Of course it could be a conspiracy, but. . . .

There are already plenty of accusations that the recent terror attack in Orlando was a conspiracy, involving crisis actors, impossible feats with a gun for a single shooter, a clear political agenda, etc. Here is my response to most such claims to conspiracies.

First, I confess that on the off chance something like this were true, it would not surprise me in the least. It would not surprise me in the least if 9-11 were an inside job, as well as Newtown, Aurora, the Boston Marathon bombing, San Bernardino, and a long list of others. But even if they were all true, it would not matter—meaning, it would not change the nature of the task ahead of us as Christians and Christian Reconstructionists.

For a few years I studied conspiracy theories pretty intensely. I listened to hours upon hours of radio and podcasts (I had a job at the time that was conducive to such listening). I read thousands of pages, in addition to my other studies. I studied conspiracy theories historically from ancient mystery religions, the occult traditions beginning with the alleged Hermes Trismegistus all the way through medieval Kabbalah, alchemy, Templars, up through the revolutionary movements of Weishaupt, the radical enlightenment, Newton, Freemasonry, the history of banking, and all the way up through all the modern conspiracies. I am fully aware that conspiracies happen, that some that were once scoffed at were later proven true, and I believe that many more have probably occurred that will never be known until judgment day.

Through all this learning, I considered the journey as little more than supplemental to a general education in history. I never fell for the trap of thinking that if we could just find that smoking gun and reveal it to the right people, or to enough of the public, then we can stop the nasty conspirators and restore justice. I discerned very early the fatal flaw in this thinking, and I discerned very early why the vast majority of the hundreds or thousands of people consumed by conspiracy theory studies never (that is, never) succeed in stopping the bad guys, stopping the great conspiracy, or restoring freedom and justice.

The reason I discerned early is this: our God-given task is for ethical dominion and faithfulness no matter what, within our own God-given spheres. Pursuing endless conspiracy theories is, instead, a form of Gnosticism. It is pursuing hidden knowledge for knowledge’s sake, with the implicit belief that with enough of this particular knowledge you can improve society.

Yes, I know that my government and many elites want to take away my rights. I know that already, thank you. I don’t need to believe the Orlando shooter was a patsy actor helped by three other secret CIA shooters and covered up by the media that’s in-on-it in order to understand that godless elites want my guns.

The government wants my guns because it’s composed of fallen sinners who want power and who believe they are saviors of mankind. If there were a conspiracy, and this awful deceptive government succeeded in taking our guns because the people fell for a conspiracy that made them fear guns, it would be because the people are fallen sinners, easily herded about by illegitimate and irrational fears.

In the event that any or all of these things is true, then we do not have nearly as big a problem with hidden knowledge and conspiracy as we do with sin, fear, and lack of a positive righteous belief to stand for. We need fewer people highlighting the inconsistencies in news videos and more people preaching Christ and the application of God’s law. That is the only thing that can change the hearts of fearful people and drive the kind of change that stops the bad guys in high places.

Look at it this way: what would you do if you found the ultimate smoking gun, irrefutable proof? What would you do? Who would you go to? Your local news? Your representative in Congress? Your pastor?

Don’t make me laugh.

If the kind of forces and organization exist out there to pull of the grand type of conspiracies you’re talking about, then you can bet that anyone you could go to would be ignored, marginalized, coopted, or murdered with impunity. That’s anyone you could got to, and anyone you could go to.

If the kind of conspiracies exist that so many seem to think, then their continued attempts to expose them are laughably misguided. If the government, CIA, secret occult groups, and all kinds of celebrity and elite leaders are ultimately in on it (in whatever way—even just as useful idiots), then what in the world is the alleged conspiracy-buster doing? He’s watching the conspirators’ media reports, using the conspirators’ internet, posting the conspirators’ videos on the conspirators’ YouTube which is owned by the conspirators’ Google, in hopes that they can get influence with whom? The conspirators in Congress?

If they have had the small bit of grace it takes to give up on Congresspersons already, then they are hoping to use all these tools in order to do what? Influence enough people to reach critical mass and change society? That means they are trying to do the same thing the conspirators have already done far more successfully for a thousand years. That is, they want power like the conspirators want power, only the conspirators have it and are far better at it. Good luck.

In the meantime, what has Christ called us to do? To chase the coattails of conspirators throughout the corridors of history and current events? No. To apply God’s law in our own capacities in all areas of life, and to be faithful in doing so, even unto death.

So, my reaction to nearly any allegations of a conspiracy is the same: of course it could be a conspiracy, but the real problem in society lies with Christians not obeying God’s law in every area of life, and pulpits not preaching and applying it. If that one problem were addressed widely, it would change an awful lot of thing for the better.

But even then there would probably still be conspiracies.

These three things are necessary to understand and to embrace in order to get beyond the paranoia and paralysis induced by conspiracy thinking: 1) God’s sovereignty, 2) the Great Commission, and 3) the fact that conspiracy mongering is Gnosticism.

To this end, I will conclude my comments here with a very helpful and insightful excerpt from Gary North’s Conspiracy: A Biblical View. Read the whole book when you can, but read this much for now to get the core. Then we can talk about a plan going forward.

