I’ve tried to believe I could stay in contact with Mormons I know, but between the direct marketing and spewing conspiracy theories, I’ve been unfriending. A lot. And just like the ridiculous theology, responding with facts just makes them dig in their heels and say, “I don’t agree.” They exhaust me. But maybe it’s for the best to cut all ties.

If you believe mormonism you will believe anything.

Yes good point. The dark ages, all over again.

Ask them if they want to buy some essential oils that will ward off Covid.

That was my exact answer. We were taught to embrace the unbelievable and things that could easily be proven unfactual. It's actually an art to be able to do that. I know that in my younger days I could easily buy into conspiracy theories. Especially because everything was engineered by Satan to turn people away from the one and only true church.

Not so easy to do now that I understand that things happen according to the rules of science and the natural world/natural order. I embrace the spiritual side of the natural order and I call it God. And I'm unapologetic for using that word, despite the fact that it makes some of my friends cringe. But it's so freeing once you let go of the notion of God and Satan as actual beings that micromanage our lives. And you realize the conspiracies are just things made up by people who want to manipulate the ignorant side of people, especially those who are low hanging fruit.

Mormonism is full of conspiracy theories. The Gadianton Robbers, the early Mormon suspicion of Masonry, the sense that evil people ran the US government against the Mormons in the East, Midwest, and then Utah: all of these were anti-Mormon conspiracies.

And Mormonism itself is a conspiracy. There are multiple levels of secrecy, milk before meat, anointings and second anointings, the Council of 50, the Danites, etc. All of that is conspiratorial.

In fact, we see it all the time among ex-Mormons too. A lot of them reject the religion but unwittingly perpetuate the vulnerability to conspiracy theories. There must always be someone behind the curtain.

LW's last sentence makes a very good point. The idea of randomness is absolutely anathema to some people, especially some very religious ones.

Possibly it's one of those subconscious things. They feel like their world is being unfairly influenced and controlled by "something" but deep-seated programming has them missing the true target.

Or you could say that since conspiracies appeal to people who like to feel special, with privileged knowledge, being able to see through the machinations of evil designs, that it's just the thing a privileged, special people, with exclusive knowledge for avoiding evil, would lean towards and enjoy. Mormonism is a feelings based cult, so, logic and avoiding causation fallacies are not going to factor in.

In my experience, Mormons tend to believe everything they are told by the authorities, except where it may clash with church doctrine.

The church says:
"We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law."

That even applies in dictatorships seemingly where members are told to put up and shut up.

Mormons are the ultimate conformists. They are least likely to doubt official pronouncements.

It's all over the Book of Mormon, and in Joseph Smith's time it was used to designate groups that engage in conspiracies. Mormons embrace conspiracies because their foundational document does.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2020 04:28AM by lurking in.

This Is not just a question for Mormonism but for so many more people. The complicated outrageous false answer seems more plausible to some than the simple truth. So many gravitate to something or someone that is sometimes correct over sources that are sometimes wrong.

Your point is well-taken. I contend that the reason so many people believe conspiracy theories is because they *don't want* to accept the truth. They say they're seeking truth, but what they really are seeking is an escape from truth.

Also: they believe we are at war. This war is pervasive. Everything that happens is part of that war. And if "we" are the god guys, then everything and everybody who isn't "us" must automatically be fighting against us. It is imperative that enemies be found. Since there are very few overt foes, then it is only reasonable that the enemies must be hidden and secretive. And so we have all those conspiracies. That must be true. Otherwise we are not validated in our world view.

"Two Minutes Hate" (1984)
https://youtu.be/XvGmOZ5T6_Y

I think Mormons are very neoconservative and prefer neoconservative political leaders like George Bush,rather than Donald Trump or Mike Huckabee.

I think they take general world news as face value and the most likely to support the actions of a person like George Bush.

It’s not just a mormon thing.

Believers in the GOP spent eight years believing 44 is an Islamic sleeper cell while believers in the DNC just spent four years believing 45 is a Russian asset. And an unfortunately large percentage of Americans believed in the WMD conspiracy theory.

There are many more examples of the above, and many of them just as evidence-free as the above conspiracy theories. So it’s obviously not just a Mormon thing (but it might be an American thing).


Once you’ve placed your trust in some large, powerful entity, government entities or political entities or corporate entities or media entities or religious entities, it doesn’t matter which, you are more likely to fall for a conspiracy theory, for all of the above are able and more than willing to propagate them.

Human, trusting that this post is obviously not strictly speaking political and therefore will not be removed. The possible therapeutic point of the post is to suggest that mormons are no less human than the rest of us, and that recovery from Mormonism is about getting past making them the “other”.

> Believers in the GOP spent eight years believing
> 44 is an Islamic sleeper cell . . .

That is sloppy reasoning. The truth is that a small part of the GOP and conservatives in general accepted that nonsense. The bulk of the GOP never did. A credulous minority is still a big problem, but do recall John McCain and what he said about Obama during his electoral campaign.


------------
> . . . while believers in
> the DNC just spent four years believing 45 is a
> Russian asset.

