I had been thinking over the past months that I should write something about the conspiracy theory mindset that leads people to believe in specific conspiracies. There’s a difference here, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen this difference explained and explored. Now, with the newest wackadoodle thinga-ma-bob of “QAnon” that has exploded over the past few weeks, I’ve been given a renewed nudge.
In Which I Attempt to Deconstruct a Meme
Writing this post is in some ways a self-indulgent waste of my time. Let me say right off the bat:
ALL MEMES ARE BY VERY DEFINITION THOUGHTLESS.
Why? Because they’re the equivalent of a pie in the face. Show me a thoughtful meme and I’ll . . . well, I don’t have to say that I’ll do because no one will be able to find such a thing. I’m reminded of the old joke about college lectures:
College is a place where a professor’s lecture notes go straight to the students’ lecture notes, without passing through the brains of either.
A Little Lesson in Logic
As long-time readers of this blog and Facebook page know, I don’t write very many articles myself. So many excellent writers out there are saying such good things, much better than I could possibly do, that I usually content myself with posting a selection of said articles with perhaps a short intro from me. But every now and then I feel compelled to weigh in a little more when I get particularly riled up, a reaction that often happens when I get some particularly outrageous comment on Facebook.
A Fond Farewell to Facebook
This morning at around 2:00 as I lay awake in bed (I was having one of my insomniac nights), I realized that my appetite for continuing to post on this page has dried up. In particular I was thinking about the next episode of my political podcast in which I was planning to give a brief overview of the stretch of time from June 2015 to the 2016 conventions, tracing how Donald Trump became the nominee. But the thought that struck me was, ‘What’s the point?’ I’ve been posting my own and others’ articles for well over a year and half, spending hours that could have been allocated better, and to what avail? I know there are people who have really appreciated my efforts and have been introduced to writers and publications they wouldn’t otherwise have known about, and that’s a good thing. But have I changed any hearts and minds? I would say that, sadly, the answer is almost certainly no.
What Is the Way Forward?
The thought has occurred to me that I should probably explain what I am hoping will happen as a result of the disastrous 2016 election. I’ve posted article after article lambasting the Trump presidency, but to what end? What’s the point?
So I’d come to some conclusions, and today I ran across an article by Tom Nichols that says exactly what I think. So he must be right, right? He was one of the very, very few NeverTrump Republicans who was willing to say before the election that he was going to vote for Hillary Clinton. I remember reading that article in The Federalist and feeling my jaw just drop. Yes! A voice of reason! Someone willing to say the unthinkable! The unsayable!
A Scathing but Sober Look at the Trump Presidency
Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic by David Frum, published in January 2018.
David Frum, along with other steadfast NeverTrumpers such as Jennifer Rubin, William Kristol, Max Boot, and, to a large extent, Jonah Goldberg, has taken a lot of hits from the right for his refusal to give any ground to the spirit of Trumpism, to admit any good done by Mr. Trump on purpose and on his own, has written a fascinating, sobering, and ultimately (ironically) hopeful book about the Trump Presidency. I think that it will be looked at in years to come as one of the premier books to come out of this period, looked back on with the attitude of “How could the American public not have known about all this? How could they have elected such a person?”
More Nonsensical Reasons to Support Trump from Dennis Prager
I just don’t know where to begin here. Dennis Prager, a well-known conservative commentator whose articles run once in awhile on National Review Online, has produced another head-scratcher titled “A Defense of Evangelicals Who Support Trump.” Just what we need! Erick Erickson, a true Christian conservative, has already written a rebuttal in which he says, “Dennis Prager Is Just Wrong Here.” To which I say, “Yay, Erick!” I want to do a little more eviscerating on points not covered by Erickson. My main divergence of opinion with Erickson is his insistence that Christians didn’t need to dirty their hands in the last election by voting for either major-party candidate or indeed by voting at all, but that’s a topic I’ve covered more than thoroughly and so I won’t go into it here.
What Led White Evangelicals to Vote for Trump?
The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll, originally published in 1994 by Wm. B. Eerdmans, now available in several formats, including audio. (If you follow the link and purchase the book I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.)
I am going to assume that you have already read or will read my review of this book over at my main site, Intentional Living. As I said there, this is a dense, challenging book that will reward readers who take it on.
For the purpose of this post, however, I want to concentrate specifically on some ideas that help explain why so many earnest, sincere Evangelical/ Fundamentalist Christians felt that they had to vote for a lying, cheating, adulterous playboy with a pro-choice Liberal Democratic background and a profane, vulgar vocabulary. Their votes reflected a failure of the mind in several different areas. I hope the following won’t sound too scathing, but we are in a predicament today that does not allow for mincing of words. America has elected an utterly unfit man to the Presidency, and Evangelicals helped to put him there. Why?
Let’s Define a Few Logical Terms
It has occurred to me often over the past year that there are a few terms that keep cropping up in political discussions and which are often used inaccurately, or at least sloppily. The terms have some overlap but are distinct ideas, and I think it’s helpful to parse them out. So here goes:
1. Whataboutism: the biggie, from which many other errors flow. Here is my definition:
Be a Berean
What does it mean to “be a Berean”? Take a look at Acts 17:11:
Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (NIV)
When Paul was on his missionary journeys one of the main ways he did his teaching and preaching was that he went to the local synagogue in each city.