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Objection, Your Honor! Assumes facts not in evidence: that these beliefs "threaten our democracy and public health." These back-handed "Oh I wish those people w

Objection, Your Honor! Assumes facts not in evidence: that these beliefs "threaten our democracy and public health." These back-handed "Oh I wish those people would let us save them from that which they do not understand" only gives actual evidence that feeds the theories. Stop treating people like little children, be more scientific--actually scientific, not "the science is settled" scientific--and you may start to see things change.

dragontamer 5y ago
My mom believes Obama to be a Muslim (as an "aging" conspiracy theory, this is hopefully less political than current ones). She's never been good with schedules and doesn't know how to send an email-attachment, but she's not dumb. She's just your stereotypical aging baby boomer who's just retired. Despite her own concerns of mental disease as she ages... I haven't witnessed anything of the sort (Dementia and delusions run on my Dad's side of the family, not my mother's side). Have you ever tried to talk a parent out of such a conspiracy theory? Because I have. Its impossible to convince them that Obama is a Christian, despite photographic evidence or whatever. Its ultimately just a thing that I accept about my mom. She believes in that conspiracy theory (Obama is a Muslim), and there's nothing I can do to change it. Its not like my mom pulls the "parent" card out on me either. As far as I can tell, we discussed things as equal adults, but never came to an agreement over that particular factoid. If Obama was appearing in church, its only to keep up with the Presidential expectations to look Christian while in office (at least, in her mind). If he's got a birth certificate from Hawaii, it was doctored. Mainstream Media reporting on Obama's appearances in Church are unreliable and biased. Obama is faking it when he prays in public. Etc. etc. There's always a response, each one more ludicrous than the last. Its turtles all the way down. They believe in conspiracy theories that support other conspiracy theories in a "stable" footing. Their entire mindset is built around the conspiracy, and its very difficult to budge them from it. She's surrounded by other people she trusts more than me on this issue. She listens to her pastor, her fellow church members more so than me. (Its just me vs many people. So from a social perspective, I'm coming in on the disadvantage because her ENTIRE church group believes in this crap). My father (her husband) doesn't seem to care about changing her opinion either, much like myself (its definitely not worth the effort). So we give up. Its a point of stress and ultimately doesn't matter anymore. So why bother correcting it now? Obama is out of office and can't be elected again, and its not like my mom is a Q (or otherwise a "current" conspiracy theorist who is actually dangerous). She seemed to be a COVID19 denier initially, but when members of her church group started dying, that quickly reversed course on its own. Some conspiracies are harder to keep than others. So the truth comes out when its really important and personal.

dragontamer 5y ago

My mom believes Obama to be a Muslim (as an "aging" conspiracy theory, this is hopefully less political than current ones). She's never been good with schedules and doesn't know how to send an email-attachment, but she's not dumb. She's just your stereotypical aging baby boomer who's just retired. Despite her own concerns of mental disease as she ages... I haven't witnessed anything of the sort (Dementia and delusions run on my Dad's side of the family, not my mother's side). Have you ever tried to talk a parent out of such a conspiracy theory? Because I have. Its impossible to convince them that Obama is a Christian, despite photographic evidence or whatever. Its ultimately just a thing that I accept about my mom. She believes in that conspiracy theory (Obama is a Muslim), and there's nothing I can do to change it. Its not like my mom pulls the "parent" card out on me either. As far as I can tell, we discussed things as equal adults, but never came to an agreement over that particular factoid. If Obama was appearing in church, its only to keep up with the Presidential expectations to look Christian while in office (at least, in her mind). If he's got a birth certificate from Hawaii, it was doctored. Mainstream Media reporting on Obama's appearances in Church are unreliable and biased. Obama is faking it when he prays in public. Etc. etc. There's always a response, each one more ludicrous than the last. Its turtles all the way down. They believe in conspiracy theories that support other conspiracy theories in a "stable" footing. Their entire mindset is built around the conspiracy, and its very difficult to budge them from it. She's surrounded by other people she trusts more than me on this issue. She listens to her pastor, her fellow church members more so than me. (Its just me vs many people. So from a social perspective, I'm coming in on the disadvantage because her ENTIRE church group believes in this crap). My father (her husband) doesn't seem to care about changing her opinion either, much like myself (its definitely not worth the effort). So we give up. Its a point of stress and ultimately doesn't matter anymore. So why bother correcting it now? Obama is out of office and can't be elected again, and its not like my mom is a Q (or otherwise a "current" conspiracy theorist who is actually dangerous). She seemed to be a COVID19 denier initially, but when members of her church group started dying, that quickly reversed course on its own. Some conspiracies are harder to keep than others. So the truth comes out when its really important and personal.