Conspiracy

Ever since this quarantine started, my social media feeds have filled with endless stories and videos about COVID-19. Such things as:

If you blow your hairdryer up your nose it kills the virus and you can’t get sick.
The virus isn’t really much of a threat—some physicians from Bakersfield say that it’s all a political scheme.
All you need is trust in Jesus, according to a German physician, because that redirects your body’s electricity and fights off germs.
The virus is a conspiracy, a “plandemic” invented for some sinister political reason. Really all you have to do is drink tonic water.
Hospitals that report having COVID-19 cases have none.
COVID-19 is spread by 5G networks.
Dr. Anthony Fauci knew in 2005 that hydroxychloroquine was effective against human coronaviruses.
COVID-19 is part of a dastardly Gates-led plot to vaccinate the world’s population.
Alex Jones says COVID-19 doesn't actually exist.
Alex Jones and Jim Bakker sell colloidal-silver as a COVID-19 cure.
A “deep state” of America’s elite is plotting to undermine the president, and Dr. Anthony Fauci is a secret member.
COVID-19 deaths are highly inflated.
Vitamins and other products that Dr. Mercola sells can cure COVID-19.
It's no worse than the flu.
Flu shots contained COVID-19.
A Papaya tested positive for COVID-19.
COVID-19 was a false flag hysteria to change the outcome of this year's election.
Vaccines and COVID-19 are the biggest lies in history.
Boris Johnson is not in the hospital, or even ill.
…and so many more.

Most of these appear to have a clear political or personal agenda, and are completely debunked elsewhere, although those who repost the conspiracies won’t believe any evidence against them.

If you tell them about the Snopes refutation of the hair dryer cure. They reply that Snopes is a liberal conspiracy. If you show them the science refuting the claims of the Bakersfield doctors: they say you’ve been deceived by the lamestream media. If you show them evidence that Judy Mikovitz is a bonafide nutcase. They say you’re a nutcase if you don’t believe in her.

What’s a sensible person to do? There’s a quote attributed to Mark Twain that says “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they’ve been fooled.” My experience has been that once people make up their minds to believe a hoax or a conspiracy, it is almost impossible to convince them otherwise.

Hoaxes and conspiracies and crackpot ideas generally are a hazard for Christians. Because we accept God’s existence by faith, many assume that anything they believe in must be true.

I have to accept that I'm not going to convince these folks with evidence. There is a story in Matthew 17 about a boy with epilepsy. When Jesus and his followers came back to the crowd, a man came to Jesus and bowed before him. The man said, "Lord, have mercy on my son. He has epilepsy and is suffering very much, because he often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your followers, but they could not cure him." Jesus commanded the demon inside the boy. Then the demon came out, and the boy was healed from that time on.

The followers came to Jesus when he was alone and asked,''Why couldn’t we force the demon out?"

Jesus answered, “Because your faith is too small. I tell you the truth, if your faith is as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. All things will be possible for you. That kind of spirit comes out only if you use prayer and fasting.”

When it comes to refuting conspiracy theories, That spirit can only be changed by prayer.