An Argument against Christian Conspiracy Theories

Preamble

I intend to argue that Christian Conspiracy Theories fail to run the gauntlet of scripture.  Specifically, I will use Ephesians 6:10-20 (especially 6:12) to severely cast doubt on the belief that there is a human cabal that manipulates world events to advance a (satanic) agenda.


Two Alternatives

There are two basic alternatives, the first I endorse and the second I will argue against:

1. Satan and his spiritual minions (demons etc.) conspire directly to influence world events by using the disobedience (greed, pride etc.) of individuals.  The intelligence for this manipulation remains with Satan.  Human actors need not be privy to Satan's strategies and schemes.
2. Satan and his minions use a secret human Cabal to influence world events.

The Cabal

Most conspiracy theories (not just Christian ones) posit a human Cabal that manipulates events.  The relationship between Satan and this Cabal takes two basic forms, with the second form also coming in two forms:

1. The Cabal is conscious of Satanic influence, that is, the Cabal are Satan worshipers who get their strategies directly from Satan.
2. The Cabal is merely influenced by Satan without necessarily being conscious of his schemes.

• 2a) Satan assembled the Cabal (without their conscious knowledge).
• 2b) Satan just uses an existing Cabal to accomplish his plans.

Problems with the Cabal from Satan's perspective

Relying on the Cabal is dangerous for Satan.  Investing his strategy with humans runs risks:

• Humans may repent and turn to God and bring down the Cabal (destruction from within)
• The Cabal may experience a leak and be discovered (destruction from without)
• It very hard to set up a Cabal.  Actual Satan worshipers in the case of (1) are very rare, so not only does Satan need powerful humans but he needs them to be Satanists.  In the case of (2a), it might be rather difficult to orchestrate the formation of a Cabal with the requisite power to manipulate world events.  In the case of (2b), there are no guarantees that Satan will find a suitable ready-made Cabal to do his dirty work.

The alternative I endorse does not face any of these difficulties because Satan does not need a Cabal, he just influences individuals directly through the run-of-the-mill sins of greed, pride etc.  The retort to this from the conspiracy side is that Satan is not intelligent enough to influence world events merely through individual disobedience.  That proposition is difficult to prove, furthermore, the testimony of scripture is clear that Satan is constantly at work in, or at least a threat to, the lives of individuals:

• Peter (Mk 8:31-33)
• Judas (Lk 22:3, Jn 13:27)
• Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:3)
• See also Eph. 2:2, 4:27, 6:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:25; 1 Cor. 7:5; 2 Cor. 2:11, 11:15

Problems with the Cabal from the the Christian conspiracy theorist's perspective

• Many Christian conspiracies posit a Cabal to explain how something like the one world government or new world order is to come about.  But scripture attests that Satan already has world power:
• God of this age 2 Cor. 4:4
• Prince of the Power of the Air Eph. 2:2
• Prince of this world Jn. 12:31, 14:30, 16:11
• Implied in Mt. 4:8,9
• There are too many candidates for the Cabal: Masons, Zionist Jews, Illuminati, Bilderbergers, CFRers, Skull and Bones, Templar Knights, Opus Dei, Priory of Sion, Rosicrucians, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Ordo Templis Orientis etc.  If a Cabal is discovered how do we know it is the top dog and not a low-rung group.  Perhaps our discovered Cabal is only a plant that is meant to throw one off the scent.  This proves that the existence of the Cabal is really worthless from a Christian perspective because we would never know if we had the real thing.
• It's hard to prove the existence of the Cabal for by definition it is super secret.  If there is evidence for the existence of a Cabal then theorists must be fair and admit evidence when it goes against the existence of a Cabal.  Conspiracy theorists are notorious for not adhering to this principle.  On this score, my alternative is much simpler.  Most of the phenomena that the Cabal is meant to explain is more simply explained just using greed and pride etc.  Why are Hollywood movies they way they are?  Because being the way they are makes someone money.
• The Christian belief in the Cabal just mimics non-Christian conspiracy thinking which is dangerous considering the anti-Semitism of many non-Christian conspiracies.  Of course, this doesn't prove that there are not Cabals but it does remind Christians that Conspiracy Theories do not have a Christian origin.  Non-Christian conspiracies have to postulate the Cabal since they don't have recourse to Satan, though even here some alien/reptilian theories come very close if not identical to the demonic. 
• Conspiracies, especially of the (2b) type, tend to slide into the belief that Satan just uses individuals because it is a small step from merely influencing a ready-made Cabal to influencing mere individuals.  Taking the intelligence out of the Cabal is a huge step away from your standard Conspiracy.
• Conspiracies are distracting.  They concentrate on the kingdom of Satan at the expense of the Kingdom of God.  
• Many Conspiracies rely on a faulty interpretation of Revelation but that is another blog!  

Ephesians 6:12

One of the biggest strikes against the Cabal is the teaching that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against Satan and his minions.  So even if there is a Cabal, who cares?  From a Christian perspective that is not the heart of our struggle.  This also goes to show that conspiracy theorists tend to be rather judgmental and unloving and suspicious of behavior that may otherwise be righteous.  

What Conspiracy Theorists get right

The one thing Christian conspiracy theorists get right is being suspicious of power that other Christians may not recognize as satanic.  

Theological Upshot

Conspiracy Theories add next to nothing to the Kingdom of God.  They are worthless.