I would really rather that these were actual examples, and not conspiracy theories. We all have our own unsubstantiated ideas about what shadowy no-gooders are doing, but I’d rather hear about things that are actually happening.
I would really rather that these were actual examples, and not conspiracy theories. We all have our own unsubstantiated ideas about what shadowy no-gooders are doing, but I’d rather hear about things that are actually happening.
Off the top of my head:
https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled
https://www.earthday.org/plastic-recycling-is-a-lie/
-Anything involving babies and incubators is immediately suspect. (Or babies and bayonets, for that matter).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayirah_testimony
-And this one is pure conspiracy, and I know it’s not what you asked for… but it’s ridiculous and 'tis the season. My mother in law is convinced that the lyrics to “Oh Christmas Tree” (O Tannenbaum) were changed by people who wanted to erase the true and original lyrics. By who? Big Tree financiers? Communists who are stealing Christmas and replacing it with trees?
Anyway…
The original lyrics, according to this conspiracy, praise God and never mention trees at all. It’s completely ridiculous and always ends with the whole family singing along with the “true lyrics” from a badly photocopied paper that she hands out. I hope this doesn’t come up again this year because it really makes me want to fight. Which would make me the bad person, because who initiates fights on Christmas? The next couple of days are going to be tough.
I imagine either the “Oh God-mass God!” Version of the song either is the first version she learned whilst very young or she was taught this “fact” by someone who she trusts unquestioningly. It’s very hard to convince people to reasses beliefs they’ve taken on in that way. Maybe you could give up that dream and work on gently leading her to a compromise of doing a verse of each?
Wait, the lyrics of a song with a title that literally translates to “Oh, Christmas tree” originally had absolutely nothing to do with trees*?? I’d ask how she wraps her mind around that dichotomy, but I know people who believe in conspiracies do not need proof nor logic to believe.
Good luck. I’ll be entertaining my Trumpster QMIL, so I’ll be fighting along with you to control myself.
“Q” MIL?
Yep. She believes it all.
Now I’m really curious. Can you post those supposedly original lyrics?
Sorry for the late response - I just got back from travelling to meet that side of the family. But unfortunately, I don’t remember the lyrics. She introduced it a long time ago and she stopped being MC of Christmas a few years back. We didn’t get to enjoy it this year.
I just made this up on the spot, but it was in this spirit
That’s hilarious, since the sources on Wikipedia say that the original lyrics were about a tree, with no relation to Christmas.
and many translated version never mention Christmas, like the Dutch and French versions.
Minor correction: the French version (Mon beau sapin) definitely mentions Christmas. The line “Toi que Noël planta chez nous” appears twice, translating to “You (the tree) that Christmas planted in our home”.