My Turn: The danger of conspiracy theories

In 1726, Mary Tofts, a young woman in Surrey, England gave birth to a litter of rabbits. Her case became such a national sensation that a fascinated King George I sent his personal physician to examine her. They were followed by numerous doctors and scientists, some of whom were taken in by the ruse. The fledgling newspaper industry had a raucous field day that boosted their circulation. The merriment ended when Mary’s husband was caught buying baby rabbits at the local market. Although she confessed and was imprisoned for fraud, the ensuing scandal rocked England for the next year and the medical profession was ruthlessly mocked in the press.

Two hundred and forty years later, the playful Beatles spread a rumor that Paul McCartney had been killed in a car accident and replaced by a look-alike double. Their fans could find clues about Paul’s alleged demise in both the song lyrics and album cover visuals. If you played their records backwards, more clues could be gleaned. Even in those pre-internet days, the ploy created a fever pitch of excitement (and sold a lot of records.) “If I were dead, I’d be the last one to know about it” was Sir Paul’s Zen response.

In retrospect, both farces can be seen as a good, harmless diversion. No governments fell, nobody was killed, and the nation was not divided into two warring camps.

Everyone, no matter how intelligent, is susceptible to goofy beliefs. But lately, the fun has become serious and, as we saw on Jan. 6 of this year, dangerous. I was nineteen when we landed men on the moon. As flawed as America was in the 1960s, at least back then we respected science, intelligence and facts. Now Americans are swayed by whatever craziness they read on social media; lies that a smart fourth-grader would scoff at.

The main culprit is of course, QAnon, the far-right, racist, and Jew-hating conspiracy cult whose ludicrous belief system has been widely described so there’s no need to include it here. Suffice it to say that even in my wildest college druggy days (I once tried marijuana but never exhaled) could I have imagined fantasies as bizarre as what this bunch of bozos has concocted. QAnon’s widespread lunacy has caused white Christian evangelicals to flock to it and even the “higher powers” of New Age psychics are “channeling” sections from their credo. They would be easy to dismiss if their followers hadn’t attacked our nation’s Capitol to commit murder and destroy our tradition of democracy.

As nutty as QAnon is, it has been eclipsed by Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga) who, after she leaves office, has a great future as a science fiction writer. Green grabbed the headlines by accusing Jewish bankers of using space lasers to start wildfires in California. She also contributed to the usual conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton, that sex-trafficking alien reptile, who, by latest count, has murdered or enslaved half the human race. The poor woman must be exhausted!

Needless to say, the Republican Party has no problem with Taylor Greene, even when she advocated killing Congressional Democratic leaders. Such compliance demonstrates just how far the GOP has fallen from those long-forgotten days when they included among their ranks, men and women of intellect. It’s wise to remember that Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater and National Review editor, William F. Buckley Jr. once purged the crackpots of the John Birch Society from the conservative movement.

According to the First Amendment of the Constitution, we Americans enjoy Freedom of Speech, which is a blessing in a world where so many are denied that privilege. That privilege, however, entails responsibility, one that goes beyond the proverbial yelling “fire” in a crowded theater. When that speech veers into conspiracy theories that label a murderous pandemic as a hoax; when a sitting president in a democracy refuses to recognize the results of an election by inciting a violent mob to riot, and when such theories endorse the ethnic cleansing of an entire race, then that freedom becomes an excuse for oppression.

During these fretful times, it might be a relief if a young woman claimed to give birth to a litter of rabbits. Then, everyone, whatever their politics, could unite together, engage in a good, relieving belly-laugh and regain a measure of sanity. Until then, anyone who wants to borrow my Jewish Space Laser for their cookout or campfire can give me a ring.

Daniel A. Brown lived in Franklin County for forty-four years and is a frequent contributor to the Recorder. He lives in Taos, New Mexico with his wife, Lisa and dog, Cody.