I had to wait a while to write this post, because last Friday I became angry with Joe Carter at The Gospel Coalition regarding his blog post about conspiracy theories. (It isn’t the first time his writing has angered me—his notorious “Beware of Broken Wolves” post three years ago fired up several of us abuse survivor advocates and others, so much so that the post itself got over 300 comments. Those comments have all been removed now, but the post still stands.)
I warn you, this is a long post. I’m going to be speaking from personal experience about conspiracy theories.
But I have to start with definitions, and I hope I won’t lose you here, because it’s super important.
Defining conspiracy, theory, and conspiracy theory
A conspiracy, as I’ve explained in another post a while back, is not a loony notion that a mysterious “they” is out to get us.
A conspiracy IS, according to the Oxford English Dictionary(OED), “an agreement between two or more persons to do something criminal, illegal, or reprehensible.” That is, back room deals. Colluding. Conspiring.
I’ll add that of course the agreement is secret, because who’s going to make an agreement like this that’s public? Also, I’ll add that the purpose is always, as far as I know, for power, wealth, and pleasure, however perverted. What other purposes are there for choosing to do something illegal or immoral?
One example of many would be the conspiring that went on in 2008-2009, moving seamlessly across two presidents from different political parties, to “bail out” the banks because they were “too big to fail” in spite of the fact that 90% of the constituency was phoning in to plead for the “banks” to not be “bailed out.” You remember that collusion, right? Back room deals. Conspiring. To put money into the pockets of the uber rich while the common everyday folks were losing their houses. Remember? That was a conspiracy. (It was not a theory, but a verifiable fact.)
The OED also mentions the term “conspiracy of silence,” which indicates a plot to refuse to talk about something in order to protect someone from criminal accusations. One of the books I’m currently reading, The Franklin Coverup, is an example of a blow-by-blow description of a conspiracy of silence.
Since the word conspiracy has become so mocked, though, as if conspiracies never happen, I’ll be using the word “collusion” instead, because they mean essentially the same thing. (Somehow it seems that people still think that collusions happen.)
Next, to correct a conflation, a “theory” is not the same thing as a “conspiracy.” (I see the terms conflated all the time, as in “[This collusion] I’m telling you about isn’t conspiracy, it’s a fact.”)
Rather, a “theory” is an idea about how something works or takes place. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the scientific meaning of the term is “an explanation of a phenomenon arrived at through examination and contemplation of the relevant facts; a statement of one or more laws or principles which are generally held as describing an essential property of something.”
The germ theory of disease is an example.
The other definition of “theory,” which is looser and not as scientific, is, again, from the OED, “a hypothesis or set of ideas about something.”
Again, since in this context the term theory has become so tainted as to be deemed unnecessary when people are accusing others of “conspiracy theory,” I’ll use the word “hypothesis” instead.
When I say “A hypothesis that references a collusion,” I’m using more words, but I believe they’re clearer than the term “conspiracy theory,” which over the past few years has become completely pejorative. (If you believe conspiracy theories, the general consensus goes, then you might as well start making your tin foil hat right this minute.)
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I don’t know if that feels like too many words to you, simply to explain a term. It certainly does to me. But the confusion surrounding this terminology has been . . . just crazy.
Joe Carter’s blog post
In his blog post on Friday May 8th, “Christians Are Not Immune to Conspiracy Theories,” Carter lists several conspiracy theories:
- Adam and Eve believed the Triune God was/were conspiring against them to keep them from knowledge. (Tricky, because a conspiracy has to include more than one person, so that’s why he referenced the Trinity.)
- Gnosticism (I don’t know what supposed collusion hypothesis here Joe Carter is referencing.)
- The earth is actually flat.
- QAnon (It’s a group, not a theory, but still.)
- And 5 different hypotheses surrounding the current new illness that is sweeping the globe, which appears to be the reason for his post.
I won’t be commenting on any of these hypotheses or groups or theologies. But I do have something to say about collusion hypotheses in general, and then in very specific terms.
First I want to point out the obvious, just to be sure it’s crystal clear. As Carter dismisses these hypotheses, Carter is dismissing all hypotheses regarding any collusion. He never once says anything remotely along the lines of “Here are some guidelines for analyzing whether a hypothesis about a collusion might reasonably have some basis in fact.”
No, they are all ridiculous. He dismisses them all.
In fact, in dismissing all collusion hypotheses, he refers to Christians who “post claims they cannot possibly know to be true.” And then he accuses these Christians of slandering those they reference.
Really? How does he know they can’t possibly know those claims to be true? Could it be that he, according to his own definition of the word, is slandering by saying that?
“Conspiracy theorists may contend it is not slander when the claim is true,” he says. (Of course when you’ve stated truth, it’s not slander.) “For that to be the case, though, they must have knowledge the conspirators are involved in a specific secret plot—and knowledge is what they never have.”
That is a bold statement!
Joe indicated in a Facebook comment that even when someone makes an accusation in passive voice without naming anyone (such as “the moon landing was faked”) that is slander. By his own definition, then (which is not the true definition of the word), he is guilty himself of the very slander he accuses others of.
“Because the sole ground for conspiracy theories is unreliable hearsay, they do not meet the standard for knowledge. They are therefore not in possession of the truth, and thus guilty of slander.”
(This is where I began saying “How dare he” and started pacing the floor, not the best time to write a blog post.)
I disagree strongly. Some collusion hypotheses are grounded in what I and others would consider to be reliable sources—even the voices of those who have first-hand experience of the collusion—and yet their voices have been dismissed.
A brief hypothetical example (one of many I could have chosen)
Suppose you work at a certain facility where you have a certain job, and other people around you have different but somehow related jobs. You all know you’re all working on certain parts of the same general project, but none of you know what it is exactly, because it’s a secret. But you have been assured that none of you need to know, because you all have great faith in your government authorities to have the best interest at heart for you and for all the world.
Then one day a co-worker whispers, “I’ve been researching, and I think I know what this is all about. I think they’re having us make Weapons of Mass Destruction that will kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people.”
You can jeer at the conspiracy theorist, get the tin foil to make him a nice crown, and definitely accuse him of slander. How dare he accuse your government authorities of doing such a thing.
Until you hear about the atomic bombs dropping over two cities in Japan, killing thousands of innocent women, children, handicapped people, and old people. And then you find out where those bombs were made.
Oh. They were made in your facility, there in Oak Ridge. That’s the work that you were doing–the Manhattan Project that created the first (and so far, only) atomic bombs.
You co-worker had a hypothesis that described a collusion. He didn’t have hard evidence, but he had put pieces together that gave him a pretty good idea. And his hypothesis was right.
And yet, Joe Carter would have insisted that this co-worker was committing slander, because he couldn’t prove for sure that what he was theorizing was true.
