Help regarding conspiracy theories

[sadness99]

Help regarding conspiracy theories

When I was about 9, I feel into the YouTube rabbit hole or Protestant nonsense conspiracy theories. I’m 16 now, and it’s been a couple years seen I’ve seen any of them. However lately the thoughts keep coming back like what if they’re true? What if the Pope is actually antichrist? What if Disney is acty satanic, what if the world is actually flat? What if the Illuminati is real ( I know, I sound like a complete idiot ). Logically, I know it’s wrong but I get these feelings of doubt. It doesn’t help that recently I saw a picture that the Pope’s Audience Hall looks like a snake. I know that it’s most definitely a coincidence ( according to Occam’s Razor ). But what if it isn’t a coincidenc? I mean it’s pretty weird that it looks like a snake on the outside AND inside. Myabe I’m just seeing things, I don’t know. This has seriously been affecting my spiritual life as well as my mental health. I’ve been feeling a lot more I don’t know just dead. Can someone help me? Maybe there are some former conspiracy theorists out there that can help me? All help is appreciated.

 

[Limoncello4021]

Stay FAR AWAY from social media. It is affecting your brain and therefore your spiritual life. Why are you continuing it? Take every thought captive for Christ.

 

[Fauken]

I know that it’s most definitely a coincidence ( according to Occam’s Razor ). But what if it isn’t a coincidenc? I mean it’s pretty weird that it looks like a snake on the outside AND inside.

If I was a closet Satanist, I wouldn’t be making things that blatant. Would you?

Either way, I think this video about conspiracy theories in general made by a historian may prove enlightening. It’s not an exact comparison, but close.

Here’s another video by the same guy about how real conspiracies weren’t unearthed by conspiracy theorists, but evidence.

“I don’t directly refute conspiracy theories because there’s no actual way to do it; they are unverifiable by their very nature. If I bring evidence debunking their position, they simply deny it. You don’t get to deny evidence in [the historical] profession.”

 

[someperson]

Try to think logically. Conspiracy theories don’t have any real evidence, just coincidences. Keep on mind we’re bound to encounter many throughout our lifetime. As for the Pope’s Audience Hall looking like a snake is again just a coincidence but also a camera trick. Think about it, if the Pope is evil wouldn’t he just come out and say it? What does he gain from this weird middle ground?

 

[Veritas6]

What if the Pope is actually antichrist? What if Disney is acty satanic, what if the world is actually flat? What if the Illuminati is real

What’s the evidence for these claims? The papacy was started by Jesus Christ in Matthew 16:18. St. Peter (and his successors) maintains this authority regardless of Protestant objections. I have yet to find any serious argument that discredits Jesus’ commands of St. Peter.

the Pope’s Audience Hall looks like a snake

It looks like a snake, but even if it’s true does it really matter? The problem with conspiracy thinking is it causes anxiety by design because the most outlandish claims are asserted without any evidence.

Look into these claims and seek out the evidence. There is no evidence that Disney is satanic, no scientific evidence that the world is flat (it’s actually impossible), and no evidence of the Illuminati.

Don’t take anything you read, see, or hear at face value, we Catholics are encouraged to research and use our reason - it is God’s gift. Seek relief and comfort through Christ, in Him is the Truth.

 

[Annie]

However lately the thoughts keep coming back like what if they’re true?

Are these intrusive thoughts entering your mind without your consent? If so, you might need to discuss this with your doctor or a counselor.

In the meantime, consider who benefits from your thinking along these lines: God? Or satan? So every time these thoughts enter your mind, just peacefully pray for help, like the Our Father, Hail Mary, and St Michael the Archangel prayer. Pray until the thoughts go away.

You may have to do this several or even many times over the next few weeks. If they go away altogether, different peace-disturbing thoughts may enter your mind, do the same thing for them.

And don’t forget to find a professional to talk to about this stuff.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Think of your favorite saint or holy person. I usually think of people like St. Teresa of Avila, St. Therese of Lisieux, Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen, or St. Maximilian Kolbe.

Now picture what they would say or how they would react if you asked them, “What if the Pope is actually the Antichrist?” I reckon these saints would probably laugh or give me that funny look my husband would get when he read or heard something he thought was completely stupid, and then the saints would tell me to quit watching such garbage, put it out of my head, and let’s go pray.

Remember, you can always ask a saint, someone who lived right on this same earth recently and probably heard all the same kind of conspiriacy gunk. The idea of Illuminati is not a 20th century invention.

 

[AlNg]

what if the world is actually flat?

Then what would be on the other side?

 

[White_Tree]

It doesn’t help that recently I saw a picture that the Pope’s Audience Hall looks like a snake. I know that it’s most definitely a coincidence ( according to Occam’s Razor ). But what if it isn’t a coincidenc? I mean it’s pretty weird that it looks like a snake on the outside AND inside.

The serpent is not an evil symbol.

The first miracle that Moses showed to Pharaoh was turning the Rod of Aaron into a serpent (Exodus 7:10-12). And the Israelites were also cured in the desert by looking upon the bronze serpent that Moses erected on a pole (Numbers 21:8-9). Don’t forget also that Jesus told his disciples to be “wise as serpents” (Matthew 10:16), which he would not have done if serpents were inherently evil.

So serpents can be a very holy religious symbol, and if the pope’s audience hall is shaped as one, that could indicative of holiness, not unholiness. Do not anathematize God by rejecting a symbol that He has chosen to represent His power.

However lately the thoughts keep coming back like what if they’re true? What if the Pope is actually antichrist? What if Disney is acty satanic, what if the world is actually flat? What if the Illuminati is real

Good question. “What if?” Let me point it back at you, phrased slightly differently: So what if they are?

Let’s say, for the sake of argument (and, frankly, for entertainment purposes), that it’s all true. All of it. The lizard people, the fake moon landings, the flat earth, and it’s all being propagated by a secret society that is spreading lies in order to maintain its grip on power and control the world. So what?

Let them have the world. It’s trashed anyways. The air, water, and soil are full of poison. The people who live here are always fighting with each other. It’s full of disease, crime, poverty, and confusion. And climate change is on the verge of transforming the entire planet into an uninhabitable husk.

If they want the world, let them have it.

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). Your only concern needs to be entering His Kingdom, not the nonsense that is going on down here. Do not become identified with this world, lest your attachments to things of the flesh exclude you from the riches of the spirit. As our Lord told us, “Be passersby.”

 

[phil3]

I love conspiracy theories. Dont believe them, but I lover reading and watching videos about them.

I do think about joining the flat early society just to jerk peoples chaings

 

[1ke]

However lately the thoughts keep coming back like what if they’re true?

It is an act of your will to dwell on these thoughts. If they are compulsive thoughts that is different and needs help from a professional.

It doesn’t help that recently I saw a picture that the Pope’s Audience Hall looks like a snake.

What in the world are you talking about??? I’ve been in Pope Paul VI Audience Hall and it looks like no such thing.

Please stop with the nonsense.

Myabe I’m just seeing things

Uh, yeah.

This has seriously been affecting my spiritual life as well as my mental health.

Get a spiritual director and a therapist. At 16 you should not be having such anxiety nor be spending time on conspiracy websites. Tell your parents what is going on with you.

Can someone help me?

Your parents and your pastor are the appropriate people to be engaging.

 

[TheLittleLady]

I just read a good book about conspiracy theories. It was on my libraries app where I could borrow electronically.

It went into why we humans are drawn to theories.

Ron Brotherhood’s “Suspicious Minds”