{"id":2058,"date":"2010-05-02T10:38:11","date_gmt":"2010-05-02T17:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newcoolthang.com\/?p=2058"},"modified":"2020-01-09T04:54:55","modified_gmt":"2020-01-09T11:54:55","slug":"jihadists-the-narrative-conspiracy-theories-and-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newcoolthang.com\/index.php\/2010\/05\/jihadists-the-narrative-conspiracy-theories-and-us\/2058\/","title":{"rendered":"Jihadists, “The Narrative”, Conspiracy Theories, and Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was an interesting segment on 60 Minutes last week titled “Jihadists And ‘The Narrative'”. You can watch it here:
Watch CBS News Videos Online<\/a><\/p>\n

“The Narrative” is the all too pervasive worldview among radical Muslims that says the United States is secretly bent on destroying Islam. Near the end of the segment it became clear that The Narrative relies heavily on conspiracy theories for its support. In this case the radical Muslims are convinced that the CIA was the driving factor behind the September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda attacks on the United States. The logic is that the CIA put Al Qaeda up to the attacks so America would have an excuse to invade Iraq and Afghanistan and to proceed with its secret agenda to destroy Islam. <\/p>\n

Now the motivation for the U.S. to desire to destroy Islam is completely unclear. But the problem with these sorts of twisted conspiracy theories is that no amount of logic or evidence seems to convince true believers that the theory is ludicrous. Any contrary evidence is assumed to be fabricated as part of the conspiracy.<\/p>\n

Humans are prone to this sort of irrationality. We Americans and we Mormons are certainly not immune to the allure of logic-defying conspiracy theories. I spend some time at a BYU sports message board and I’m always shocked at the high number of conspiracy-assuming conservative wingnuts among the ranks of Mormon BYU fans. Here are just a few recent examples:<\/p>\n