Joe even says it is scandalous that those who form such hypotheses are not church disciplined for it.
Then, as if that weren’t enough, Joe Carter gives the final kicker. He says that anyone who forms hypotheses that indicate plots and collusions is “embracing the demonic.”
What?
A side visit to Carter’s post about Satanism
Joe Carter’s post last fall about “modern Satanism” ironically didn’t mention anything about the demonic, instead referring to the evils of Satanism with such cute and dismissive language as “adolescent rebellion,” “internet trolls and pranksters,” and “reactionary stunts.” (It sure is a relief to know that Satanists, by and large, are not conspiring. Those playful adolescents.)
And also, no worries, because he assures us that in the entire world of almost 8 billion people there are only a few thousand theistic Satanists—the ones who actually worship the devil. That means in my state of South Carolina, with 5 million people, according to Joe there are perhaps 5 theistic Satanists. (They apparently do a pretty rotten job of attracting anyone to the promises of power and pleasure that are part and parcel of worshiping Satan.)
So, no significant worries about the demonic when it comes to Satanists. That sure is a relief. Thanks Joe.
But not us Christians who believe that evil collusion is going on in various groups and organizations but can’t prove it. No. We, according to Joe Carter and I can only assume everyone at The Gospel Coalition, are embracing the demonic.
If you read the concluding paragraph of Joe Carter’s article on Satanism alongside the concluding paragraph of his article on conspiracy theories, it will be very clear which he thinks is a more serious problem.
In essence, Joe Carter is saying, it is a sin to believe that any evil is going on in leadership in any organization (unless you have what he calls “reliable evidence,” and I don’t know how he’s going to determine that your evidence is reliable).
No, the sin is in your own heart for believing that.
My own story
I’ve been asking the Lord for some time when He would want me to tell this part of my story. Apparently now is the time. So here we go . . .
I began to learn about the financial string-pullers in our government (and other governments) in 2011 through an old documentary called The Money Masters. That began the opening of the door to learn more and more. In those days there wasn’t quite as much disinformation on the internet as there is now, and it was a bit easier to dig and sort through to find actual facts and testimonials from people who had actually experienced certain things, experts who were willing to speak against the established narrative, and primary source documents. I kept reading and watching, for months. The rabbit hole, as we say.
— My response to what I was learning
Another blog post published last week by a different blogger, Joe Forrest, also spoke condescendingly of Christians who believe that collusions occur. The author gave three reasons Christians are so foolish as to believe hypotheses about collusions, one of which was “Conspiracy theories make us feel special.”
No, thank you. I can watch Mister Rogers for that. Understanding that collusions were taking place in high levels of government, the military, and businesses, for the purpose of amassing and retaining money and power and the pleasure that goes with those—understanding those things did not make me feel the least bit special. On the contrary, it made me feel afraid. (I would like to encourage Joe Forrest, the author of this second blog post about conspiracy theories, in the “radical empathy” he wants the rest of us to embrace, to listen to those of us who believe that these collusions are taking place and our reasons, instead of simply telling us to do such things as “watch boring news.”)
In direct opposition to Joe Forrest’s condescending conclusion, I most certainly did NOT want to learn these things. I was horrified, and my world was turned inside out and upside down. Nothing was the same. I said to God, “Lord, what in the world is the purpose of learning all this? My life was going along fine; why should I be finding out about all these horrible things?”
I struggled, even though somewhere deep inside I knew I would rather walk in difficult truth than a comfortable lie.
Then I asked, “What’s the point, unless I can help someone?”
With my general way of thinking—“I don’t want to know about it unless I can help someone with what I learn”—I began to try to discern the reason God had pushed me into the rabbit hole.
One of the many things Tim and I had learned in our research was the massive debt people were being encouraged to go into for college, often with little hope for ever being able to repay the debt after graduation. So one way I thought to help people was to present alternatives to the college debt system that for so many amounted to slavery to the financial kingpins. I developed a three-hour seminar and was able to present it several times over the next two or three years to enthusiastic groups. A few people told me it changed their lives.
But that wasn’t really the direction the Lord wanted me to go at that time.
After a year, I knew I had done enough research at least to understand basic patterns of the collusions taking place. Here are the basics of what I had learned by the summer of 2012:
I saw that for the most part, those who are “in charge,” in the government or military or mega corporations consider themselves far above the peons they order around. Through their illegal and immoral collusions, they amass huge amounts of wealth and power. As sociopaths, they have no trouble with the bothersome conscience that many of the rest of us deal with, so they can take action in whatever way will best serve their purposes (their purposes being to amass power and wealth for themselves).
Yes, I do understand that what I just said is considered a conspiracy theory. And yes, by the strict definition I gave above, it actually is. But did I mention that hypotheses about collusions used to not be scorned the way they are now? (Collusion hypotheses used to be taken one at a time rather than all being lumped into the same bucket.)
— Overcoming the fear
I remember one night in June of 2012, being filled with fear that could even be described as terror, because of the massive evil we had learned about. At that time I said, “Lord, I don’t want to be afraid. I want to trust You, just trust You. I know You’re bigger than this evil. I want to stop this research and just trust You.”
Immediately a deep peace settled over me. The fear was gone. I was done. I knew He was bigger than this evil. I could trust.
Two weeks later . . .
Two weeks later . . . a woman I barely knew was on my couch having a flashback because of the sexual abuse of her past. I didn’t even know what a flashback was.
She asked me to read certain internet information that could explain her situation better, about abuse and cover-ups in the Christian community, specifically in the case of Bob Jones University (but as I would find out later, extending far beyond that).
Well, I was used to researching, so I did, with a ready will.
— Researching the worst kinds of abuses
Over the following months of researching abuses and cover-ups in the Christian world, as I began to post on Facebook about what I was learning, the Lord began bringing me more and more survivors of abuse from a Christian background.
I began to see some common threads between what I was learning in the Christian arenas and what I had seen in the government/media/military/ corporation circles.
I cried out to God. And again found Him faithful.
In 2016 I wrote a blog post telling the story I’m telling you here, but it remained unpublished because I was convinced that the time wasn’t right. Here is something I observed about my year (2011-2012) of uncovering collusions in the top echelons of the government/military/industrial complex:
As I researched, there was one topic I refused to click on—I just couldn’t go there. In my internet searches, the topics kept popping up of pedophile rings, child pornography, and horrific abuse in Hollywood and in high political circles, but I just couldn’t look at it. The things I was learning were bad enough, devastating enough. For almost a full year of research, as far as I can remember I probably clicked on only one or two. They were too disturbing, and I didn’t go any further.
But now, now I knew it was time.
As I asked the Lord for a greater capacity, I began to take those steps, in 2013, to go into the research of the places that were far deeper and darker, the places I had been unable to go before.
