The Baha'i Studies Listserv Some conspiracy theories are more plausible than others obviously.
________________________________ From: Matt Haase <[email protected]> To: Baha'i Studies <[email protected]> Sent: Wed, October 13, 2010 1:34:58 PM Subject: Re: Conspiracy Thoeries and Recent New Events Align alot The Baha'i Studies Listserv Dear Gilberto, I used two types of categories; conspiracy theories (i.e. the study and research of actual conspiracies, and theorizing how they took place), and conspiracy theories (i.e. seeing a conspiracy in every event in the history of humanity, as being a plot by a group of few people/aliens/reptilians to step-by-step take over the world.) I am not critical of the theorizing of actual conspiracies that have and do take place, or the events that very possibly could have been conspiracies. But I am critical of the notion that everything which happens in this world, is being orchestrated by some hidden hands of 30 people or something. Sometimes chaos just happens, sometimes terrorists do just blow up a vegetable market for their own agenda (and not the agenda of the Illuminati, Reptilians, etc.) There are different types of conspiracy researchers, and I don't want the real theorists (Bill Weinberg, Peter Werby, etc) to have a bad name because they are lumped in with the same crowd that says Reptiles who live on the Moon are reciting Mantras all day to make humanity feel stressed out and aggressive toward each other. The two types of researchers live in a completely different world, in my view. Salam Alaykum "Conspiracies do exist in the world. There is evidence and proof to demonstrate that" On Wed, Oct 13, 2010 at 12:40 AM, Gilberto Simpson <[email protected]> wrote: The Baha'i Studies Listserv >I think it is weird when people try to dismiss conspiracy theories as >a category. Every claim is either true or false on its own merits. The >US government really has performed medical experiments on Blacks and >Latinos. The CIA really has worked to overthrow different >democratically elected governments (Mossadeq, Arbenz, Allende). There >really are organizations (like Skull and Bones, the Carlyle Group, >etc.) which manage to bring together powerful people and >decision-makers in ways which are not completely public or accountable >(or straight-up secret). The RAND corporation really has been >advocating that the the US support some kinds of Islam over others in >the world. > >I agree with you that simplistic binary thinking is a problem but I'm >not sure I would say it is a defining property of conspiracy theories. >On the one hand you definitely have folks who think that the conflict >between Democrats and Republicans is a fight between good and evil. On >the other hand, there is probably somebody out there who views world >events as the product of a complex, multi-front rivalry between the >Reptillians, the Illuminati, the Catholic Church, the Circle of the >Black Thorn, the Masons, the Priory of Sion, the Mafia, the >Bildebergs, the Rothschilds, the CIA and the elders of Zion. Also you >have folks like Chomsky who don't invoke colorful villains with >complex competing agendas but basically look at the world with a class >perspective and basically look at US foreign policy as being >manipulated by wealthy business interests. > > > > >On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 5:10 PM, Matt Haase <[email protected]> wrote: >> The Baha'i Studies Listserv >> >> Conspiracies do exist in the world. There is evidence and proof to >> demonstrate that, but there is a difference between a conspiracy theory, and >> a conspiracy theory. The former is about searching for evidence and actual >> facts about certain events and situations in order to find the truth, and >> the latter is a worldview about how history itself works. Conspiracy >> theories view the world as a binary state. There are definite good guys and >> definite bad guys. There is no gray area. There is a hidden Elite of evil >> souls who want to globalize the world into a totalitarian dictatorship for >> different reasons, depending on who is talking. For David Icke, they are >> reptilian shapeshifters. For Alex Jones, they are "Nazis and Kabbalists." >> For William Cooper, they were "socialists", "ufos" and "New Agers." The >> problem with conspiracy theories (the conspiracy theory of history itself), >> is that the world isn't that simple. Sometimes things just happen, and there >> was no hidden hand orchestrating it or causing it to happen. Conspiracy >> theories are also fundamentalist in that they don't allow for any kind of >> dissent. If you question someone like Alex Jone's or David Icke's research, >> they will just accuse you of "working for the Elites" themselves, and thus >> your opinion doesn't count. >> >> >> On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 4:56 PM, Stephen Gray <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> The Baha'i Studies Listserv >>> >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Order_(conspiracy_theory) >>> >>> I remember president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was pointed out as in league with >>> George Bush as being parts of an orchestrated plot to take over the world. >>> But, the more I looked into it the more plausible it became. >>> >>> http://www.taroscopes.com/miscellanous-pages/weapons.html >>> http://www.taroscopes.com/miscellanous-pages/weapons-additional.html >>> >>> Any one familiar with quotes of MA? >>> >>> __________________________________________________ >>> You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] >>> Unsubscribe: send a blank email to >>> mailto:leave-532578-953325.e9a9b042dd227e4657deb0ff0d384...@list.jccc.edu >>> Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to >>> [email protected] >>> Or subscribe: >>> http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st >>> Baha'i Studies is available through the following: >>> Mail - mailto:[email protected] >>> Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st >>> News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st >>> Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] >>> New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] >> >> __________________________________________________ >> You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] >> Unsubscribe: send a blank email to >> mailto:leave-532593-68452.e157d5dc5efabb63696f251595c88...@list.jccc.edu >> Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to >> [email protected] >> Or subscribe: >> http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st >> Baha'i Studies is available through the following: >> Mail - mailto:[email protected] >> Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st >> News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st >> Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] >> New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > >__________________________________________________ >You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] >Unsubscribe: send a blank email to >mailto:leave-532652-953325.e9a9b042dd227e4657deb0ff0d384...@list.jccc.edu >Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] >Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st >Baha'i Studies is available through the following: >Mail - mailto:[email protected] >Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st >News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st >Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] >New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-532815-1719008.2a3842ae5b2f7d34dd5fdfc724616...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-532837-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
