Take the case of David Icke. He used to be a BBC Sports Reporter. Then in 1990, a “Psychic” in Brighton revealed to Dave that he had a far more significant, cosmic role – he had been sent to heal the earth. Well, I imagine that must have been a bit surprising. Presumably most of us would nod politely, mutter something like “Gee whizz, thanks very much” and try not to snigger. Not Mr Icke.
Since his Brighton revelation he has applied himself to his new role with great enthusiasm and vigour. Apparently a great number of quite sensible people believe him too. He believes the Queen is an alien reptile, or at least descended from one. Well, perhaps he’s just a frustrated republican but I’m not so sure. He would have us believe we are all ruled by these secret reptilian humanoids that form a global brotherhood. I’m not sure if Mr Ahmadinejad is one of them but George W Bush is, along with a selection of other world leaders and a predictable cast of the likes of the Rockefellers, the Rothschild’s, the United Nations, the IMF - you can probably fill in the blanks. Its recycled conspiracy theory, writ large and aimed at the normal suspects and easy targets. The problem is it’s simply ridiculous if you think about it, but why do people believe it?
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Take Mormonism. The US Republican primaries are currently being run and the leading candidate to oppose President Obama (not sure if Mr Icke believes him to be an alien reptile but I expect it’s quite possible) is one Mitt Romney. He is a Mormon; in fact he was a Mormon Bishop. Mormonism was founded by a man called Joseph Smith (known more correctly now as Prophet Smith) in 1830, who believed God sent him visions (ok, not the first to suffer from that quaint delusion). Mormons are rather strange. They have to wear special underwear; worship an angel called Moroni and believe Jesus visited North America after his resurrection. They also believe a whole host of other weird things, most of which are contained in the “Book of Mormon”. This book is based upon some “gold plates” Prophet Smith found under a rock on a small hill in Ontario County, New York State in the late 1820s, so the tale goes (conveniently the plates are now “lost”).
It’s all a rather tangled story, however, for what it’s worth it’s a great example of people believing the completely implausible; These gold plates were supposedly written in an ancient Egyptian like language and Joseph Smith was only able to decipher them by burying his head in his hat, at the bottom of which he had placed a “magic” stone. Hmmm.
But it becomes even more incredulous. This was the second draft of the Gold Plates. Smith’s neighbour lost the first draft (he wanted to show it to his wife), which Smith had interpreted that time with the help of some holy spectacles given to him by Angel Moroni. If Moroni had access to spectacles, presumably he could have produced a copy of the gold plates in an easy to read format instead of putting Joseph through all this. However, titter ye not, for Mormons all this is a fundamental article of their faith. Several million people believe this totally and without question. They “know” it’s the Lord’s truth.
If Romney wins the election in 2012, then he will, amongst other things, have his finger on the proverbial nuclear button. Now, it may be that he’d be no more likely to push it than any of the other (admittedly rather worrying) candidates currently eying the presidency. However, unlike the others, he believes all this stuff along with millions of other Mormons. What if he decides to start getting revelations from God? We’ve just had one president who thought God told him to invade Iraq.
His election would also make a Mormon the most powerful man in the world – but would that be Mr Romney or the President of the Mormon Church, the most powerful figure in Mormonism. For some, Romney’s election will be heralded as the much anticipated arrival of “The One mighty and strong” which is hardly a comforting thought. So, if you ever needed a reason to vote for Obama…
All well and good, you might think, clearly it’s ridiculous. But is it any more ridiculous than any other beliefs out there. And why are our modern day religious beliefs any more likely to be true than ancient ones. No one believes in the religions of the ancient world anymore. For instance, if you said in all seriousness that you worshiped the gods of ancient Egypt, people would be incredulous and quite rightly think you mad. The ancient Egyptians had a god (Osiris, aka the Risen Osiris) who was murdered but subsequently brought back to life for a brief time (heard that one before). Of course, no one has believed that particular religion for over 2000 years. Another took its place….
Why do people believe all this stuff?
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