It was a darkness even beyond anything I had imagined through that year of research. The kinds of things that once again caused me to reel and cry out, once again caused my world to be up-ended.
I read books that were meticulously documented. I watched congressional testimony, I read memoir after memoir. I read about the top secret plan to secretly bring brilliant Nazis to the United States after World War II called Operation Paperclip. (And why was it top secret? Because the citizens of the United States would have justly cried out for criminal trials instead of what these Nazis received—new identities and prestigious jobs in rocketry and in psychological arenas, the study and manipulation of the human brain and mind.)
I learned about the surge of returning satanic ritual abuse (SRA) memories that happened in the 1980s and early 1990s and the False Memory Syndrome Foundation that was started in the 1990s to seek to discredit the survivors and their therapists. (The woman whose mother started that foundation is a very respected university professor and the author of the book Blind to Betrayal.)
I watched and read testimonial after testimonial from brave survivors who were actually willing to speak about what had happened to them at the hands of those who were seeking power and pleasure from the devil. (Those theistic Satanists that Joe Carter says there only a few hundred of in the United States, you know.)
“Why is this?” I asked God. “Why do You want me to learn about these horrors? I don’t know any of these people.”
I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve heard God speak to me very plainly and clearly. This was one of those times.
He said to me four words. “You will know them.”
I studied trauma, learned more about prayer, and studied dissociative identity disorder, because almost everyone who has experienced SRA and mind control has dissociated parts of themselves.
And true to His Word, within the next two years, He began to bring me those people. I recognized dissociation. I recognized demonization.
And I began to hear the stories.
— Listening to the survivors
These were people who were living normal lives, but double lives in a way. Not in the evil way of abusive sociopaths, but in the quiet way of survivors who live in a dismissive society. This society has so completely dismissed the horrific systematic abuse and other evils associated with it by slapping the “crazy conspiracy theory” label on it that these survivors could rarely speak safely about their past to friends, and only very cautiously to carefully vetted counselors.
If I had not understood the evils of the top leaders in our government, I would have had no context for the accounts I was hearing from the survivors themselves, regarding high-level sex trafficking, SRA, and human experimentation and mind control, including MK Ultra. But I did have that understanding, and so I did have context.
Bit by painful bit I have heard them, in some cases over the course of years. Flashbacks, nightmares, and spontaneous memories that have caused the survivors themselves to think they might be crazy, but that I recognize to be stories of satanic ritual abuse and in some cases experimentation in labs on military bases or in other top security locations. As children. Yes, in this country, in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
“How did you learn about this evil?” they’ve asked me. “I’ve met almost no one who knew about it and believed it except others who were abused the same way, and a few therapists.”
And I would say, “Well, it’s a long story. . . .”
The three “conspiracy theories” I want to put forth
So, there are three “conspiracy theories”—hypotheses about collusions for the purposes of immoral and illegal amassing of power and wealth—that I want to name here. These are ones I am utterly convinced of, because of years of research and years of listening to the survivors themselves. All of these are concepts I’ve heard other Christians mock and deride as ridiculous and unworthy of consideration.
1. Child sex trafficking and child pornography, even torture porn, in a highly organized manner at high levels of government, military, intelligence, entertainment, and business organizations, and yes, Christian organizations too.
The primary way I’ve seen this mocked is through the term “pizzagate.” Because Comet Pizza, when it was investigated, turned out to be just an ordinary pizza place, all theories and testimonies of child trafficking and child pornography at high levels were mocked, scorned, disbelieved, and dismissed, even by Christians. No worries that Tony Podesta had images in his home depicting child abuse. Tut tut, you’re raising an eyebrow about the names in Jeffrey Epstein’s flight log?
And by the way, here is my post from last fall that referenced Epstein.
Because I cannot prove that Jeffrey Epstein was bringing big names to his island for child abuse (but concluded it because of evidence that Joe Carter may not deem to be “reliable”), according to Joe Carter I need to be church disciplined for slander.
If you are willing to bypass a massive trigger warning, you can go to page 103 of the book The Franklin Coverup, which I am currently reading, and read the halting account by a teenage boy in which he described torture pornography that he and two other boys were forced to engage in before one of the boys was murdered.
In that case, very big names were implicated in the child sex trafficking / pornography ring that was exposed by several young victims. Very, very big names, similar to those that have come out in the Epstein case. The grand jury, not having the term “conspiracy theory” at the ready—seeing as how it was 1990 and that term was not pejorative in those days the way it is now—called the whole thing a masterly crafted hoax, and—wait for it—prosecuted and imprisoned the child trafficking survivors.
And regarding sex trafficking in the churches? I’ve written about it many times on my blog. But I’m aware that the Christian leaders who engage in sex trafficking compose only a small part of the world of international sex trafficking. Church leaders enjoy having access to high-level prostitutes. But they make up only a small percentage of the whole picture.
I am ready to be church disciplined.
2. Satanic ritual abuse (SRA). This “theory” was so thoroughly mocked, scorned, and debunked in the 1990s that those who talk about it now are completely marginalized.
And yet, for the sake of the survivors, I must speak.
If I point out that Marina Abramović, a close friend of many in positions of power and influence, depicts full-size three-dimensional “art” that represents satanic ritual abuse, you might say, “It’s just art.”
Marina Abramović, close friend of many in positions of power and influence
For SRA to be the massive problem that I believe it is, there would have to be more than a few hundred theistic Satanists in the United States. In fact, there would have to be thousands of them in our country alone, masquerading (as sociopaths love to do) as respectable citizens, even in very respected and influential positions.
I understand this means you may believe me to be a wild-eyed conspiracy theorist.
I understand that if I explain to you that the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, founded in the 1990s to debunk the returning memories of those who had experienced SRA (which increased greatly after World War II) had on its board a man who promoted pedophilia, you may shrug and say that was only a coincidence.
If I were to tell you that people all over the United States, asking therapists for help with their flashbacks and nightmares, or speaking quietly with understanding friends—people who didn’t know each other and hadn’t researched the topic—were describing the same phenomena, you may roll your eyes and figure they all must have seen the same movie or something.
And I also know that if one refuses to believe that the evil is great and collusion among the evil people is taking place, then one has to commit to a belief in a whole lot of weird coincidences, assigning the word “random” to phenomena that are anything but.
But these survivors are all around you. And for their sakes, I must speak.
3. Human experimentation and trauma-based mind control in laboratory settings.
One day at a coffee shop in 2015, as a friend and I were discussing SRA, she asked me, “Do you know about the Nazis?”
“You’d better believe I do,” I said. I showed her the book Operation Paperclip on Amazon.
“Huh, that’s good to know,” she said.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Isn’t this what you were talking about?”
“Well, yes,” she replied. “But I never researched it and didn’t know books like that were out there. I just experienced it firsthand.” Then she described to me her abuse in a laboratory setting.
