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AR 21:26 - Is there a "Christian conspiracy"?
In this issue:
CONSPIRACY THEORIES - how to distinguish the false from the true
ISLAM - Time magazine argues that it differs politically from other faiths
TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION - "becoming increasingly suspicious of the Maharishi's grand plan"
Apologia Report 21:26 (1,299)
July 22, 2016
CONSPIRACY THEORIES
Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories, by Rob Brotherton [1] -- after listing some common theories, reviewer Khaldoun Aziz Sweis (associate professor, Olive-Harvey College) notes which ones turned out to be true and which did not. Then he asks: "So how does one distinguish a false conspiracy from a true one? Brotherton argues that it is not about the facts. Choosing to believe a conspiracy in the government is more about our presuppositions. It is not the paranoid who believe these things. 'We are all natural-born conspiracy theorists,' Brotherton declares. 'It turns out that we're not always the best judge of why we believe what we believe.' ...
"Although we like to think our judgments are based on evidence, Brotherton argues that a host of psychological factors come into play. ...
"The book has some great historical points about the origin of the Illuminati, the Protocols of Zion, JFK, and vaccinations. And, as noted, some theories were brought out to light, showing the conspiracy to be true."
Due to its "self-insulating logic, attempting to refute a conspiracy theory is like nailing jelly to a wall.... Conspiracy theories aren't just immune to refutation - they thrive on it," Brotherton points out. Sweis adds that "we can make the puzzle fit even when it does not. ... If we are not grounded, then we are susceptible to believe anything or do anything. Yet, says Brotherton in a well-crafted line that sums up his book, 'By painting conspiracism as some bizarre psychological tick that blights the minds of a handful of paranoid kooks, we smugly absolve ourselves of the faulty thinking we see so readily in others. ...
"I argue," writes Sweis, "that religions embrace a *divine conspiracy,* to use the words of the late Christian philosopher Dallas Willard, which posits a hidden hand behind world affairs directing the powers that be toward an agenda. The Christian conspiracy is that this divine being became one of us. His agenda is revealed in the Bible. He still works in and through His people to bring about a world that will be amazingly wonderful to those who embrace it and unequivocally terrifying to those who reject it.
"How does one discern which ultimate and important beliefs are true? ... It requires a desire to see beyond one's self, and it is something only the brave can do: pray.
"I recommend this book to understand why people believe the things they do, as such understanding can be very helpful in apologetics discussions." Christian Research Journal, 39:3 - 2016, p54. [4]
Brotherton (Adjunct Assistant Professor, Barnard College <www.goo.gl/XhEBZ8>) blogs at Psychology Today <www.goo.gl/ZpppqK> and on his own site <https://conspiracypsychology.com/>.
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ISLAM
"How Islam Is Different from Other Religions" by Shadi Hamid, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam Is Reshaping the World [2] -- begins: "We want to believe we're all basically the same and want the same things, but what if we're not?
"Islam, in both theory and practice, is exceptional in how it relates to politics. ...
"Islamic exceptionalism is neither good nor bad. It just *is,* and we need to understand and respect that. ...
"Unlike Jesus Christ, the Prophet Muhammad was a theologian, a preacher, a warrior and a politician, all at once. ... Religious and political functions, at least for the believer, were no accident. They were meant to be intertwined in the leadership of one man.
"[F]or Muslims, the Quran is God’s direct and literal speech, more than merely the word of God. It is difficult to overstate the centrality of divine authorship. This does not mean Muslims are literalists; most are not. But it does mean the text cannot easily be dismissed as irrelevant.
"What does this mean for everyone else? Western observers will need to do something uncomfortable and difficult. They will need to accept Islam’s vital and varied role in politics and formulate policies with that in mind, rather than hoping for secularizing outcomes that are unlikely anytime soon, if ever."
So concludes the printed version of this item in Time magazine's June 13 issue (p25). The online version has been substantially changed and begins with the demand that: "We need to accept Islam’s vital and varied role in politics." The following paragraph is added, coming just before that last one above: "Of course, Muslims are not bound to their 'founding moment,' but they can’t fully escape it, either. In an ideal world, we might wish that secular Muslims win the war of ideas, but it is difficult to see how this might happen. If Islam is fundamentally different than Christianity, then there is little reason to think it will (or even should) follow a similar path of a reformation then enlightenment." <www.goo.gl/o7PyM0>
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TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION
Greetings from Utopia Park: Surviving a Transcendent Childhood, by Claire Hoffman [3] -- "a former staff reporter for the Los Angeles Times recalls her childhood in Fairfield, Iowa in the 1980s and '90s, on a 272-acre campus established by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to promote Transcendental Meditation, spiritual enlightenment, and world peace. 'The Movement I had grown up in,' writes the author, 'call it a cult, a religion, a community, it was all these - had rescued my family from a scary time.' Her alcoholic father had abandoned his family; her mother, left with Claire and her brother, was destitute. ... As she grew up, Hoffman became increasingly suspicious of the Maharishi's grand plan. First, she noticed 'a tangible shift ... from mantras to products' that the Maharishi trademarked. ... The author was also suspicious about his claim that the fall of the Berlin Wall had resulted from the power of meditation." Kirkus, Apr '16 #2. [5]
Also see <www.goo.gl/OV6z38>
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories, by Rob Brotherton (Bloomsbury, 2015, hardcover, 304 pages) <www.goo.gl/e5FCG0>
2 - Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam Is Reshaping the World, by Shadi Hamid (St. Martin's, 2016, hardcover, 320 pages) <www.goo.gl/bcR2CK>
3 - Greetings from Utopia Park: Surviving a Transcendent Childhood, by Claire Hoffman (Harper, 2016, hardcover, 288 pages) <www.goo.gl/dZI4QK>
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