Religious participation in conspiracy theories has received increased attention in both scholarship and public discourse lately. As a result, a number of key questions have emerged: Why are some worldviews described as conspiratorial when others are seen as rational, or at least unthreatening? Are conspiracy theories in the body politic a problem to be solved as well as a phenomenon to be understood? What are the material, social, intellectual, and class conditions under which conspiracy theories arise and are transformed? How can religious studies understand and influence public invocations of terms like “conspiracy,” “cult,” etc.? This panel discussion will examine these and other questions in light of what many argue is a recent intensification of the connection between religion and conspiracy theories, particularly in the United States. Join humanities and social science scholars for a conversation at the intersection of religion, the state, and conspiracy.
Author
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary Institution Type
Video Resource Type
Intro, Undergraduate Course Class Type
2022 Date Published
Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, History, Political Science, Sociology Discipline
Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant Religous Tradition
Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment Topics