For what purpose? Why would scientists in the United States be so evil? So without regard to any human kindness? So devoid of empathy? (And I emphasize, many or most of these sociopathic scientists and others present as normal or even wonderful human beings in their public life.)
The purposes are numerous. The scientists want to learn more about the brain, of course. (How handy to have the children of secret cult members to experiment on.)
They want to exercise mind control. Having highly controlled subjects in a variety of occupations is extremely attractive to sociopaths.
And according to what I now know, above all, they want children to traffic for their insatiable perversions, for their massive international child sex trafficking rings, and they have learned ways to destroy the will of children to such an extent that these children will robotically believe they have no choices, they cannot say “no,” and they must obey.
This kind of control can bring in millions upon millions of dollars for the traffickers of a church or Christian college who buy one of these women who has been sex trafficked all her life so that she has no idea she has any other choice, who in some cases is so completely dissociated that she doesn’t even know in her “day self” that she is being trafficked.
The stuff of conspiracy theories? You’d better believe it. But this is my world. This is what I live in Every. Single. Day. Every day I am in correspondence with these people—the vast majority of them women—who years later have experienced the return of these dissociated memories and need someone in their lives who actually believes them and understands what’s going on.
And I do. Because I was willing those years ago to read and listen to the “conspiracy theories.”
On my 59th birthday blog post, which is here, I spoke about going down into a dark, dark valley. It was these kinds of evils I was referring to, the ones that conspiracy theorists talk about and some Christians openly deride.
The spectrum of collusion hypotheses
I want to point out—as neither Joe Carter nor other Christians I’ve read have done—that hypotheses about collusions fall on a spectrum. This spectrum stretches from “having significant evidence to support them” on the one hand to “hmm, pretty far out there without clear evidence” on the other hand, and all places in between. They are not all of the same stripe.
(And in some cases, our views of an “unsubstantiated” collusion hypothesis may change, as we find out that a hypothesis we thought had no clear evidence to support it does in fact have significant evidence behind it, if we’re just willing to look.)
When you say, “Oh, that’s not a conspiracy theory, because you have evidence,” I beg to correct you. Regarding these collusion hypotheses, I can present you with evidence, but you can still decide that this evidence, as Joe Carter indicated, isn’t “reliable.” The survivors who talk to me have their own testimony to present, but we see how they have been ignored, disbelieved, and even blamed in the past, even though the testimonies of various survivors throughout the decades and in different places bear remarkable similarity.
The evidence that has been presented for the last 60 years, through survivor testimonies, has been routinely ignored and dismissed, as the “justice system” and what some call “reliable news sources” refuse to talk about these things (and yes, as the OED said, this in my mind would be considered a conspiracy of silence).
My plea
Today, right now, May of 2020, I am watching Christians become very divided between those who believe that any conspiracy theories are true and those who condescendingly mock us for giving any of them any credence.
Granted, there are some conspiracy theories I don’t even care about investigating. But when it comes to lives and eternal souls, you’d better believe I care, I care very, very much. I will fight for these who have survived these most horrific of abuses.
When you say you don’t believe any “conspiracy theories,” you are in effect, saying that you won’t believe the stories of some people that you most likely know personally. They read your posts and your comments and they say “You are not a safe person for my story, because you don’t believe these things happen.”
Because as I’ve said many times, these kinds of survivors are all around you. Will you kick them to the curb through your condescending words?
But . . .
As soon as you tell the Lord honestly that you are willing to walk into that dark valley and understand what’s true about the most horrific of deeds, as soon as you say you want to understand how to be a safe person for these survivors, as soon as you tell the Lord you want to be part of the army of strong compassion, as soon as you’re willing to humble yourself to learn (well maybe not as soon as—for me it was a couple of years), as soon as your faith is strong enough to face massive evil, you will begin meeting them.
If you can understand dissociation on a spectrum, if you can recognize the signs of dissociative identity disorder, if you can understand how demonization works (it’s quite different from what Joe Carter presents, I assure you), and above all, if you have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to lead you and show you the way, not only can you be a compassionate companion for these survivors, you can actually help them on their journey.
I do still fully believe that Jesus Christ is sufficient even to these evils, but oh how I long for Christians to become aware.
“Awake O sleeper, and arise from the dead. And Christ will give you light.”
My prayer is that many, many Christians will awake.
When they do, may their lives be filled, not with fear, not with vitriol, but with strength and compassion, living and loving in the light of Jesus Christ, who sustains us even as we shine light on the darkest of evils.
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Other blogs of mine that I referenced in this post:
Thoughts on conspiracies and conspiracy theorists, inspired by the Thomas Chantry trial
Reflections on my 59th birthday: a warrior’s tale
Why the Jeffrey Epstein case matters to Christians
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Go here to download your free Guide, How to Enjoy the Bible Again (when you’re ready) After Spiritual Abuse (without feeling guilty or getting triggered out of your mind). You’ll receive access to both print and audio versions of the Guide (audio read by me). I’m praying it will be helpful.
I believe this 100 percent. God took me down this road of research through personal experiences. Starting with low level abuses of power in Christian circles to experiencing physical trauma / spiritual abuse and living with PTSD, to seeing many who call themselves Christians choose to believe that child sexual abuse was no big deal and turn a blind eye to it, to learning about and becoming online followers of members of the D.I.D. community on YouTube to knowing in my heart last year that there was going to be a plandemic soon.
I know God led me down this road and I also have hope that the end is not yet. Many have their heads down not wanting to hear this, but many have their heads up, and are now fully awake to the real world we have been living in.
I am so happy that I am not alone. Thank you for sharing the truth and calling it what it is. May God protect the children and may more people wake up and demand an end to this evil.
Thank you, Mackenzie. As I indicated in the blog post, I won’t be commenting on hypotheses having to do with covid-19, but the mockery surrounding “conspiracy theories” in general breaks my heart because I personally know people being affected by them.
Dear Rebecca, You and I went through amazingly similar experiences, and at much the same time. Like you, these were not things I really wanted to learn. At the start, I ridiculed ‘conspiracy theory’ as we all are taught to do. Until one day, when mocking something a conspiracy believing friend alluded to, my conscience smacked me upside the head.
‘Who are you to mock this person, or his ideas? Do you know even one tiny thing about what they are talking about? Have you looked into such things for even a second?’ I had to admit, in shame, that I had not. Feeling compelled, I poked my toe in, and was more than a little dizzied. I even sought some advice and assistance from my elders, asking what ‘the church’ knew, and how they ministered to people who had such concerns. I was met with the sort of response you describe here in Joe Carter. ‘But’, I asserted, ‘even if it is nonsense, don’t you need to know enough about it to be able to counsel and help people who ‘fall into’ this supposed trap?’ Again, nothing but belittling and condemnation. At least publicly.