Yeah, that's sloppy too. What is an "asset?" Someone who for whatever reason, including kompromat, a personal identification with a foreign leader, the promise of help in an electoral campaign, or hope for lucrative business deals can be relied on to do what is generally in the foreign power's interests. Being an asset requires no plan, no strategy, no coordination, and no communication.

You claim Trump is not a Russian asset but there is frankly no way you could know that. And against your views we have to weigh those of the national security advisors and chief-of-staff and intelligence analysts who have stated publicly that they think he is a Russian asset whether he knows it or not.


---------------------
> And an unfortunately large
> percentage of Americans believed in the WMD
> conspiracy theory.

That is true.


-------------------------
> There are many more examples of the above, and
> many of them just as evidence-free as the above
> conspiracy theories. So it’s obviously not just
> a Mormon thing (but it might be an American
> thing).

Hahaha.

You Canadians never fall for conspiracy theories. Jordan has never done that; and you have never said that the United States organized a coup against the Bolivian government and overthrew Morales. So sure, let's pretend that you are more objective, more competent in evaluating evidence, than people in the United States.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2020 02:58PM by Lot's Wife.

Human nature to be suspicious exacerbated by being indoctrinated from birth to believe the unbelievable. Also exacerbated by the human brain's propensity to believe that which it wishes to be true.

Something in the human mind wants to give the benefit of the doubt as a defense mechanism. Giving all importance to the "maybe this could be" and disregarding applicable facts for the same scenario is something Mormons already have a leg up on--perhaps, even virtuosos.



Nullius in Verba--- "Take no one's word for it", gets used in reverse as fact becomes the suspect defendant and the unbelievable becomes the plaintiff in the trial. Doubt your Doubts in a nutshell.

Turning the Tables is nothing new to Mormons.

I submit that it is more an American thing than just a Mormon thing. Conspiracy theories drive so much in

most things, especially politics and national destiny and purpose.

Everything in Mormonism is a conspiracy theory. The pre-earthly council? That was Satan and 1/3 of God’s spirit children conspiring to thwart God’s plan. Then, when Jesus came to teach the gospel and atone for everyone’s sins, another conspiracy tried to ruin things: the apostles were killed, so the priesthood was lost, and the “plain and precious truths” were corrupted.

It’s easier to believe that you’re in a special group with inside esoteric information and knowledge than to actually do the homework it takes to try to understand the complexity of issues. It’s lazy, fake intellectualism.

I have seen a bigfoot and a ufo, so I believe in that. When you seen it with your own eyes it's fantastic. BUt I'm not mormon, just a christian. Should I believe in some other conspiracies? Are you looking to fit people in a narrative. I know many athiests who believe in those two things too.

Why not?

Their fun!

Well, they live in a confirmed conspiracy theory. Here's how it kind of played out.

"Starting to think the conspiracy of i may be in a cult is true"

Sees death oaths and chanting and secret handshakes for the first time.

"Yep, conspiracy of i was in a cult the whole time is confirmed."

"Where's the exit?"

One day later.

"Well, now maybe all conspiracies are true now."

The end.

Well, if one buys into the Joseph Smith story...

I rest my case.

Because it is something fun to do and it goes hand in hand with mind scrambling

It maybe the persecution complex. Mormons have also always had a big distrust of the government. They want to be the ones in charge, not some gentile. It's the old idea of we are the "Chosen People" and other christians are going to hell unless we save them in the mormon temple.

If mormons are right then everyone else has to be wrong and servants of Satan. So the faithful become ever more radical, and nutty.

Praydude just applauded two interviews on Mormon Stories explaining how Ezra Taft Benson pushed Mormonism from the center-right of the American political spectrum towards the far right.

A major theme in the biographical discussion is conspiratorial thinking: namely, the supposed alliance between Moscow, American communists, Jews, the advocates of equal rights for black people, and the broader Civil Rights Movement. Benson brought out the latent conspiracy-theory predilections evident in the BoM, with its secret combinations and Gadianton Robbers; in early Mormon history's fascination with Masonry, Andrew Jackson, and an evil Washingtonian cabal that worked against the Church; and such intra-Mormon cabals as the Danites, the Council of 50, and the various levels of secret temple rites. He brought these up to date in the 1960s and thereafter.

The church leadership tried to shut Benson up, but he had tremendous influence and his legacy lives on. We see it in the Bundy farces, some of the Intermountain West militias, the Vallow case, the Lafertys's behavior, Brian David Mitchell, Julie Rowe, the Westover clan, Glenn Beck, and the tendency of Mormons to distrust progressives nationally and government power in general. We also see the legacy in the willingness of ex-Mormons to embrace politically-oriented conspiracy theories. Witness, for instance, the several times that the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Israel has appeared on this board.

When a man is an apostle or prophet, he casts a long shadow.




https://www.mormonstories.org/podcast/ezra-taft-benson-and-the-making-of-the-mormon-right-matt-harris-part-1/

https://www.mormonstories.org/podcast/ezra-taft-benson-and-the-making-of-the-mormon-right-matt-harris-part-2/



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/2020 05:27AM by Lot's Wife.

IMO, because they are gullible.

Two reasons: they have cognitive dissonance problems, and the Dunning-Kreuger effect.