Kyle Roberson is the founder of RethinkConspiracy.org and the director of online discipleship at White's Chapel UMC in Southlake, Texas. Every week, Kyle publishes an online newspaper which you can subscribe and read by clicking the red bar on the box to the right. Below, Kyle writes about what it means to Rethink Conspiracy.
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conspire: verb, to act or work together toward the same result or goal.
Dan Brown, author of The DaVinci Code, once said, "Everyone loves a conspiracy." I happen to agree with Brown on this observation regarding conspiracy, but I would submit a follow-up question, "Does everyone know what a conspiracy is?" A conspiracy, by my definition is a living, breathing organism made up of many members operating outside of public attention for a purpose. The three most predominant qualities of a conspiracy are that it is close, quiet, and quick.
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The root of the word conspiracy is conspire, whose root is the latin conspirare, literally to breathe together (con: with, spirare: to breathe [as in respiratory or respirate]). To breathe together, to be in that close of proximity with another, brings to mind an organism made up of members in unity with one another so closely they breathe in and out together. Breath, very life itself, shared amongst members to keep the organism (community, organization, etc.) alive.
QUIET
A conspiracy acts in secrecy, outside the attention of the public, its' plans secret from the general population until it is ready to act out. Secrets can be a valuable resource. When things are done in secret by an organization or community, often no one member can claim sole responsibility.
QUICK
This secrecy, coupled with the tight-knit nature means a conspiracy can act quickly and efficiently with very little attention placed upon itself while individual members can continue to function without disruption to their own daily life, schedule, or responsibilities.
Conspiracies, however, traditionally have been associated with the purpose of disruption or disobedience, sometimes violent in nature. What if we organized a conspiracy around the purpose of taking care of our neighbors by working secretly to better our local, national, and global communities? Could we redeem "conspiracy" to become some highly mobilized and effective group of people acting for good out of love of neighbor? Could we embrace the secret nature of conspiracy as a therapeutic means of putting aside our pride and need for fame to explore humility? Could we do more than individual random acts of kindness? Could we combine our collective power to do more good together than we could on our own?
Whatever your reason: Altruism, conviction, faith, desire to "pay it forward", would you join this conspiracy?