The truth is, when I spoke with my pastor, one on one, he actually had some pretty radical conspiracy ideas himself, much to my surprise. He shared some thoughts and proposed actions that he felt might be necessary, that deeply disturbed me. But he refused to admit it to the other elders, or anyone else in the church.
Long story short, I felt compelled to investigate on my own. As you described, at the start of my journey the campaign of disinformation was not so enormous. I eventually came to the conclusion that alongside the real issues of conspiracies, which have been noted and written about for over a hundred years, by the way, there is the campaign of false Conspiracy Theory intended to discredit all who dare challenge the official narrative or ask hard questions.
I too was dismayed to discover how, whichever rabbit trail one followed, sexual abuse and child trafficking would eventually arise. I believe it is not only because such practices take place among genuine satanists, but they are also tools used to seduce and blackmail people in powerful positions, a la Jeffrey Epstein. And he is by no means alone. Whereas he dealt with the big fish, there are similar operations that go after local and state officials, judges, police, etc. I remembered a youth pastor who became a police officer in our small town, and the unbelievable stories he told of the corruption and crime he encountered by officials and bigwigs, who eventually ran him out of town on false charges.
Any legitimate religious leaders would make it their business to do a serious study of conspiracy claims. They would also discover, as I did, the deliberate planting of false claims and stories to discredit those who uncover legitimate lies and crimes. Great lengths are gone to to distill this disinformation, which suggests how much is at stake.
I have to say that I still find myself asking, ‘Why, God? What is the point of my knowing of such things?’ My life was so much simpler before my eyes were opened to things I once knew nothing about. And, at least until now, as the world has gotten really crazy, I could see no real benefit. I still find that the majority of people are unable or unwilling to consider that things may be far different from the ‘reality show’ presented by mass media. A person has to be willing to cast off long held beliefs and idols, which is not easy.
Thank you for making yourself vulnerable. I well know how many will ridicule anyone who questions the official narratives, particularly when it comes to ‘Science’ falsely so-called, which seems to be the reigning god of this world.
I am sending much love and encouragement your way.
Thank you so much, TS00, and thank you for sharing your own journey. Yes, it is painful when we walk that road of having our eyes opened to the depth of the horrors. But ultimately, it is the right thing.
Wow. This is so clear and shows so beautifully the plight of SRA survivors. As a survivor myself, I cannot tell you how many people have flat out told me they don’t believe SRA EVER happens without ever even looking into it or considering for a moment the possibility that it could be true. I talk to survivors world wide and we have a plethora of experiences in churches of being told to stay silent, leave the church or are told by an uncomfortable pastor that he wouldn’t know what to do for us, and then distances from us as much as he can. Most survivors are always on the outside of the church… sitting in the back, not having friends, misunderstood and certainly not getting any empathy or help in any way. I liken a survivor to a rescue animal that had been severely abused and malnourished, but Christians would have empathy and jump on the bandwagon to help. I see Christians falling over themselves to help survivors of child sex slavery and then refuse to even hear anything about an SRA survivor’s tale. I see your posts here and my heart does a jig because you show compassion and reach out to help. As people become willing to go to the dark place of learning about SRA, it begins to shed God’s light. The more the church will hear, the more SRA will be exposed and Satan’s power becomes less. I encourage churches to allow speakers to come in and talk about SRA. I encourage pastors to openly support survivors. I encourage congregations to reach out to help survivors and their families and to be friends to them. Thank you for this article, Rebecca. May God bless you as you courageously speak out against SRA.
Thank you, Lisa. I’m so sorry for what has happened to you, and so thankful for your bravery.
This: ” I see Christians falling over themselves to help survivors of child sex slavery and then refuse to even hear anything about an SRA survivor’s tale.”
That breaks my heart. But even that I don’t necessarily see to be true. I know survivors of child sex slavery who have been rejected by the churches because they’re too messy or their story “just can’t be true.”
If you were talking about child sex slavery *in other countries,* then yes, I see that all the time. Reminds me of the Ladies’ Aid Society in the book Pollyanna. They sent lots of money to help the little African children, but they wouldn’t help dirty, homeless little Jimmy, whom Pollyanna brought to them for help.
Sending money is just a lot easier.
I’m pleased you have come out and said this, Rebecca.
Well, it was clearly time.
Rebecca, thank you for being brave enough to speak out on these matters. Christians like to keep their heads in the sand and deny the truth that Satan is alive and well and living on planet earth. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and wickedness in high places. The Lord clearly warns us in His word to put on the armour of God! Then, ignoring these truths, the Christian leaders mock the people who know, who have lived through it, who recognize sociopaths and narcissists because they have interacted with them for decades, and God has graciously opened their eyes to see the evil. I’m glad you expose the evil, yet continually give glory to God in the middle of your warnings. Justice will prevail. Keep on doing your great work!
Yes, thank you so much for these wise words, Janet.
This is the trap I’ve seen Christians fall into: Yes, earnest Christians will believe that evil is real, but they will believe that *the worst evil is in their own hearts.* Well, Jesus has a solution for the evil of our hearts. It is Himself. This is the kind of thing I’ve been blogging about for ten years.
Because serious Christians have been taught to be so inward focused, they believe they aren’t allowed to see evil anywhere else. But it is there, and it is real, and the ones who have been decimated by it need help. That is what we are called to.
I hear you, Rebecca, and clearly understand your heart in all of this. I respect and admire your logic and passion for truth as you tackled a difficult subject. I’m not very familiar with some of this but you give lots to think about and chew on here. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Ann.
Can you be more specific re the US government conspiracy that first got you interested in this topic?
Yes. In 2009 my husband, along with many other people, was laid off from his job. He knew it was related somehow to the crash of the housing bubble that had happened in 2007, but he hadn’t had time to try to figure out what was going on. He was dumbfounded that the seamless bank bailout across two presidents from two different parties was occurring, and took the time while he was on unemployment and getting his freelance business started, to begin researching on the internet, which he had never done before. Because I was busy homeschooling, etc, he went down the rabbit hole two years earlier than I did. He learned about the incredible development of China, the trouble college students were having with massive debt, and many, many other things. In the summer of 2011 he asked me to watch a shorter form of the video “The Money Masters,” which I linked to above, explaining the financial system in the United States, which I had never understood before. (I had even taken on a personal study of economics in my twenties to try to understand why the Great Depression happened, but nothing ever made sense to me.) Finally things were making sense.
Because I wanted to learn more about some of the things the documentary maker was talking about, I began to click on other youtube videos that were recommended for people who were watching that documentary. And that’s how it started.
“…but when it comes to lives and eternal souls you’d better believe I care, I care very very much. i will fight for these who have survived these most horrific of abuses. “
AND FIGHT FOR THOSE YOU HAVE!!
