Php 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Romans 13:1-7 — rulers are of God.
1Peter 2:13-17 – honor the king

April 10, 2008 Adventist Review editor Bill Knott writes in regards to a rumor circulated by a SDA pastor with a ministry in Virginia that secret meetings had taken place between Vatican and White House and Congress representatives, and that a Sunday Law would formally be signed into law when the pope would visit in April 2008:
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The Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Department of the General Conference has been “flooded” with calls and e-mails about these claims and has spent dozens of hours patiently investigating–and rebutting—the unfounded assertions of this conspiracy theory.

The alleged November gathering never occurred. “We checked every specific claim that accompanied this rumor and every one of them proved false,” writes attorney James Standish, director of legislative affairs for the General Conference, in a widely distributed letter. “The meeting did not occur at the site claimed, and the high-profile individuals who allegedly attended the meeting are documented to be in other locations at the time.”

“There has been no Sunday law bill introduced in the subsequent four months [since the alleged November conclave] and our research has turned up no evidence that would tend to corroborate the rumor,” Standish continues. “The person who is the source of the current claim also circulated another Sunday law claim approximately seven years ago. Once again, we vigorously researched the elements that could be verified and found each one to be inaccurate. In the seven years since that claim, no Sunday law has been introduced in Congress.”

The truly tragic aspect to the circulation of these conspiracy theories is that they reveal how successful uninformed and misguided persons can be in quickly creating a climate of fear and mistrust among thousands of believers. To treat such rumors as credible, a person must also conclude that the leaders of the church in both the North American Division and the General Conference—the offices for which are located less than 14 miles from the White House—are ignorant of events occurring in their very backyard, lulled into a fatal sense of end-time complacency, or worst of all, somehow in league with the enemies of religious freedom.

Such attitudes toward the church’s elected leaders are repugnant, and hold up to contempt the men and women whose wisdom, experience, and character are every day being used by the Lord Jesus to advance His cause in this world.
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While i don’t believe just everything written in the Review, i do wholeheartedly agree with the conclusions stated here, that quickly fear and mistrust can be inculcated in people, and that these conspiracies make us view our church leaders with contempt.

The “mother lode” of current conspiracy theories is that somehow the American govt. was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. This should be reprehensible to all citizens of this country, unless of course, it can be proved that there is actual complicity involved. But what are the charges? They are supposed video footage, supposed ways on how buildings should or shouldn’t catch fire, supposed ways on how buildings should or shouldn’t collapse – all pure speculation.

On Sep. 23rd, 2010, The US delegation to the United Nations walked out of a “conspiracy theory” speech:
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UNITED NATIONS – The U.S. delegation walked out of the U.N. speech of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday after he said some in the world have speculated that Americans were behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks, staged in an attempt to assure Israel’s survival.

He did not explain the logic of that statement that was made as he attacked the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ahmadinejad has called for the destruction of Israel and is deeply at odds with the United States and European allies over its nuclear program and suspicions that it is designed to produce an atomic bomb. Iran says it is only working on technology for electricity generation.

The U.S. delegation left the hall after Ahmadinejad said there were three theories about the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks:

1. That “powerful and complex terrorist group” penetrated U.S. intelligence and defenses.

2. “That some segments within the U.S. government orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining American economy and its grips on the Middle East in order also to save the Zionist regime. The majority of the American people as well as other nations and politicians agree with this view.”

The Americans stood and walked out without listening to the third theory, that the attack was the work of “a terrorist group but the American government supported and took advantage of the situation.”

Mark Kornblau, spokesman of the U.S. Mission to the world body, issued a statement within moments of Ahmadinejad’s attack.

“Rather than representing the aspirations and goodwill of the Iranian people,” he said, “Mr. Ahmadinejad has yet again chosen to spout vile conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic slurs that are as abhorrent and delusional as they are predictable.”
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This is what normal, intelligent, God-fearing people should do – not listen to conspiracy nonsense that has no basis in fact and pours contempt on the govt. which has God has set up.

I too used to believe in conspiracy theories from around 88-92. There were cool stories of ufos landing in Utah, of black helicopters from the UN scouting out America to take control over us, of secret concentration camps being built by the US govt., of new money that was being printed for the US in Australia etc. etc. Yes, there is a little bit of truth in at least some of these things, but thank God, when one SDA conspiracy theorist finally said it was time to buy guns and run for the hills, God led me to ditch it all. And just in time, as the Waco incident was soon after, and while i could see that the govt. did make some mistakes in handling that, it was not some huge conspiracy thing.

God helped me to see some of the fruits of reading and believing these conspiracy theories in my own life — 1. distrust of authority figures 2. secrecy 3. apathy because everything is controlled by the “elite” so i can’t do anything about it anyway. 4. a desire for “forbidden knowledge” 5. A tendency to blindly believe those who “tickle” your ears, and reject all others. 6. the worst of all – pride – because i know something most other people don’t, so they are stupid sheeple.