The Biblical View

The Bible reveals a much longer conspiratorial time frame: a continuing conspiracy against God and His revealed law-order. The faces change, but the issue remains the same: ethics. Money, power, prestige, and influence all flow out of this fundamental issue: Which God should men worship? As the prophet Elijah presented the issue before the people of Israel when they gathered on Mt. Carmel during the reign of Israel’s evil king, Ahab: “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The next sentence is most revealing: “And the people answered him not a word” (I Kings 18:21). They never do, until they see who is going to win the confrontation.

The biblical view of conspiracy neither overestimates the power of conspiracies nor underestimates it. There is one conspiracy, Satan’s, and ultimately it must fail. Satan’s supernatural conspiracy is the conspiracy; all other visible conspiracies are merely outworkings of this supernatural conspiracy. This is the testimony of the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. The Bible’s account of the Tower of Babel records one unsuccessful effort of the conspiracy, and it ended in the defeat of the conspirators. The cross of Calvary is the ultimate example: satanically successful on the surface, but it led within three days to the definitive defeat in principle of Satan and his host. Christ’s resurrection definitively smashed in principle the satanic conspiracy. History since Calvary is simply the outworking of that definitive victory.

The one overarching conspiracy is therefore in principle disunited. “He that is not with me is against me,” Jesus said, “and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad” (Matthew 12:30). This was the conclusion in a line of reasoning which began when the Pharisees criticized Jesus for having exorcised demons. He did it, they argued, by the power of Satan. Jesus knew their thoughts, and He replied: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?” (Matthew 12:25-26).

This is the biblical view of the conspiracy of Satan against God: Satan has power even to exorcise his own followers, the demons, but this very power points to his divided kingdom and his coming defeat. He can divide his own earthly followers, engaging them in endless wars, so great is his hatred of mankind, but he cannot defeat God and God’s covenantally faithful people.

There is a surface unity among the conspirators: unity against the enemy, God. This illusion of unity has confused many Christians and almost all conspiracy theorists. Nevertheless, the conspirators understand each other. They distrust each other, for they know how ready and willing one subgroup is to subvert and overturn the plans of a rival group. When they forget this lesson, they pay the price. Stalin is a good example. Despite continual warnings from his spies and military advisors, he trusted Hitler right up until the day that the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union in June of 1941. From that time on, Stalin’s paranoia increased exponentially (and it had always been high). He never trusted anyone again. Why should he? All those around him were miniature dictators. Like he had always been, they were conspirators. There was no one worth his trust.

Try building a long-term civilization on paranoia. It cannot be done. The power religion eventually collapses. There is no honor among thieves; there is only suspicion. In the long run, conspiracies against God and His law must fail. . . .

The Gnostic Heresy

The ancient gnostics believed that man is saved by secret knowledge. They believed that man needs to be liberated from this world of matter and elevated, through secret initiation and certain ascetic techniques, into the realm of spirit. Certain groups of contemporary “New Age” humanists hold a very similar viewpoint. Unfortunately, there are a lot of Christians and far too many “we must reveal the conspiracy” fanatics who have adopted a variation of this ancient heresy. Their “secret initiation into knowledge about their enemies, whether their enemy is the devil (in the case of Christian investigators) or the conspiracy (in the case of radical conservatives or leftists) serves them as a psychological justification for doing nothing. They think that just knowing more and more about “the Conspiracy” relieves them from doing anything about it. Their endless studying is an excuse for their inactivity. They spend their time with other similarly minded people, enjoying the impotent luxury of exchanging secret phases and knowledge of secret things. They have imitated their enemies; they have created their own inner ring-a secret ring which knows all about their enemy’s secret ring. They become hypnotized with “circles within circles.” Their great spiritual enemy thereby removes them from the real fight.

A continuing theme in this book is that we are not saved by knowledge. We are also not saved by power. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, because He was God’s substitute sacrifice for sinful men. Christ’s victory over Satan and sin is in principle our personal and corporate victory over Satan and sin, in every area of life, including politics. Christianity is the dominion religion. It is not the power religion, nor is it the escape religion.

The first thing to recognize in this cosmic struggle is that those who seek power through manipulation or through execution have in principle lost the battle. They lost it almost 2,000 years ago. They hold power temporarily. Although they are accomplished power manipulators, power is not the issue; ethics is the issue. God and His law are the issue. “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God” (Psalm 20:7). “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels” (Psalm 68: 17a).

Our opponents are not supermen. They are not the masters of history. They are the heads of multinational banks that have more bad loans on their books than they have equity capital. They are the heads of oil companies that face the possibility of an oil glut and a collapse of oil prices. They are the people who gave us Jimmy Carter. They are not so smart. Or better put, they are way too smart for their own good (and ours). In any case, it isn’t a question of brain power; it is a question of ethical standing before God the Judge.

Second, our opponents believe in the power religion. They have become skilled at the capture and retention of power. It is their way of life. Thus, they will not be displaced easily. Reading books about the conspiracy will not displace them. Voting for their hand-picked Presidential candidates every four years will not displace them. We will not be delivered by books or Presidential races. We should not place false hope in programs that are futile, or even self-destructive.

(Gary North, Conspiracy: A Biblical View, 17–19, 95–96.)