“ not with fear, not with vitriol,, but with strength and compassion, living and loving in the light of Jesus Christ…”
Thank you Rebecca, Capable Warrior, for allowing the Lord to use your life as a light in this darkness, championing the fight for so many who have never before been heard because of the things you so well explained. I pray continually for you as you wade in deep dark waters every day to do it.
Thank you so much, dear friend. I value your prayers.
I’m with you Rebecca. After working with victims of abuse for over 20 years I’ve seen survivors of SRA many times, and still work with a few. It’s a long journey to recovery for them. Also, there’s been an overlap between my work and personal experiences with false narratives in the media. Like you I started researching this stuff several years ago, and was blown away. It is horrific, so people just don’t want to believe it– just like neither of us did. It’s human nature to want to minimize evil. As a victim I did it, and now I see churches do it every day when our survivors reach out for help. I believe psychology calls it cognitive dissonance. However, if Christians believe what scripture tells us about Satan being the “god of this world” (2 Co. 4:4) and having the power to offer Jesus the kingdoms of this world, why wouldn’t we believe he has enough power to seduce the masses? Thank you for speaking out. I am with you that God is bigger, and in the end He will set all things right. In the meatime, I am praying He will open the eyes of his people.
Yes, I agree with every word here, Joy. Thank you.
Thank you for your faithful testimony! Many, many believers are just now waking up. Keep telling the truth!
Thank you for your encouragement, Teresa.
Thank you. I’m so weary of being mocked, mostly by Christian men oddly enough, for being interested in or believing “conspiracy theories,” some of which you’ve mentioned here.
I know I would never go to those people with anything important because they seem to be quick to dismiss.
They’re taught to quickly dismiss instead of investigating and thinking for themselves. I’m very sorry about that and hope that more Christians will be willing to analyze the evidence (even if it is not as “reliable” as Joe Carter thinks it might be) and think for themselves.
A warning about the snake picture would have been prudent. I am going to be snarky but thought you would know better.
My apologies. This was actually the most benign picture of her. The other photos are so horrendous.
Thank you Rebecca. I came across your blog several years ago as a survivor of spiritual abuse. I have since followed it because I know you are a safe and solid person that doesn’t beat around the bush. Thank you so much for this post today. I would love to help people as I have a passion to serve those who are forgotten. So I do pray that God will open doors and lead survivors into my life. Here am I Lord, Send me!
Thank you so much, Carrie, and I praise God for your willingness to help.
Bravo Rebecca! I can quite literally say that I agree with every single point that you’ve made in this blog post. I stumbled across most of the things you mentioned over the years just by accident (and being naturally, rabidly curious by such things). SRA, MK-Ultra, Pizzagate, the Podestas, JEpstein, Maria Abramovic, etc. In fact, I was heartily ridiculed just a week ago by a fellow CHRISTIAN who chastised me because I told him that secret child torture pornography and trafficking rings exist across America, but especially in the Hollywood and DC areas. I didn’t bring it up btw, they did. There is so much darkness in our culture that is intertwined within Government/Church/Entertainment, etc that I’m sure it would blow the average person’s mind if the gossamer veil between that world and ours was ever lifted. I greatly desire that these dark groups and deeds be exposed and outed in this lifetime!
Keep up the good work, keep fighting, and keep the faith!
Thank you so much, Doug. That gossamer veil gets lifted every time a survivor tells me her story. And it would be lifted more if more Christians, like you, expressed their willingness, not only to believe, but to learn how to truly help.
[…] MAY 12, 2020 […]
Thank you for sharing and admonishing. I have been praying for quite some time that truth will be revealed to us all. Even if it’s awful and terrifying. I am so thankful that our Heavenly Father walks with us! And He delights when his people walk in truth! May God continue to sustain you in this lifegiving work! Much love and prayers! Tina
Thank you, Tina.
[…] https://heresthejoy.com/2020/05/christians-and-conspiracy-theories-a-response-to-joe-carter-at-t… […]
from Rebecca: This comment has been removed at the request of the author, but the reply is below.
—I’m replying interlinearly.—
Just remember that these social media accounts and people of the internet are making money from their content.
—Most are not. I certainly am not. But yes, I’m aware that Joe Carter and others of the Gospel Coalition most likely are.—
Even if they don’t make money, as their channel/following is too small, they could be raging narcs who derive supply from conning people.
—I suppose that can be true of some. Raging narcs are usually pretty easy to discern sooner or later, and we do well to stay away from them. But I don’t believe this pertains to this article unless you’re talking about Joe Carter, and I wouldn’t expect that.—
There is a piece on the 5G conspiracy that is addressed by VICE News, where Dr. David Robert Grimes explains a lot of things.
—I’m not interested in addressing or discussing on my blog any possible 5G conspiracies or any theories about them.—
I read your Unholy Charade book and it is fantastic. This post doesn’t seem to be the same person who authored such a great book for survivors.
—I wonder why not. Unholy Charade was about calling out evil in the church and calling on Christians to help. This is about calling out evil in governments and other high positions in a nation and calling on Christians to help. It doesn’t seem that different.—
Please be careful about the trappings of internet content.
—I am very careful, as you can see from my often refutations of internet content on my blog, including this post.—
I don’t doubt there are all sorts of horrific things being done by our government and those who obtain positions of power are usually not the folk one wants to have power. And child trafficking, child porn, is undoubtedly going on. Seems to be the more privileged a person is, the more entitled they become and the more egregious their crimes, sins, and vices. Epstein being the perv he was is nothing extraordinary. Men, the world over, are like that, however not many have the money to buy such things and fly victims all around and purchase more victims. Most men can only afford to harm one victim at a time.
—I’m glad to see that you are acknowledging the very evil I talked about in my blog post.—
I don’t put it past people to be doing all sorts of evil,
—I assume you agree that some might be so evil as to be Satanists?—
but I also know that when high-level people are involved in criminality and their victim might otherwise talk, they usually target that victim so badly they can barely exist. Victims usually struggle to function, to maintain bare level existence, and cannot produce internet content. If it was really real, they’d send people to kick their door in, they’d burglarize, home invade, threaten, intimidate, poison, beat up, violate, humiliate, smear campaign, and beat the victim down until she is silent, brain damaged, and unable to do much. Real victims with real knowledge are in extreme danger.
—Yes, this is true about some of them, though not all. I’d like to hear how you gained this understanding. And also how you came to believe this is the only way it works.—
They can’t afford to produce internet content, make compelling videos, develop followers, etc.