Are these the fruits of the Spirit? Where’s the love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, and faith? Am i becoming more like the Jesus i see in the Bible, or further away from him for believing these theories?

When we were introduced to the “7 Fat Years” interpretation of the Bible, did we really sit down and study like a good Berean should? Did we find out that nothing happened on Sep. 11, 2001 to signal a start of “fat” years? Did we find that nothing happened exactly 7 years later to signal its end? Did we go into detail about whether that event even has an end-time application, and is that application physical or spiritual? If we follow the whole event and what happened before and after, are we supposed to interpret it to mean that we will be in this world at least 400 more years before Christ delivers us? Where is the deep, long hours of study together like our forefathers did to see if these things are so? If we just take someone else’s word for our Bible interpretations, will we have the strength needed to stand in the Time of Trouble?

Now that we know that this past September was the best for the stock market in 71 years, what are we supposed to make of this? Of course it is possible that there will be a huge economic collapse starting today, only God knows the future, but obviously the 7 Lean Years’ interpretation with September as the time linchpin needs to be studied over, or rejected.

What are two things mentioned that led to Satan’s downfall? – pride and a desire to look into the unsearchable wisdom of God. The 1858 Great Controversy says: “Satan and his affected ones, who were striving to reform the government of God, wished to look into his unsearchable wisdom to ascertain his purpose in exalting Jesus, and endowing him with such unlimited power and command. ” Here is where the very first conspiracy theory was born!

What did God say thru his chosen servant – Ellen White? 1888 Materials:
They (God’s servants) unsettle minds in the truth by entering upon speculative theories, which draw them away from the truth. They help to forge the fetters of doubt and unbelief, fault-finding, and accusing; and souls stumble over them to perdition. The blood of souls will be upon those who, while they profess to be in the service of God, are doing the work of His enemy.

The Southern Missionary 03-01-1904:
Let them (God’s people) discard the cheap, foolish ideas which arise from curiosity, which Satan places in minds to lead to spiritual adultery.

This is the unsolicited testimony from a Brother Shaw, received several years ago:
The Lord has shown me what is wrong with the way we have attempted to work for Him in the past…The whole bulk of our ministry has been using the New World Order and the Jesuits, etc…to try to wake people up, to try to show them their need of Christ, etc…and friends we have watched the fruits of this kind of ministry over the past 4-5 years. Literally there has been no fruits….None among the souls we have shared this type of message with and none among ourselves–those whose ministry is based upon this consumed approach of evangelism. And let me tell you, there has not been much fruit! This Ministry is NOT ordained of Christ and is not following after His method of reaching the lost! This kind of Ministry has NOT helped my family nor has it helped others make fully surrendered choices for Jesus Christ. This type of ministry has not helped us overcome sin, prepare Christian characters, nor has it helped us learn to truly love one another. The devil is using these issues(jesuits, NWO) WHICH ARE TRUE to lead Adventists away from the message we have to give which is the Righteousness of Christ in the context of the Three Angels Messages…The message the Lord sent us in 1888…through Sister White, Jones and Waggoner…and it seems to me that the majority of the so-called Adventist Independent Ministries have swallowed it hook line and sinker….They are to busy condemning the GC, this church or that church, everyone and everything under the sun and that mind set and that character will not be ready to meet Jesus when He comes…I have spent tons and tons of hours over the past 4-5 years reading and pouring over anti-catholic material and Jesuit Conspiracy books, etc…all in attempt to show people from History all these terrible things that Rome has done. However, not only have I wasted a lot of the Lords money, I have wasted a lot of personal preparation time for allowing the Lord to teach me from His Word and allow Him to Perfect my Character and prepare to meet Jesus.
We have little by little been selling many of these books that we have collected over the years and we will be selling most of them…..these are not the kind of books we need to keep in our library to be feasting upon….we know this evil is in the world and we know what this evil has done, is doing and will do….enough information is in the Great Controversy Book to deal with all of that….that is all the information the people need to know about this. They need to know Jesus Christ, not about the Jesuits, NWO, Black Pope, etc…Jesus Christ and His love for them! The gift of God’s Son. That is what changed my life and that is the only thing that can change another’s!
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Please notice that i understand that we, as Seventh-day Adventists, spread the message that there will be a Sunday law enacted at the end times. Some people in the world may call this a “conspiracy theory”. But the difference is, is that this is fully supported from the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, whereas the conspiracy theories i’m talking about here are of the speculative, secretive, variety that usually have to do with interpreting current events – something we are definitely NOT supposed to do, as inspired word tells us how we will actually close doors to witness to the people for believing these speculative theories:
1888 Messages:
Let none feel it his duty to make speeches in the presence of our own people, or of our enemies, that will arouse their combativeness and they take your words and construe them in such a way that you are charged with being rebellious to the government, for this will close the door of access to the people.

The Southern Missionary 03-01-1904:
They (God’s people) are to purify themselves even as Christ is pure. When they understand fully the meaning of the prayer recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John, they will be so closely united with Christ that there will be no place in their minds for the speculative theories that spring out of nothingness and end in nothingness.