Conspiracy


I'm regularly astonished and frustrated by the power that conspiracy theories have in Turkey. This is probably because we are so often at the center of conspiracy theories...

Some of the ridiculous things that people say (and believe) about us:

Christians put $100 bills into Bibles when they give them out. That's why people take them.


The governments of our home countries pay us to undermine the Turkish government.


We sell prostitutes to attract people to the faith.


It seems the more complex and convoluted the theory, the more popular it is. There are complicated and entirely incredible theories floated in books in Turkey that become instant best-sellers.

Most Turks take for granted that the Christians in the fourth century intentionally changed the Bible for political reasons. It doesn't matter that no one has seen any evidence to prove it.

It seems that the most popular scapegoats for outlandish conspiracy theories are the Masons and the Jews. In fact, one popular theory accuses a Mason and Jewish alliance of inventing Darwinism in order to destroy religious faith.

Another popular conspiracy theory claims that Turkey's Islamist government is infiltrated with undercover Jews at the highest levels.

Conspiracy theories have parallels with gnosticism, the first century religious movements that were built on initiating converts with a body of secret knowledge. It's tempting to want to be in the secret circle. With conspiracy theories the impulse is the same. People don't want to be duped. In order to avoid being, feeling, or appearing duped they will espouse a ridiculous conspiracy theory in order to gain a feeling of power. It's as if they are trying to prevent the situation in which they are humiliated for being too naive, not being suspicious enough.

So many people who know me assume that I must have some heinous secret to hide. Why else would I be in Turkey? Visitors come to church looking to get on the secret payroll that the newspapers report about. Even lawmakers refer to Christianity in Turkey as a foreign invasion with hidden political agendas.
How do we get past that suspicion? How do we respond to the accusations in the press? How do we present the gospel in such a way that it is able to meet whatever need people are looking to fulfill with these conspiracy theories?

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