—Producing internet content can be done for free, and it can be done via VPNs, etc. When you say sex trafficking survivors “can’t” produce internet content–you’re saying it’s impossible that anyone who writes or speaks online could possibly be a sex trafficking survivor? That all of them who claim they are trying to tell such a story are lying?—
—I certainly hope you’re not saying that, because if you are, you’re ending up being just like the Christians who refuse to hear the voices of the domestic abuse victims written about in Unholy Charade.—
—The videos I watched were compelling only in their sincerity, not in their glamour, including the congressional testimony I watched, which was from 1995. These people didn’t really have much in the way of followers. I figured their lives were in danger. Some of them have since died.—
—Also, sometimes the people who are speaking are the ones like me, who have heard the stories.—
Just think about the pimps you may have known, read about, or heard about. And human trafficking/sex trafficking is slavery and pimping.
—I’m surprised you’re trying to teach me about this, when I said in my blog post that I’ve been studying it since 2013. That’s two years before I met Jeff Crippen and worked with him on Unholy Charade, which you said you appreciated. I also said that I know many of these survivors personally. Above all, I want to honor the voices of the survivors, just as we want to do in cases of domestic abuse when no one in their church will believe them.—
Most women cannot escape, nor dare try to escape, because they have a pimp who controls them, who employs others, ‘watchers’ to ensure the prostituted woman or child is working the street, not keeping any of the money she is given, and doesn’t try to escape. Most victims are too terrified to ever tell police the truth, even when in police custody. They’ll lie, they’ll serve time in jail or prison, etc. to ensure they don’t go against their pimp. The savagery of pimps and traffickers is well known. Even cops, knowledgeable, good ones, will speak about the impossible situation the girls/women are in, as the pimps (and their employed ‘associates’ be it watchers, drivers, etc.) are that terrifying, untouchable, and savage. It’s organized crime. And the consequences of going against a pimp or other criminals is the victim is hunted, harmed, her family and friends are hunted and harmed, and she’ll be made to pay, potentially murdered.
—So you’re saying that none of these women would ever try to get help? You’re saying that the very fact that they’re asking for help indicates that they’re lying, because a true sex trafficking survivor would never do that?—
—In describing low-level pimping, you’re also missing the hugely important aspect of dissociation, which allows there to be a “day child” and a “night child,” to put it simply. The “day child” doesn’t know what’s going on with the “night child.” But when a woman reaches her 30s or 40s, the memories begin to return via flashbacks, nightmares, direct downloads, etc. If you read memoirs, you would see this phenomenon described.—
—There are many other ways to more or less enslave a trafficking survivor that are less direct and more sophisticated. If you’re interested in learning about them, I can refer you to resources.—
I’m sure that most anyone in high levels of power is corrupt and a very bad person.
— And again, you agree with me. Would you be willing to read the book The Franklin Coverup? Would you be willing to investigate how those in high places use dissociation against their victims? Would you be willing to read perhaps more memoirs than those you’ve read so far?—
But I also wonder if this isn’t somehow related to Barbara Roberts and her claims about a particular woman claiming to have been the sexual assault victim on all sorts of leaders. Something about that felt off.
— If it were related to Barbara Roberts, that would not negate the truth of the testimony I’ve given. But it is not. I began to learn about these things in January of 2013. I began getting to know some of the survivors themselves around 2015, the same year I worked on Unholy Charade, which is also when I was introduced to Barbara, but only online in a business capacity as the co-leader of ACFJ. She and I had no conversations about anything unrelated to the workings of ACFJ and its new publishing arm.—
—It wasn’t until September of 2018 that I found out Barbara was tweeting about various conspiracies and conspiracy theories. Before that, she and I had not discussed these things at all. And even after this, after I was completely removed from ACFJ, we interacted about any theories very little, because we had some fundamental disagreements.—
—And yet, why does Barbara need to be brought into this discussion? I described in detail my own story in my blog post. I described that I know these survivors personally. You can read all that, and yet still think that I’m writing this because I was influenced by Barbara?—
I also saw the Twitter feed and mentions of Direct Energy Weapons were made and that’s also seen in 5G conspiracy theorists’ claims.
—I’m not interested in discussing either of these conspiracy theories.—
Undoubtedly the vast majority of people in this world are bad, evil, corrupt, and sinners with all sorts of depravity.
—I actually don’t think that’s true. I think there are a lot of basically decent, normal people who actually have consciences, who simply don’t understand that these evils are going on and aren’t willing to understand it. Obviously when it comes to Satanists, they’re going to exhibit depravity at its worst (though most often in secret), no matter what Joe Carter says.—
But their victims are almost always kept locked down, silenced, or are hunted until they break.
—And how do you know this? And could it be perhaps, that one would come to me while she’s in the process of being “hunted until she breaks”? Could it be that a woman in an abusive marriage comes to understand at some point that her abusive husband is actually her handler?—
—Are you saying that if one asks me for help I should refuse to listen to her agonizingly retrieved memories because, “No, you must be lying. If you had really been trafficked, you would still be locked down. I will turn my back on you.”—
—I hope that’s not what you’re saying, but I don’t see any other way to interpret it.—
Look at what happens to whistleblowers the world over.
—Yes, some of them have “accidents” or “commit suicide.” Are you suggesting that their death is a result of conspiracies? Some have been imprisoned on false charges or even because of their speaking out, even in a land with a supposedly free press. Again, I’m not sure of the reason for your observation. Should we not listen to the whistleblowers?—
So, if it’s real evil, real crimes, it’s almost never going to be someone in a position to create, produce, and continue producing internet content, building a following, etc.
—I don’t understand why you keep talking about this. It seems off point from 95% of my article, almost as if you focused on the one sentence about researching on the internet and then ignored everything else, thinking I must have been led astray by that.—
Victims are too beat down for that. They are too damaged for such things. Too hunted to have a popular social media following.
—And again. Whether or not sex trafficking survivors are capable of producing internet content can absolutely be debated, but when have I even mentioned anyone who has a popular social media following?—
Just my thoughts.
—Your thoughts seem focused on only one thing: that I have been deceived by someone with a large following on the internet. This is not the case. As I made extremely clear in this article, I have personally interacted with survivors, and every one of those I’m currently interacting with has read any part of this blog post that in any way may have referred to them, and has approved the current version. I would suggest that if someone that you (at least formerly) respected has been engaged in a certain kind of work with survivors for as long as I have, that you actually ask questions about how you can learn more instead of simply trying to set me straight.—
—You didn’t ask these questions, so I assume you’re not interested in learning, but in case anyone else who is reading this comment is interested, I’ll include two links from my Facebook page, where I recommend two SRA recovery memoirs, both written by women I have interacted with personally, both of whom love the Lord Jesus Christ: https://www.facebook.com/rebeccajoydavis/posts/10217449408613400 and https://www.facebook.com/rebeccajoydavis/posts/10217458243394264
Good on you, Rebecca, for responding as you did. Sorry to have drained so much of your time with my original crazy comment. It’s so easy to get unhinged!
I know some things from personal experience. Just as you know some things, too. Who was I to question you or attempt to educate you about anything?
