start with a lecture and when we started drawing or painting this lady would start talking about her crazy stuff while we worked on our projects.

[Tsathoggua9]

Oh yeah, I have talked to various persons that believe in the lizard-folk. Quite a number of so-called "alien abductees" claim to have been taken by them. The 'grays" may be the most commonly sighted aliens, but, according to the UFO believers, there are also reptilians, nordics, insectoids, and other races of extraterrestrials visiting us. Weird, wild stuff!

[Geezer]

2 hours ago, Tsathoggua9 said:

Oh yeah, I have talked to various persons that believe in the lizard-folk. Quite a number of so-called "alien abductees" claim to have been taken by them. The 'grays" may be the most commonly sighted aliens, but, according to the UFO believers, there are also reptilians, nordics, insectoids, and other races of extraterrestrials visiting us. Weird, wild stuff!

 

Ancient alien astronauts are real. The history channel wouldn't lie about that.....would they?  

[Tsathoggua9]

Just now, Geezer said:

 

Ancient alient astronauts are real. The history channel wouldn't lie about that.....would they?  

 

That show gets on my nerves. I'm not saying that alien visitation is a complete impossibility, but they stretch things to fit into their rather far-out theories. Because, ya know, that is "religion" to them.

 

I remember one show about the so-called "alien mummies". They had several level-headed people on there demonstrating the exact type of monkey species that the mummy had been fabricated upon. And, of course, one guy who just kept saying, "Hey, come on, how could this not be an alien? Cause that's wot it looks like! So there!"

True believers of any stripe tend to dismiss any and all evidence to the contrary.

[Geezer]

2 hours ago, Tsathoggua9 said:

 

That show gets on my nerves. I'm not saying that alien visitation is a complete impossibility, but they stretch things to fit into their rather far-out theories. Because, ya know, that is "religion" to them.

 

I remember one show about the so-called "alien mummies". They had several level-headed people on there demonstrating the exact type of monkey species that the mummy had been fabricated upon. And, of course, one guy who just kept saying, "Hey, come on, how could this not be an alien? Cause that's wot it looks like! So there!"

True believers of any stripe tend to dismiss any and all evidence to the contrary.

 

I'm a fan of the Grey's myself and the Anunaki. I absolutely love the Anunaki stories. The Anunaki's are definitely my favorites. You know they are coming back again,..right?  And of course they are the giants recorded in the Book of Genesis. And that is in the Bible so you know that's true. Right? 

[MOHO]

Have not heard the lizard folk one but Mrs. MOHO's church, last I went, was very much into using the end times BS to buck up the offer basket. 

 

Bastages!  

 

[Tsathoggua9]

16 hours ago, Geezer said:

 

I'm a fan of the Grey's myself and the Anunaki. I absolutely love the Anunaki stories. The Anunaki's are definitely my favorites. You know they are coming back again,..right?  And of course they are the giants recorded in the Book of Genesis. And that is in the Bible so you know that's true. Right? 

 

Yup, the late great Zechariah Sitchin was quite entertaining! At one point, I think I had pretty much all of his books. Gave 'em away later....

[mwc]

     I think florduh is essentially right.  I've thought about this before and I think people have always been this way to some degree. 

 

     There was some old Mel Gibson movie (Conspiracy Theory?) where he was just some guy printing up a little "newspaper" that people could subscribe to with his conspiracy theories (until he hits on one that's true and the movie goes on that but that's not important here).  I recall in old magazines where people would post little ads where you could subscribe to their crazy rags just like the one in this movie.  So if anyone ever did the community would be very small and isolated.  Little islands of conspiracy theorists.  It would depend on what circle they ran in as to how the theory would go (and what theory they might be exposed to at all).  Just like people with certain illnesses were very isolated way back when.

 

     With religion, however, the people would meet all the time.  At least weekly for the most part.  So those people would share their delusion(s) quite regularly.  It actually normalized the whole crazy affair.  Anything that came along with those circles would also be normalized.  Everything else got pushed out to the fringes and essentially rejected.  Relegated to the underground and those self-printed papers and strange clubs (the "occult" even).

 

     But then came the internet.  Where people could finally talk, anonymously, about these things.  And they found out there were a lot more of folks like them than they thought.  People that held these conspiracy like beliefs.  And they "came out" and once places like YouTube came along, well, it really opened the door for every sort of thing.  The genie was well out the bottle by then.

 

          mwc

 

[Tsathoggua9]

3 minutes ago, mwc said:

     I think florduh is essentially right.  I've thought about this before and I think people have always been this way to some degree. 

 

     There was some old Mel Gibson movie (Conspiracy Theory?) where he was just some guy printing up a little "newspaper" that people could subscribe to with his conspiracy theories (until he hits on one that's true and the movie goes on that but that's not important here).  I recall in old magazines where people would post little ads where you could subscribe to their crazy rags just like the one in this movie.  So if anyone ever did the community would be very small and isolated.  Little islands of conspiracy theorists.  It would depend on what circle they ran in as to how the theory would go (and what theory they might be exposed to at all).  Just like people with certain illnesses were very isolated way back when.

 

     With religion, however, the people would meet all the time.  At least weekly for the most part.  So those people would share their delusion(s) quite regularly.  It actually normalized the whole crazy affair.  Anything that came along with those circles would also be normalized.  Everything else got pushed out to the fringes and essentially rejected.  Relegated to the underground and those self-printed papers and strange clubs (the "occult" even).

 

     But then came the internet.  Where people could finally talk, anonymously, about these things.  And they found out there were a lot more of folks like them than they thought.  People that held these conspiracy like beliefs.  And they "came out" and once places like YouTube came along, well, it really opened the door for every sort of thing.  The genie was well out the bottle by then.

