Prophets, Priests and Sacred Texts. Conspiracy Theories have become the Religion of the Internet.
John Cusack, the activist, actor and star of most of your favourite cult classics tweeted that 5G is bad for your health. Cusack is not a doctor, nor a technologist, nor a scientist of any kind but he claimed, in a now deleted, now recanted post, that faster internet will be detrimental to our physical well-being (source: NewYorkPost). He’s not alone. So too do actor Woody Harrelson, boxer Amir Khan, Rapper M.I.A., musician Whiz Khalifa, singer Keri Hilson, celebrity Amanda Holden and Kennedy Robert F.Jr. (Source).
The implication has been that 5G was somehow causing Covid-19. The suggestion is, of course, ridiculous but it has become seductively satisfying to many people around the world desperate to construct explanations for complex, interwoven socio-cultural and environmental changes.
The 5G conspiracy is part of a sprawling web of interlinked contemporary conspiracies including vaccine hesitancy, anti-semitism, techno-mind-control, chemtrails, political paedophile rings, a perfidious deep-state and a militarized corporate complex. It is a cultural gestalt where each component part props up the whole, disguising the frailties of each constituent element. Caused by declining social mobility, compounded by a de-emphasis on education, inflamed for political ambition, validated by corporate greed and facilitated by social media, conspiracy theories have become the religion of the Internet.
Like many religions, conspiracy theories are built around a notion of divine truth, something pure and discoverable only to the most devoted and ardent followers. Hierarchies evolve around the core tenants. These theories, like many religions, require sacrifice from their adherents, often in monetary form. They also insist on absolute faith, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. And of course, excommunication is swift and severe for any who begin to question the sanctity of the cause.
Sacred Texts
That divine truth is often documented and presented as a sacred text. Perhaps the most famous example is disgraced British former doctor Andrew Wakefield’s totally discredited academic paper in 1998 claiming a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. A more recent example is the “Plandemic'' video, a notorious contrivance about Covid-19.
Samuel B. Rowbothams’ 1849 16-page pamphlet Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe, is considered among the first writings to have “proved” earth is flat and is still used as a reference book by the Flat Earth Society.
Another example is David Icke’s 2004 documentary “The Reptilian Agenda”, where he speaks with a Zulu shaman about the existence of a “reptilian extraterrestrial race that has controlled the world for thousands of years” (link).
The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion (1903) is a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. The hoax, which was published in Russia in 1903, has been translated into multiple languages, was taught by the Nazis as curriculum and widely disseminated in the United States by Henry Ford. It has been the basis for many decades of prejudice, racism and persecution, illustrating the influence of these texts as propaganda tools for malevolent forces. Troublingly, an official FBI twitter account recently linked to an PDF version of the text without any explanation or context.
Churches
These ideas have spread rapidly through social media, often finding a home with the most vulnerable, those who most need these mythologies to be true. Some virtual domains on the periphery of the Internet have risen to prominence as ethereal super-churches servicing massive congregations of worshipers.
Chan boards have acted as conspiracy farms for years. These anonymous forums attract extreme virtual-libertarians who often have radically perverse views on society, its systems and institutions. QAnon, the viral anti-deep-state conspiracy theory began on these boards in a post titled “Calm before the Storm”. Q purported to be a high level Whitehouse insider with top secret information of how the president was allegedly fighting off attacks from “DeepState” adversaries, peodophiles, the Clintons and Robert Mueller. According to research undertaken by Civiqs.com 56% of Republicans now believe in QAnon.
Self proclaimed “Front Page of the Internet” Reddit is also fertile ground for conspiracies. It has moderated the wilder backwaters of its website in recent years but subreddits like r/conspiracy (1.2M members), r/conspiracytheories (204K), r/ConspiracyII (22.8K), r/DrainTheSwamp (19k), r/conspiracyundone (13.6K), r/KnowEdge - Knowledge is KE, (485 members) and r/China_Flu_Uncensored, (3.3K) still service large congregations of conspicuous advocates.
Whilst these theories tended to be born and burn brightest on the fringes of the Internet, they have quickly made their way into the mainstream through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, MeWe, Parler and most significantly, YouTube, a place where tens of thousands of hours of sermons are delivered on these theologies every day.
Priests
Those who have established themselves as the priests of this virulent dogma have found significant fame, fortune and influence. Alex Jones is a polemicist who believes that the Sandy Hook massacre of 26 people, including 20 children, was a hoax. His website had 1.6 million daily visits according to the New York Times and it is currently the 15th most famous radio show in America according to YouGov. Jones’ businesses generated in excess of $40m according to the New York Times. Other priests include the aforementioned David Icke, Louis Farrakhan, Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa and Michael Salla, a Ph.D. former lecturer at the Australian National University and author of Exopolitics: Political Implications of the Extraterrestrial Presence (2004).
Lest us not forget the “mods” or moderators of the forums that incubate these ideas. Similar to sacristans, they have substantial power over membership, behaviour and advancement. There also exists a cabal of roaming preachers, not necessarily beholden to one church or another, but directing the masses towards them nonetheless, typically through a podcast or YouTube show.
Podcaster Joe Rogan regularly invites conspiracy theorists, like Alex Jones, on his show (190 million downloads a month).
Prophets
Cusack and other celebrities like him inhabit the role of the prophet. They leverage their fame to reach massive audiences, normalising the conspiracy and absolving the worshippers of any perceived peculiarity in the process. From 9/11 to Chemtrails to Global Warming deniers to AIDS conspiracy theorists to QAnon to Reptile People to Anti Vaxxers to Birthers there is a cabal of celebrity prophets for every conspiracy.
“Technology is not good, nor bad, nor neutral” said historian Melvin Kranzberg, it is the user who determines technology’s aspect. Conspiracies existed long before the Internet as a manifestation of collective scepticism and ignorance. They have, however, evolved to a point where a certain style of conspiracy is now native to the Internet, designed to exhibit a terrifying fluency and virality, reminiscent of the expansion of traditional religions.
Like religions, these new conspiracies are empathetic. They are salves for your worldly problems, explaining away inequities, failures and shortcomings and placing the blame at someone else’s feet in this life, rather than the next. Communities emerge around these ideas. Events, traditions, ceremonies, language and lifestyle become cultural identifiers for these burgeoning digital doctrines. New conspiracies, developed in isolation, quickly fix themselves like an appendage to the engine of contemporary conspiracy theology, growing stronger, even when the logic or evidence for the componentry is feeble.
Conspiracy theories are the denouement of western societies’ economic failings that have led to declining social mobility as well as ever more expensive education and health care. In a rapidly changing world where the working and middle classes live month to month, conspiracy communities will offer solace, affinity and a way to fight the system until such point that the average person, working an average job can afford an average home close to where they work. Can we really blame those who turn their back on a status quo that insists this is too much to ask?