Same story

Same story December 5, 2016

Some of the people pushing the rumor were in it for money — it would bring them attention and clicks and direct-mail fundraising contacts. Others were in it for kicks — enjoying the game of seeing how many people they could get to swallow a patently outrageous and absurd story. Still others saw it as a political trick — a way of manipulating voters and swinging elections to solidify their political power.

But all of those folks initially promoting the story were soon outpaced and outnumbered as the bizarre legend took on a life of its own, a viral epidemic that raced through social networks and social media with astonishing speed.

Rather than slowing the story, the outrageous and impossible details seemed to be what was fueling its spread. The idea was that there was a national — maybe international or global — conspiracy of Satanists. Literal servants and worshipers of a literal Satan. And in thrall to their dark lord, these Satan-worshiping minions were torturing and killing children — killing babies. Who was part of this conspiracy? Everyone. Every powerful person you’ve ever heard of — President Obama, Hillary Clinton, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices.

But not just the powerful. Seemingly ordinary people as well. They all knew about this Satanic baby-killing and didn’t care. Some of them participated in it while the others just went along, happily supporting the powerful pawns of Satan whom they knew to be routinely slaughtering innocent babies on the altar of their dark master.

It seems impossible that any of the millions of people claiming to believe this story and eagerly passing it on to others could really believe such a thing. Yet there they were, enthusiastically telling reporters on Election Day that this story was part of the reason for their vote.

That’s bizarre and, again, impossible. If anyone really believed anything at all like this was true, then they ought to be compelled to do more than merely cast a ballot against such a massive, horrific evil. Yet here were millions of people flatly asserting that they did, in fact, believe this story, happily volunteering that what they were describing was worse than the evils of Nazi Germany. These people —  otherwise living unremarkable, indistinct lives alongside the neighbors they glibly described as Satanic baby-killers — all seemed to be caught up in some disingenuous game.

But eventually their unbelievable, inflammatory talk eventually found its way to the ears of a disturbed individual — a man with a history of erratic, violent behavior. And, unlike the many millions of others who claimed to believe this nonsense, he was just unhinged enough to act like that was true. And so he loaded his guns and, with deadly intent, headed for the very place that all those millions of other apparently sane people were insisting was the locus of this Satanic baby-killing conspiracy.

And so Robert Dear, believing himself to be a “warrior for the children,” killed three people and injured nine others in a women’s health clinic in Colorado Springs.

And so a heavily armed Edgar Maddison Welch walked into a Washington, DC, pizza place yesterday, firing his gun as he searched for the non-existent tunnels in which he was certain that liberals were slaughtering babies for Satan.

SameStory

What’s the difference between the fake news story Dear believed and the fake news story Welch believed? There isn’t any.

Fake news isn’t new. It has shaped our politics, and misshaped our religion, for decades.


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