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Stop spreading garbage online conspiracy theories

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  • Stop spreading garbage online conspiracy theories

    The Propensity for many on this site to accept and cling to unsubstantiated rumor and hate filled garbage floating around the internet is palpable.

    This thread is a plea to those of you whose internal leanings make you inclined to believe and propagate this stuff to please, stop. Unless there is real and solid confirmation from multiple mainstream university research or multiple legitimate journalistic sources, just file it under TBD (To be Determined) and wait before you hurt peoples lives.

    This story was on CNN today, about a woman arbitrarily singled out as a 'source' for COVID 19. Here and in China rabid internet conspiracy junkies are lapping this up and pushing it on to friends and acquaintances, putting this women and her family in danger. She has never tested positive, never experience symptoms, but the same sorts of irresponsible behavior we see here every day has put her life in danger.

    My wife gets stuff like this every day on her facebook feed and some of you bring the same sort of unsubstantiated rumor here and post it as fact.

    Please - just stop.


    https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/27/tech/...ory/index.html
    Last edited by oxmixmudd; 04-27-2020, 07:32 AM.
    My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. James 2:1

    If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not  bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless James 1:26

    This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; James 1:19

  • #2
    Would you care to give us some examples of the hate-filled garbage and unsubstantiated rumours that are being posted here as fact?


    Securely anchored to the Rock amid every storm of trial, testing or tribulation.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by oxmixmudd View Post
      The Propensity for many on this site to accept and cling to unsubstantiated rumor and hate filled garbage floating around the internet is palpable.

      This thread is a plea to those of you whose internal leanings make you inclined to believe and propagate this stuff to please, stop. Unless there is real and solid confirmation from multiple mainstream university research or multiple legitimate journalistic sources, just file it under TBD (To be Determined) and wait before you hurt peoples lives.
      Is this intended to be self-referential irony, or you just being a hypocrite again?
      Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
      But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
      Than a fool in the eyes of God


      From "Fools Gold" by Petra

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by mossrose View Post
        Would you care to give us some examples of the hate-filled garbage and unsubstantiated rumours that are being posted here as fact?
        No

        They come up rather frequently mossross. IT was especially bad during the Blaise Ford scandal, we've seen it somewhat continuously from Mike Whitney. It shows up in the form of breitbart 'articles' from Mountain Man, or almost any time the topic of Global Warming is breached. A lot of it comes in the form of tweets from our President. The dangers of wind turbines I think came up once. I haven't - fortunately - seen the 5G caused COVID-19 to be bad in New York, but hey the day is young. Seems like there have been some sympathetic to the 'Sandy hook is a hoax' garbage? not sure. And most classic is the pages long discussion between MM and myself about the supposed park service/MSM falsification of the Trump inauguration photos - which I think MM still buys into.

        But no, I'm not going to get too much into specifics primarily because the people posting those things have already been confronted with the silliness of them and have simply dug their heels in and just refused to listen to logic, or the actual facts.

        My purpose in starting this thread is to raise the issue directly, rather than indirectly as part of another thread - e.g the sidebar in the evangelical fear thread. It's not just here, it's all over the US, all over the world. And it's not just one ideological subgroup either. And it is a very big problem. Knowledge, research, intelligent analysis of ideas and issues is being replaced with rumors and almost plausible 'theories' based on crazy people's paranoia. It used to sit in back rooms and focus on 'they faked the moon landing', or 'ancient space aliens', or the 'Rockefeller's plan for global domination' etc. But now - because any crazy idea can get real airtime and there are no longer intelligent, well researched filters of bogus information because it used to be expensive to disperse real information to a nationwide or global audience - if an idea tickles someone's paranoia, it is everywhere. And more and more people, even people with college degrees, are allowing themselves to be dragged into it.

        A lot of it comes - I believe - from the extreme polarization we are seeing, and a general sense of wanting the demonize the 'other side'. On the one hand, when we want to think bad things about those we disagree with, it makes it a lot easier to believe things that are a little nuts just because if feeds that hatred and helps reinforce that belief the other side is pure (or almost pure) evil. On the other, if you want to create divides and pull people into your own camp at the expense of national unity (or to destroy some other nations cohesiveness), the internet offers a really good platform.

        Hatred - Paranoia - Fear - feeding an ever growing disinformation extravaganza.

        Yep - its running rampant. Even in Christian circles. And it is growing out of control.
        Last edited by oxmixmudd; 04-27-2020, 09:35 AM.
        My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. James 2:1

        If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not  bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless James 1:26

        This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; James 1:19

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by oxmixmudd View Post
          Hatred - Paranoia - Fear - feeding an ever growing disinformation extravaganza.

