Where have all the
antigay conspiracy theories gone? And why were they more common thirty years or
so ago?
Caution: Utter balderdash ahead. Avoid
at all costs.
|
Conspiracy theories
usually centre on the following attributes. The conspiracist worldview argues
that a given social group, institution or professional group are tangibly
causing "harm" to either the general public or a self-perceived "vulnerable"
social group, but that the "truth" about "harm" and "destructive" effects are
"suppressed" through the exercise of power and influence within governments or
dominant professional organisations. For example, the contemporary
"anti-vaccination" and "anti-fluoridation" movements could be argued to be based
on conspiracy theories from this perspective. Why are they regarded as
illegitimate and extremist? For one very simple historical reason- one
particular Tsarist Russian nineteenth century conspiracy theory, The Protocol of the Elders of Zion,
received wide circulation within Russia and Western and Eastern Europe. It
purported to be a description of an "international Jewish conspiracy" to subvert
civilisation through simultaneous control of capitalism and communism alike.
Nazi Germany used this particular conspiracy theory to mobilise support for its
persecution of European Jews and ultimately, the obscenity of the Nazi Holocaust
and six million Jewish deaths.
One would have
thought that mainstream democratic political institutions would have learnt from
that hideous example. And it did. However, while anti-Semitic conspiracy
theories are thankfully now beyond the pale in much of Western Europe, North
America and Australasia, the far right appears to have moved on to other
targeted constituencies with other allegedly "malevolent" "objectives.' In the
case of LGBT communities, the Christian Right and neofascist institutions like
the defunct New Zealand League of Rights, the New Zealand National Front and
British National Party all posit the following. According to yellowed, torn and
long since forgotten fifty year old radical ephemera from some minor gay
liberation groups, LGBT communities "want" to create "sexual anarchy" through
upsetting rigid gender roles, and using the mass media, professional groups and
the state to destroy the influence of religious institutions and "erode" the
'core' role of the nuclear family. This is supposedly due to "neomarxist"
influences. While these were more in vogue during the seventies and eighties
within Christian Right and far right propaganda of the period, history overtook
these peculiar theories of social change due to the fall of the Soviet Union in
1991 and the rise of market capitalism within the Peoples Republic of China.
This meant that Cuba, North Korea and several dysfunctional African nations
became the exemplars of marxism, which reduced these conspiracy theories to
absurdity. After the political failure of such conspiracy theories to affect
the successful passage of New Zealand's Human Rights Act 1993, even the
Christian Right abandoned such propaganda and tried to produce their own
pseudo-scientific 'rebuttals' of dominant medical and social scientific evidence
that supported LGBT and other progressive social objectives. During the civil
union and marriage equality debates, that became the dominant form of homophobic
discourse. As for the extreme right, the League of Rights found itself subject
to diminishing membership and circulation of its propaganda and consequently
shut down shortly after the turn of the century. The New Zealand National Front
probably shares the League of Rights conspiracist beliefs, but it emphasises
activism against the circulation of propaganda and entryism directed against
conservative Christian pressure groups, whose membership has substantially
declined, in any case.
Over time, in any
case, successful and effective social movements have insured that they have a
secure scientific and social scientific basis for our public policy proposals
and consequent legislative reforms. The Christian Right has been forced to
fight on our own terrain and have usually lost as a consequence, leading to the
spread of antidiscrimination laws, relationship and same-sex parenting reforms
and transgender rights across much of the western world. North America, Western
Europe, Australasia and South America have participated in this process.
Unfortunately, the same hasn't been possible in societies that have endured
economic turmoil, civil war, ethnic cleansing, endemic terrorism or corrupt and
authoritarian government, hence the effectiveness of conspiracist arguments in
Russia, Uganda, Nigeria, Gambia and other transphobic and homophobic mires. For
that matter, New Zealand's economic stagnation probably fueled our nation's
susceptibility to conspiracy theories during the Muldoon era of the
mid-seventies and early eighties.
All of which brings
us back to the Conservative Party. Apart from Christine Rankin and Colin Craig
congratulating their party membership on a good effort, there has been nothing
whatsoever from that fundamentalist microparty since the events of election
night- not even on areas of particular expertise such as the building industry
and property development, where Colin Craig might be said to have confidence.
That is, apart from the resignations of Rachel McGregor (the former Conservative
public relations manager) and Garth McVicar (following an apparent Sensible
Sentencing Trust schism over his partisan bias). So, what's going on? At the
moment, one can only draw possible inferences. Is Colin Craig trying to woo
McGregor back to her earlier role? Or is he trying to find a new public
relations 'minder' for his party? Can he find one, and what happens if he
doesn't? If he doesn't, can he therefore restrain the more eccentric and
conspiracist elements of his party without her iron discipline over party
communications? And what happens if she talks- or did her previous employment
contract with the Conservatives preclude that? Colin Craig might well respond
that his party polled almost four percent at last year's election- but so did
the Christian Coalition at the 1996 New Zealand General Election. Only a year
later, it fell apart. Colin Craig might be an excellent businessperson, but
does that skill set necessarily transfer to political leadership?
As for
conspiracism, New Zealand political commentators were quite justified in
rattling off a list of some of the most popular folk nostrums in 2014. Back in
the eighties, fundamentalist Christians were fearful as they lost their
political influence after the defeat of the Muldoon administration and the
decline of conservative Christian religious moral and political authority. This
lingered into the early nineties and as noted with the aforementioned comments
about Investigate, still lingers on in some areas. But it's not a particularly
significant element of New Zealand politics anymore and is only interesting as
an historical footnote.
Recommended:
Conservative Party:
http:// www.conservativeparty.org.nz
Matthew Dentith: The Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories:
Houndmills: Palgrave: 2014
James McConnachie
and Robin Tudge: The Rough Guide to
Conspiracy Theories: London: Rough Guides: 2005.
Michael Barkun: A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic
Visions of Contemporary America: Berkeley: University of California Press:
2003.
Mark Fenster: Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in
American Culture: Berkeley: University of California Press: 1998.
Daniel Pipes:
Conspiracy: New York: Free Press: 1997.
