I’ve been reading about the Thomas Chantry trial at Thou Art the Man, and the shameful cover-ups of his abuse of young boys. Such a similar story to so many others, so many broken lives, so many years, so much harm, so much evil behavior from those who claim to represent Christ.
Judge Astrowsky (L) & Thomas Chantry (R)
That, and an unrelated conversation I had yesterday, got me thinking again about conspiracies. And since I’m a stickler for defining words, it seemed like it was time to say something about it here.
So here goes . . .
A conspiracy is NOT a loony notion that a mysterious “they” is out to get us.
A conspiracy IS a secret agreement (either with or without words) agreed upon by two or more people, to carry out acts illegal and/or immoral, for the purpose of retaining or amassing money, power, pleasure, and/or influence. Anyone who knowingly participates in the conspiracy, even if they don’t amass money or power (for example, participating out of fear or taking advantage of a prostituted child) is also complicit in the conspiracy.
In the article, Rebecca Davis gives several Bible narratives of conspiracies.
She then goes on to say that many victims of abuse have confided to her about their experiences of abuse…and when they confide, they are often expecting to be disbelieved and derided as “conspiracy theorists”.
Rebecca lays out what she typically says to those victims:
I want to make sure you understand that there really are conspiracies.
There have been conspiracies throughout history and around the world. Probably influential individuals in every government on earth engage in conspiracies. And what’s more (and what’s been hard for me to wrap my head around in the past ten years or so), is that many, many church and parachurch leaders and their supporters engage in conspiracies, as money, power, reputation, and pleasure have become more important to them than the Lord Jesus Christ.
And – a note from Barb Roberts – please encourage Rebecca by writing a comment at her post, liking her post, and signing up to follow her blog Here’s The Joy.
***
ACFJ is partially reblogging Rebecca Davis’s post with her permission — thank you Rebecca!
Rebecca Davis has also written books for children and teenagers, including a series of six books of true missionary stories, a series of Christian biographies, and two devotional books, all of which can all be seen at Hidden Heroes Missionary Stories.
3 thoughts on “On conspiracies & conspiracy theorists – by Rebecca Davis”
Thank you for posting this!
You’re welcome, AppleofHisEye. 🙂
Thank you so much Barbara! I signed up for her newsletter (friends, it’s excellent!) and read the entire article. I highly recommend it, and I also need to read it again.
This topic is near and dear to my heart, not only because of the church and abuse tie-in, but because it ties in with so much else going on today in this fallen world we inhabit. We Christians need to see clearly and recognize evil whenever we encounter it. I think if I had seen more clearly, I would not have married a covert abuser. I did avoid one that was a bit more obvious, but I didn’t recognize the other who was so much more sneaky.
Far too many of us have been duped and deceived by the Christian teaching in our own families and churches that really believe evil happens to someone else, it’s out there, far away. I was taught that; it’s not here, it’s out there. That’s a lie, as we now know, no matter what we have been taught. That lie shattered my home church about 30 years ago, and it’s not back even yet, though it is being slowly rebuilt. It has shattered marriages and families as well, mine included.
I think the greatest conspiracy is satan’s evil, in the form of every lie ever told or devised. There are countless lies, told by numerous people, all part of satan’s conspiracy of evil deception; his whispering in our ears, as it were. Am I finally getting a clue, or am I still a bit off-base? Nevertheless, God is Great and Jesus is Lord, and I breathe because of Him.
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A Cry For Justice 
Thank you for posting this!
You’re welcome, AppleofHisEye. 🙂
Thank you so much Barbara! I signed up for her newsletter (friends, it’s excellent!) and read the entire article. I highly recommend it, and I also need to read it again.
This topic is near and dear to my heart, not only because of the church and abuse tie-in, but because it ties in with so much else going on today in this fallen world we inhabit. We Christians need to see clearly and recognize evil whenever we encounter it. I think if I had seen more clearly, I would not have married a covert abuser. I did avoid one that was a bit more obvious, but I didn’t recognize the other who was so much more sneaky.
Far too many of us have been duped and deceived by the Christian teaching in our own families and churches that really believe evil happens to someone else, it’s out there, far away. I was taught that; it’s not here, it’s out there. That’s a lie, as we now know, no matter what we have been taught. That lie shattered my home church about 30 years ago, and it’s not back even yet, though it is being slowly rebuilt. It has shattered marriages and families as well, mine included.
I think the greatest conspiracy is satan’s evil, in the form of every lie ever told or devised. There are countless lies, told by numerous people, all part of satan’s conspiracy of evil deception; his whispering in our ears, as it were. Am I finally getting a clue, or am I still a bit off-base? Nevertheless, God is Great and Jesus is Lord, and I breathe because of Him.