Conspiracy Theories: Difference between revisions

** Not that this excuses the accusations, but it must be remembered that it was a long time before anyone realized that rats were the ones spreading the disease. Bear in mind this all happened hundreds of years before the concept of germs was even presented (and even then, it was a while before anyone believed that germs were real). Ironically, there have been accounts of villages exterminating the ''cat'' population, for their traditional link with witchcraft, an action that certainly couldn't have ''helped'' keep the number of rats down.

* Conspiracy theories about Jews are unfortunately still common. ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' is a particularly famous (and [[Based on a Great Big Lie|fiction-based]]) 19th-century book detailing the supposed [[Evil Plan]] of the Jews and the Freemasons to conquer the world using such evils as Darwinism, socialism, liberalism, Nietzscheism, universal suffrage, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|porn]]. To the conspiracy theorists' credit, many are now blaming other groups, such as [[David Icke|space lizards]] and [[Atheism|Atheists]]. The groups that still blame Jews are almost universally white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and Islamic extremists (and the last group has some very ''[[Pragmatic Villainy|pragmatic]]'' reasons for wanting to eradicate the Jews, rather than reasons based on superstition and prejudice.)

** And even they apparently haven't read ''The Protocols'', as it's a transparent propaganda-piece that hails ''a return to monarchy'' as the only force capable of opposing the [[Strawman Political]] caricatures behind this [[Evil Plan]].

** Some modern conspiracy theorists claim that, while the conspiracy presented in ''The Protocols'' is real, the stuff about it being Jewish-led was put in by Them in order to discredit it and cause it to become associated with outdated, bigoted ideas. It's... kind of strange.

* Others believe that Jews [[The Turner Diaries|control Hollywood and the American media]], and that they use this to spread their propaganda. This includes spreading ethnic stereotypes to undermine nonwhites and generally being evil, which is apparently just what Jewish people do.

** Ironically, the man who popularized the Khazar theory in [[The Seventies]], Arthur Koestler, was an Ashkenazi Jew who was trying to challenge religious anti-Semitism, thinking that it would lose its basis if it were to be proven that the Ashkenazim weren't descended from the "[[Sins of Our Fathers|Christ-killers]]". He had a huge [[Oh Crap]] moment when he saw his theories hijacked by neo-Nazis and radical Islamists to use for ''ethnic'' anti-Semitism.

* Allegedly, the kosher labeling on various foods is to show that the producer had paid a "secret tax" to the Jews in order to support Israel -- and of course, this "tax" gets passed on to the goyim (non-Jews). In reality, the labels simply do exactly what they say -- show that the food was made in accordance with Jewish dietary regulations so that observant Jews can eat it without breaking kashrut. [[Snopes]] took this one on [http://www.snopes.com/racial/business/kosher.asp here].

 

== Media ==