Conspiracy Theories in Congregations: A Pastoral Response
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Ian Hussey
Abstract
Interest in understanding and responding to conspiracy theories has exploded in recent years. This article seeks to engage with a range of scholarship utilizing a practical theological methodology in order to discern an appropriate response. Because conspiracy theories often produce division in congregations, as well as isolate the conspiracists from their faith community, responding in a wise manner is clearly important. This article first surveys some of the theory and research related to the topic and then discusses the connections between religion and conspiracy theories. It then moves to recommend that a “pastoral” response, including a focus on caring and maintaining sense of belonging, is preferred to a rationalist response, aimed at convincing the conspiracists that they are wrong.
Zusammenfassung
Der Aufsatz fragt danach, wie Pastor*innen angemessen mit der stark zunehmenden Präsenz von Verschwörungstheorien in ihren Gemeinden umgehen können. Besonderes Interesse gilt dabei der Gefahr, dass Verschwörungstheorien Gemeinden spalten und ihre Anhänger dadurch von ihrer Glaubensgemeinschaft isolieren. Der Aufsatz empfiehlt einen seelsorglich akzentuierten Umgang mit Verschwörungstheoretiker*innen, der nicht auf die Widerlegung ihrer Überzeugungen sondern auf die Aufrechterhaltung eines Zugehörigkeitsgefühls ausgerichtet ist.
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Editorial
- Children’s Agency in Worship
- Homo pandemicus – homo solitarius
- When a Crisis Empties Mosques: A Case Study of Muslim Responses to the Pandemic’s Challenges in Regards to Spiritual Care and Communal Rituals in Austria and Germany
- Who Is My Neighbour?
- White Supremacy as Counter-Telos: Pastoral Formation in the White Habitus
- Conspiracy Theories in Congregations: A Pastoral Response
- Creativity Unleashed: Building a Practical Theology for Christian Leadership in a World in Flux
- Resonance in a Theopoetics of Practice in Practical Theology
- Research Report
- Climate Violence and Earth Justice: A Research Report on Practical Theology’s Contributions
- Book Reviews
- HyeRan Kim-Cragg, Interdependence: A Postcolonial Feminist Practical Theology (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2018), 171 pp., ISBN 9781532617249, $9.92
- Miller-McLemore, B.J (ed)., The Wiley Blackwell Reader in Practical Theology (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2019), 424pp., ISBN: 978-1-119-40849-9, $38.95
- Jin Young Choi and Joerg Rieger, eds., Faith, Class, & Labor: Intersectional Approaches in a Global Context (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2020), 271 pp., ISBN 9781725257160, $35.00 / £26.00
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Editorial
- Children’s Agency in Worship
- Homo pandemicus – homo solitarius
- When a Crisis Empties Mosques: A Case Study of Muslim Responses to the Pandemic’s Challenges in Regards to Spiritual Care and Communal Rituals in Austria and Germany
- Who Is My Neighbour?
- White Supremacy as Counter-Telos: Pastoral Formation in the White Habitus
- Conspiracy Theories in Congregations: A Pastoral Response
- Creativity Unleashed: Building a Practical Theology for Christian Leadership in a World in Flux
- Resonance in a Theopoetics of Practice in Practical Theology
- Research Report
- Climate Violence and Earth Justice: A Research Report on Practical Theology’s Contributions
- Book Reviews
- HyeRan Kim-Cragg, Interdependence: A Postcolonial Feminist Practical Theology (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2018), 171 pp., ISBN 9781532617249, $9.92
- Miller-McLemore, B.J (ed)., The Wiley Blackwell Reader in Practical Theology (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2019), 424pp., ISBN: 978-1-119-40849-9, $38.95
- Jin Young Choi and Joerg Rieger, eds., Faith, Class, & Labor: Intersectional Approaches in a Global Context (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2020), 271 pp., ISBN 9781725257160, $35.00 / £26.00
