Jikan wrote:I would like to see less ridicule in response to these claims, however. I do not think that scorn or mocking is a helpful response in most cases. What kind of result does it bear? how is it motivated?
Well, I apologize if I offended anyone. But, the problem is, while we can respond to such claims, I'm not sure we can really effectively talk about them - I mean, one usually cannot discuss them with their advocates. Let me explain.
Not only are such views patently, blatantly
wild, to put it euphemistically, but, as Greg points out, dangerous, too - not just deluded and delusive (which in itself is a grave problem, of course), but capable of fostering attitudes that may lead directly to violence, and will certainly lead to trouble. I don't think we can afford to simply ignore them. I mean, I don't mind the reptilians thing per se too much, I could put up with the villifications the guy regularly perpetrates, but there's anti-Semitism there, too, there's the rampant persecution mania that calls for Breivik-style action, etc.
And the crux of the matter is that, in my experience at least, you cannot negotiate conspiracy theories. It's just like with religious cults: people who fall for them will not themselves be persuaded, no matter what - and if you insist, you become one of the enemy. Entering such a discussion means proliferation of further links with similar content, further accusations of our being duped by the Powers that Be and thus becoming effectively their lackeys or secret police, etc. What it results in is that a forum or a blog gets increasingly cluttered with such links and ideas, so that anyone who pays it a visit may easily follow them - and be properly 'inspired'. Which, in case of Icke, is not much better than being inspired by Unabomber or Combat 18 guys.
I may be wrong and much too strict here, perhaps because I've known at least two persons who ended up in mental institutions through walking the New-Age-cum-conspiracy-theory path with the zest that started as simple curiosity. It's difficult for me to leave such doors wide open for others to walk through them. I don't think mods should ban posts with such material unless it involves explicit hate-mongering but I felt other posters should silence it ASAP. Perhaps I'm wrong.
. . . there they saw a rock! But it wasn't a rock . . .