Conspiracy theories are plentiful of late. These theories come and go each time a culture undergoes significant change. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a conspiracy theory as “a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators.”

The circumstances that set up the possibility of a conspiratorial event are where we struggle with each other no matter on which side of a theory we stand. When an event finally happens, it is hard to argue with reality. In this set-up time leading to the fulfillment or disproving of a theory is where some will resort to shaming others with whom they disagree. This shaming is typically pride or fear-based. Both sides of a theory do it. It is prideful because we think we are somehow more aware or informed than the people who believe differently from us. Someone’s shaming can also be a fear-based response masking itself as a dismissal of a theory’s dark outcome.

The strange thing about conspiracy theories is that not all of them are false. Sometimes they are truth masked in what appears to be ridiculousness or impossibility. On other occasions, they result from too many people believing everything that floats in front of their eyes in a Google search. Until a theory is proven to be accurate or an illusion, we need to be wise and not too quick to dismiss their possibility or join all-in with their yet to be verified reality. Many of the prophets who predicted future events were written off as social quacks. I can only imagine the shaming comments they endured until God showed up in power to affirm their prophetic insight.

A verse that comes to mind with repeated frequency is James 1:19, “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” I am trying to live out each of the three admonitions in that verse, especially the last one.