          Yep - its running rampant. Even in Christian circles. And it is growing out of control.
          Indeed. Have you see the way some of our brothers and sisters in Christ talk about their President?
          Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
          But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
          Than a fool in the eyes of God


          From "Fools Gold" by Petra

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
            Is this intended to be self-referential irony, or you just being a hypocrite again?
            You can discuss the topic or leave the thread. Your choice. I've mentioned your appellation, but it is with reference to the ideas or sources you've used - not a direct attack on your character. No direct attacks on the character of any person are allowed
            Last edited by oxmixmudd; 04-27-2020, 09:39 AM.
            My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. James 2:1

            If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not  bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless James 1:26

            This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; James 1:19

            Comment


            • #7
              Does that mean I can't talk about Trump, Bernie, and Tulsi Gabbard being Russian assets or Russia-gate?

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                Indeed. Have you see the way some of our brothers and sisters in Christ talk about their President?
                The president is a significant catalyst for or repeater of conspiracy theory of the sort I am discussing, and his base generally latch onto and promote the theories he repeats for foments. That phenomena, along with his supporting media outlets tendency to rebroadcast even more absurd conspiracy theories to support him when his ideas are criticized is, in fact, a large contributor to the growth of the sort of internet conspiracy misinformation I'm talking about, though it is by no means the only source of it.
                Last edited by oxmixmudd; 04-27-2020, 09:47 AM.
                My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. James 2:1

                If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not  bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless James 1:26

                This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; James 1:19

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by seanD View Post
                  Does that mean I can't talk about Trump, Bernie, and Tulsi Gabbard being Russian assets or Russia-gate?
                  You can talk about what you want seanD. But if you want to be part of the solution rather than the problem, then we all need to be sure not to repeat unsubstantiated rumor just because we have some inclination to believe it might be true.
                  My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. James 2:1

                  If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not  bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless James 1:26

                  This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; James 1:19

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by oxmixmudd View Post
                    The president is a significant catalyst for or repeater of conspiracy theory of the sort I am discussing, and his base generally latch onto and promote the theories he repeats for foments. That phenomena, along with his supporting media outlets tendency to rebroadcast even more absurd conspiracy theories to support him when his ideas are criticized is, in fact, a large contributor to the growth of the sort of internet conspiracy misinformation I'm talking about, though it is by no means the only source of it.
                    Translation: "I lack self-awareness, and I'm a hypocrite."



                    For you to pretend that only Trump supporters engage in conspiracy theory mongering ignores all the "Russia Russia Russia!" nonsense folks like you promulgated for three-years, and the "Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine!" nonsense that was thrown around last year. And that's just the tip of the iceberg for you lot.
                    Last edited by Mountain Man; 04-27-2020, 10:00 AM.
                    Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
                    But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
                    Than a fool in the eyes of God


                    From "Fools Gold" by Petra

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by oxmixmudd View Post
                      You can talk about what you want seanD. But if you want to be part of the solution rather than the problem, then we all need to be sure not to repeat unsubstantiated rumor just because we have some inclination to believe it might be true.
                      Conspiracy theories are like the rising sun; everywhere about everything, and there's nothing any of us can do to stop them. What constitutes a conspiracy as a theory is also often subjective. Some are fact, some have a basis in fact but haven't yet been proven, and some are plain absurd. The conspiracy theory that C-19 leaked from a lab hasn't yet been substantiated, so should we stop discussing it? I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill, and I'm sure everyone else in here thinks so too. One nutcase spreads a rumor about someone and you go off the handle about it as usual.

                      Don't bother to kick me out, because I don't see any reason to further post in the thread.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                        Indeed. Have you see the way some of our brothers and sisters in Christ talk about their President?
                        Or towards anyone not in 24/7/365 rage mode against all things Trump?
                        "The man from the yacht thought he was the first to find England; I thought I was the first to find Europe. I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy."
                        GK Chesterton; Orthodoxy

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by oxmixmudd View Post
                          You can discuss the topic or leave the thread. Your choice. I've mentioned your appellation, but it is with reference to the ideas or sources you've used - not a direct attack on your character. No direct attacks on the character of any person are allowed
                          Ironic, since this entire thread is an attack on the character of people you disagree with. What did Jesus say about hypocrisy?
                          "The man from the yacht thought he was the first to find England; I thought I was the first to find Europe. I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy."
                          GK Chesterton; Orthodoxy

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by lilpixieofterror View Post
                            Ironic, since this entire thread is an attack on the character of people you disagree with. What did Jesus say about hypocrisy?
                            ox loves to shine the light on others, but he gets bent out of shape when you pull out a mirror and reflect the light back on him.
                            Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
                            But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
                            Than a fool in the eyes of God


                            From "Fools Gold" by Petra

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                              ox loves to shine the light on others, but he gets bent out of shape when you pull out a mirror and reflect the light back on him.
                              He's a drama queen.

                              Comment

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