The following text was written by the (sadly underrated) comedian Marc Maron. Copy/pasted from his myspace blog.
You might find it helpful.
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The Religion of Conspiracy: A Partial Transcript of a Performance
I may be a little late on this but someone recently sent me a link to zietgeistmovie.com. They said, "you're going to like this, man. It's going to explain everything." It's one of those movies that debunk large chunks of history through valid research and some conspiratorial revisionism. You know the territory: the Jesus fallacy, the illuminati, Hitler was funded by the Bush family, the Federal Reserve Bank's control of inflation, 911. I tend to avoid this type of thing in my life right now. Not because I have any problem with people who want to do that kind of work. I'm just not in a position right now to dedicate my life to it. Which seems to be what it requires. I don't want to be the brooding guy that enters every conversation saying, "What about World Trade Center 7? Explain that."
Granted the Kennedy Assassination conspiracy buffs really solved that thing. Look what those guys who relentlessly pursued the multi gunman theory have done with the 40 some odd years of work they put in. Thank god we now know the truth.
So, I got sucked into this zeitgeist thing. It might be true it might not be true. Do I care? What's difference between believing in that and believing in Jesus? You act the same as a religious fanatic if you are a conspiracy theorist. You pick a series of unprovable "facts" that become dogmatic tenets and you commit your life to it. If anyone argues with it you say, "Well, I guess you just don't want to open your eyes to the truth. You want to live in darkness. You don't want to see the light." So, how are they any different? You just pick a different dogmatic system that explains the relatively recent killing of a very attractive president and not the killing of a very attractive Jew thousands of years ago.
So, I'm watching the film. I tried to fight it. I'm fighting it now. I used the phrase conspiracy theorist and I don't like that phrase because I know it's a right wing semantic fuck off and it denies them their place but I don't want to be one of them and I know I'm vulnerable to it. I'd rather use 'independent speculative investigator'. They are doing something. It is unclear how important it is now or if it will ever be but they are committing their life to it and certainly there are questions.
The movie starts out by proving, effectively, that Jesus didn't exist. I'm thinking, "Okay, I know that." The eloquently and cinematicaly show It was a myth constructed from Egyptian astrology and several different creation and sun god myths that were popular in the region. It was compelling, well executed, and logical. Then, BAM, planes are flying into the towers. I'm in Jerusalem and now, in a cut, I'm in smoldering downtown Manhattan. As if to say, "Now we've showed you that Jesus is a lie and your mind is open. What about this?"
I've got to say, maybe they're right. I'll give them that. Here's to the 911 Truth Movement, maybe you're right, good for you, good luck with it. God forbid you do something practical like help change legislation so we can all have health care or not have our hard drives infiltrated by the government. No, what you're doing is much more important because the truth needs to come out. Don't worry about re-legislating bankruptcy laws so were not all just two payments, a divorce or an illness away from abject poverty. No, its important to know what happened to WTC 7 because ultimately if we know that then we are winning and all problems will be solved.
The thing that these people never take into mind is if you are going to float in that dimension admit what it is. If you are going to say that Cheney is a lizard, that 911 was an inside job, that the illuminati have been managing the world since the beginning of time, that George Washington wasn't really George Washington he was deist master Adam Weishaupt and there are paintings of him wearing a satanic apron, do it, but know it is your religion. Its mystical, ornate, inconclusive, blinding, you can move history around to fit your liking, it's a belief system. I'll keep it as a hobby. I'll dabble.
If Jesus came back, and that's a long shot, and he spoke to the people of the world and one of the two things he said was, "Oswald worked alone." There would be two slightly skittish independent speculative investigators having a conversation like this"
"What does that guy know? He lives in the sky."
"Yeah, but, he seems to exist. He could've seen the grassy knoll from his viewpoint."
"So, what. Then he's part of the cover up. I've watched the Zapruder film 10, 000 times. Jesus is a patsy."
Then Jesus said, "What about World Trade Center 7?"
"Exactly."
"We've got work to do."
And another generation of smart, motivated, angry, truth seekers are derailed, lost and almost useless to the cause of real progressivism.[/size]
