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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Just what is it that we don't know?,
By Alfhild Anda (Bar Harbor, Maine United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Secrets, Plots & Hidden Agendas: What You Don't Know about Conspiracy Theories (Paperback)
If you're looking for ammunition to disprove popular conspiracy theories this is not the book you need. This book is primarily concerned with Christian conspiracy theories based on speculation concerning Biblical end-time prophecies. The author, apparently himself a devout Christian, comes out squarely against these theories, feeling they create much fear and hopelessness among believers and are therefore contrary to the teachings of Christ, if not his apostles. As for the more generally known conspiracy theories such as the JFK assassination cover-up, the McVeigh as fall guy for a larger plot, the massacre at Waco, he says very little to put the issue to rest except to list these theories along with a group of other theories which he thinks very little of and therefore dismisses. He does uncover a few facts I was unfamiliar with. For example, Janet Reno was moved to okay the Waco attack out of an extreme concern for the children allegedly abused by Koresh. Why it was better for them to be dead is not part of his treatise. Altogether, the book was disappointing to me because I expected a worthy rebuttal of theories which have been bothering us for so long. Instead, I learned a few interesting tidbits about how various Christian groups or sects have interpreted the apocalyptic messages of the Bible.
16 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Shooting Jewish children in 1999!,
By
This review is from: Secrets, Plots & Hidden Agendas: What You Don't Know about Conspiracy Theories (Paperback)
This is not a book on conspiracy theories in general. Rather, it focuses almost exclusively on variations of a particular type of religiously-driven conspiracy theory, that type formed by a far right segment of Protestant fundamentalism, those Christians who are overconcerned with end-times apocalyptic tribulation predictions which they believe may occur within the decade. While certainly critical of people who believe and promote these conspiracy theories (e.g., Pat Robertson, Bill Gothard, and especially Hal Lindsey), author Coughlin is surprisingly fair to them. He persuades his readers that most of these people, excepting the hard-core militia-type disciples, are decent Christians who have been persuaded by charismatic conspiracy theorists into blaming specific groups (the CIA, United Nations, the democrats, the Masons, the "Jew-controlled" media, etc.) for the world's problems (inflation, Ruby Ridge, the Oklahoma City bombing, Waco, a New World Order, Y2K, etc.). Coughlin argues that we must acknowledge "that the Christian conspiracy community harbors legitimate concerns" (191). Not everything they say is stupid, or even wrong (199). Occasionally, their explanations have an element of truth. A weakness of this book is that its documentation consists mostly of secondary (even tertiary) sources, rather than primary sources. This author did not always do his own homework. He is a journalist/reporter type, not a scholar/academician. Still, I found the book helpful and worth reading. On August 11, the day after I finished the book, the national headline news was focused on Buford Furrow, the white supremacist who had allegedly just shot five people at a Jewish community center in Los Angeles. Furrow was clearly caught up in the very conspiracy theories described in this book. It underscored for me that Coughlin's thesis has something to teach us today. Conspiracy theories are serious business, indeed.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dated, but surprisingly up to date,
By
This review is from: Secrets, Plots & Hidden Agendas: What You Don't Know about Conspiracy Theories (Paperback)
At the time of writing this book, Paul Coughlin had been a freelance writer for the MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, among other things. He also hosted a call-in radio talk show called THE PAUL THOMAS SHOW on station KDOV in Oregon. This book was written in 1999 (hard to believe that it's over 10 years ago). A lot of the examples he gives (such as Ruby Ridge and the Freemen) are not fresh in our minds any more. However, he still gives a lot of useful information about conspiracy theories in general and Christian theories in particular, and the misuse of end-times prophecy to justify highly questionable if not downright ugly actions.
He has written this book for Christian readers, but others can enjoy the book, too. He covers a lot of topics, but mostly he tries to set conspiracy theories in proper perspective. He says that we need to take what we hear the conspiracy theorists saying seriously - because what we hear may not be as true as we think it is. Perhaps my favorite is Chapter 5: "Old Lies on Life Support - The Jewish Conspiracy" - and lays to rest a lot of misconceptions on this subject. Some of the information in this chapter made my blood run cold. Most chilling is how some Christian conspiracy theorists either unintentionally or unknowingly use ideas that come from anti-Semitic sources, even when the theorist him/herself may not be anti-Semitic! He skillfully threads through the supposed Jewish connection to the Illuminati, New World Order and other of its ilk and gives good, solid answers. I especially appreciated this chapter. Several weeks ago I received a catalog in the mail with titles that would appear to appeal to conspiracy theorists and my heart dropped into my shoes when I saw that they were also selling the PROTOCOLS OF THE LEARNED ELDERS OF ZION, an openly anti-Jewish book. Fortunately, Paul Coughlin does an excellent job in exposing its origins and making a good case for rejecting it. For my own part, I placed my catalog (after tearing it up) into the trash container of a nearby restaurant after almost losing my appetite over some of the books it was selling. Among others, he covers the "Illuminati" and "New World Order" theories and refutes them well. This book worth reading and I hope that someone else will come out with a more updated version of it, because the topics Paul Coughlin discusses are still issues today.
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