Triggers are no joke. Sorry for my originally unhinged and inappropriately aggressive comment. How offensive and ridiculous!
You have my support, although it means little and is worth little. Brava to you, Rebecca for your work with victims, for believing victims, for blogging in a generally woman-hating space (the internet), for your clear mind and well-argued posts.
Your books are good.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for this article. I have not gone down this particular rabbit hole of corruption, having researched mainly in the vaccine industry for the past twenty years. I appreciate your courage and your willingness to minister to the victims of these heinous crimes. There has been a lot of coverage lately on Christians and conspiracy theories and I wondered if you might comment on the recent article posted in the Atlantic about it. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567
I haven’t read it. Was there something in particular you wanted my perspective on? I’m currently not commenting on any conspiracy theories other than the three I talked about in this article.
Thank you Rebecca. I became angry too when I read Joe Carter’s recent article on “The FAQs: What Christians Should Know About QAnon” which also led me to the article you are referring to now. I am a Reformed Christian which makes me even more angry. I have been following Q for about 2 years now and I know that Joe Carter did a really lousy job investigating Q. He did not seem to go to the source which is Q which you can find at places like qmap.pub but instead referenced people who follow Q (which is QAnon). It is as if the only information Joe Carter got about Q is from what the fake news media says about Q which is not accurate at all. To my surprise I have found some information that George Soros has funded money into Christian organizations such as The Gospel Coalition which is an organization that Joe Carter belongs to. I don’t know if it is true, but if it is it can explain a lot to me. Thank you again for your article.
Randy Talbot
wow. That article by Joe Carter is a train wreck from the beginning.
First he obliquely equates ‘conspiracy theories’ with blaspheming God.
Joe Carter’s piece is a wreck theologically, psychologically, and logically.
A writing shaming people without basis.
EEEEWWWWW
And yet, how many found it a stellar article, stellar enough to share, with kudos? Over 800 last I looked. And The Gospel Coalition continues to use him as one of their primary writers, so they obviously think he’s an excellent writer and thinker.
And he teaches journalism at Patrick Henry College, or at least he did last I knew.
There is something seriously wrong in evangelicalism.
Thank you for your courage and for speaking truth! The Lord is bringing many of us on the same journey. Raise up your remnant, your army of overcomers Lord and restore that which Satan has tried to destroy.
I’m very thankful that the Lord is opening the eyes of many, to see and to have compassion on the oppressed. Thank you, Lindsay.
From one Rebecca to another, thank you for your honesty and speaking the truth with boldness and clarity! I grew up with a mother who was harsh and unloving toward me, and yet firm in her conviction that the Bible is true and Jesus is who He said He is. Her father refused to have anything to do with Freemasonry which his father was initiated into in London in the mid 1880’s.
I never knew my grandfather, he died before I was born, but I recall many warnings from my mother regarding world banking, people in positions of great influence and power, evil plans, and many other things labeled “conspiracy theories” but are now being lived out in our time. I did know my grandma a little and remember the day she called in anger to say she hated me because I was just like my mother – I was ill in bed. I have not wanted to be like my mother and it’s taken me 40 years, but I now embrace what my grandma told me. Like my mom, I do not give or give up. I can see through the propaganda and lies that abound and I will find ways to share truth with others. I now believe this is what my grandmother recognized and hated in me when I was just a child, and it gives me insight into what my mother may have gone through growing up.
I’ve taught music and math for nearly 30 years and I’m wired and trained to see patterns, inconsistencies and draw logical conclusions, so I am skeptical of media and an incessant researcher. Things are not as they seem and it is disheartening to realize that most people not only don’t see the truth, but they prefer to not see it. Great deception abounds, within the “church” as in every corner of society.
Just today 4/23/21 I received this email from John Piper’s blog site that raised several concerns with me. Here is a link to his written and audio statement of “How Should We Respond to Christian Conspiracy Theories?”
https://youtu.be/upqtgcvG3sQ
This is not the first of Piper’s writings I’ve found concerning, but in this instance I was surprised at how vehemently he attacked the character, the mental wellness and the personal relationship with God of a member of his church who shared something controversial with him. Is this the way a shepherd should act? Was he expecting to be lauded for a wonderfully prepared and lofty sermon which did not happen? It is not for me to question Pastor Piper’s character or his salvation, but I am called by God to be wise and use discernment.
Then there is the comparison of the one true God to the sun, and the solar system. Does God give us this example in scripture comparing Himself to the sun, when the sun god is central to nearly all pagan and satanic worship? Sadly, I found Pastor Piper’s statement to be void of brotherly love or a focus on the PERSON of Jesus Christ, accusatory and demeaning, and an intellectual goblety-goop of words without scriptural backing.
I would truly appreciate your thoughts on his statement. Thank you and may God bless you and your ministry!
Thank you for your comment. It’s interesting that I received your comment right now, April 23, 2021. Right now I’m working on my talk for the Called to Peace Ministries Retreat in May, which includes talking about Satanic Ritual Abuse, at the request of Joy Forrest, the head of the ministry.
There is much in this John Piper talk I agree with. I agree that the Main Thing needs to be always kept at the center, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.
I also agree that it is really easy to get pulled down rabbit holes that may not be helpful or constructive when investigating what the enemy of our souls may or may not be doing. And getting pulled down a rabbit hole can lead to an obsession that can lead us away from Jesus Christ at the center of our lives.
But I pray that more Christians will understand that whatever may be happening with the experimental covid shot or the mark of the beast or whatever–whatever may be happening with any of these things–there is real evil in our world, and real souls, precious souls, are being affected by it. Precious souls that need to be snatched from the fire and brought to the light and love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And if their story includes satanic ritual abuse, then you can be sure it includes sex trafficking and child pornography and other heinous evils. We keep Jesus Christ at the center, but we MUST NOT only talk about Him and ignore the evils going on around us. If so, we’re like the church people who “worshiped” on the deck of the ship while the slaves groaned and died in the hold.
We MUST rescue the perishing and care for the dying and snatch them in pity from sin and the grave.
So there is a balance to be struck, carefully, in the light of the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ. We exalt His Name, and at the same time we acknowledge the evil, speak against it, and help the souls that are affected by it.
We can go deeper and deeper to learn more about the evil, yes, and I wrote in this blog post about my own journey that way, but ultimately it is so important for Christians to stay grounded in the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ. That foundation alone will give us the grounding we need to do the important work He has called us to do.
I just read Joe Carter’s post about conspiracy theorists. It angered me so deeply I researched more about him and found your post here. Beautifully written and thought out. I am sad that Christians with such a large platform like Joe are blindly dismissing thousands of people’s real life situations. May God continue to give you such wisdom! Thank you!!
Thank you so much, Miles. Your comment encourages me.