Up until a couple of weeks ago I use to believe that most conspiracy theorists were just a bit nutty, and perhaps hostile online towards skeptics and people who debunked conspiracy theories, but were relatively harmless, except for those who are violently mentally disturbed (example: Jared Lee Loughner), and that at the most were more likely to alienate themselves from friends and family then anything else, and thus do more harm to themselves then to others.
I no longer believe this.
The reason I no longer believe this is because of the massive amount of illegal harassment being done by conspiracy theorists towards the parents of the children who died in the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, and towards the heros who's efforts helped saved the lives of many more children.
While the claims made by conspiracy theorists that the attack was staged, or didn't even occur in the first place, wasn't something that fellow skeptics and debunkers like myself were not expecting (in fact, due to the predictability of conspiracy theorists we would have been more surprised if these claims were not made at all) what did surprise us was the sheer amount of slander and harassment (bordering on outright stalking) that has begun to occur.
Because of the actions of some conspiracy theorists in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre I feel that I have been forced to re-examine my view of conspiracy theorists and their behavior, and that view is even more negative then it once was.
It appears that over the last few years as more and more conspiracy theories get debunked, the hostility of conspiracy theorists who continue to hold on to the beliefs continues to rise.
Online threats and even emails towards those who disagree with conspiracy theorists (and don't even try to debunk their claims, just say they don't agree with them and/or don't believe them) have become common place.
Some blogs and vlogs that are dedicated to debunking conspiracy theories are sometimes attacked, and even forced to be taken down by what can only be presumed to be the actions of conspiracy theorists.
Many conspiracy theorists have been purchasing large amounts of weapons for what they very seriously believe will be the coming of the New World Order, in which they will (in their minds) have to fight and defeat.
Now, they are harassing and possibly stalking people who have gone through an extreme trauma, and they do not care that they are causing even more grief and trauma because they don't believe anything happened.
As much as I hate to suggest it, I am seriously starting to believe that we should start sending at the very least the most hostile conspiracy theorists to mental health hospitals, as many of them are appearing to have serious mental health issues that is causing them act out in such and extremely hostile manner towards total strangers, and might cause to to eventually engage in violence.
Man, these conspiracy theorists are heartless! Plus a rock has more to offer than they do. They can't imagine how they would feel if they were assaulted and someone said it was a trick.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I used to be cold-hearted myself until My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic thawed out my frozen heart.