 

          mwc

 

 

Oh, this is so "spot-on"!

[Joshpantera]

[Joshpantera]

8 minutes ago, TrueScotsman said:

This isn't just Christianity, traditionalist Conservatism is again morphing into Fascism, which is energized by so manner of insane conspiracy theories.  Dark times lie ahead I'm afraid.

 

Hahahaha!!!

 

Did you just lay out a conspiracy theory yourself in the process? 

[Fweethawt]

On 6/26/2018 at 2:57 AM, midniterider said:

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/04/12-million-americans-believe-lizard-people-run-our-country/316706/

 

Black helicopter overhead. I gotta get in my bunker. Later.

What about chem trails and tubes? Are people still crazy about that stuff, too?

 

I can remember back as I was going through my deconversion, I almost fell for all of the other garbage. It was like my brain was looking to find the next biggest pile of bullshit to dive into.

 

That's when it clicked... What if everybody is full of shit and all of this stuff is made-up bullshit with a heavy dose of paranoia? 

[Joshpantera]

1 hour ago, TrueScotsman said:

I don't find this a laughing matter at all, but I doubt you will be laughing if things on the Right continue as they are.  Though you were just fawning over Roosh's stuff, so who knows where you will end up politically.

 

This is vaguely familiar to a conversation I had with an old Pastor about Obama, socialism, racism against whites, and Muslim conspiracies. He was pretty sure that Obama wouldn't step down from his seat. Sound familiar? 

 

 

[Joshpantera]

22 minutes ago, TrueScotsman said:

Slander is all you have then, how civil.  

 

Explain, please. 

 

This is vaguely familiar to a conversation I had with an old Pastor about Obama, socialism, racism against whites, and Muslim conspiracies. He was pretty sure that Obama wouldn't step down from his seat. Sound familiar? 

 

How is weighing a left bent conspiracy theory against it's counter part in right bent conspiracy slander against either conspiracy theorist? Suggesting that socialists, Muslims, or fascists are going to take over the country is conspiracy, and paranoid is it not? 

[Joshpantera]

3 hours ago, TrueScotsman said:

This isn't just Christianity, traditionalist Conservatism is again morphing into Fascism, which is energized by so manner of insane conspiracy theories.  Dark times lie ahead I'm afraid.

 

57 minutes ago, TrueScotsman said:

I am not advocating a conspiracy theory, fascist ideas are on the rise in the West, another white nationalist rally will soon be held in DC.

 

Why would you post this in a thread about conspiracy theories if you didn't want it roped in with conspiracy? Projecting dark times ahead is very paranoid and fear mongering oriented. I didn't do well in church with fear mongering christians. And I don't do well with fear mongering secularist's either. Because I simply don't buy what they're selling, either the religionist or the secularist fear mongers. 

 

 

 

 

[Fweethawt]

Methinks a niche has been uncovered. 

[wellnamed]

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you

 

I'm sure I'm more in agreement with TrueScotsman than many here about increasingly plausible threats from authoritarian strains of nationalism in the US. Despite that I think if this forum is going to comfortably accommodate people from across the political spectrum we do have to try to afford each other some minimal amount of respect, and that should extend as far as not going too far insulting each other as clueless bumbling idiots. To be clear, I also wish that notion of respect would prompt at least one or two of the more conservative members here to be less hostile and trollish in their posting as well, but since I've complained about people on the conservative side of late I guess I feel like I'd be hypocritical not to lightly chide you here also, TrueScotsman. Take it for whatever you think it's worth...

[MOHO]

23 hours ago, mwc said:

With religion, however, the people would meet all the time.  At least weekly for the most part.  So those people would share their delusion(s) quite regularly.  It actually normalized the whole crazy affair. 

 

I remember when I was first questioning the faith and beginning to notice the crazy at church. One respected older lady remarked that she was SO glad she found Jesus because she used to be a cult member.  All the other crazies around her fell all over themselves about how Jesus had brought her out of that cult! 

 

 

[midniterider]

12 hours ago, Fweethawt said:

What about chem trails and tubes? Are people still crazy about that stuff, too?

 

I can remember back as I was going through my deconversion, I almost fell for all of the other garbage. It was like my brain was looking to find the next biggest pile of bullshit to dive into.

 

That's when it clicked... What if everybody is full of shit and all of this stuff is made-up bullshit with a heavy dose of paranoia? 

 

Someone mentioned chem trails to me a while back. I didnt know anything about them other than it was Alex Jones type fare.

 

So you're thinking all of this conspiracy stuff is bullshit? Or everything is bullshit?

[wellnamed]

8 minutes ago, TrueScotsman said:

I'm not their doormat, I am frankly more worn out having been here longer and having had to deal with the constant trolling.  They want to be civil with me, I will be civil, but that doesn't mean I won't forcefully refute their arguments.  If they want to laugh at me and troll me for a very serious and legitimate concern, then I will let them know my opinion of their behavior.  Civility is a two way street.

 

I understand. I agree that it's a two-way street. Sometimes it's hard to convey that while criticizing one thing at a time. Also hopefully it's obvious that I'm not against refuting arguments. Most of the time I probably wouldn't say anything here at all, but this meta conversation about the site has been happening in a bunch of different places recently and I guess I'm sticking my nose into it a bit. Maybe too much

[Tsathoggua9]

2 hours ago, MOHO said:

 

I remember when I was first questioning the faith and beginning to notice the crazy at church. One respected older lady remarked that she was SO glad she found Jesus because she used to be a cult member.  All the other crazies around her fell all over themselves about how Jesus had brought her out of that cult! 

 

 

 

Oh, the irony of it all!