Which truth to believe? Some thoughts on conspiracies

I dont wish to get into all the conspiracy theories here, that is a matter of debate in itself and, unfortunately, to many people the apparent absurdity of certain aspects of some theories can devalue the fundamental point about not believing everything we are told to believe. For the record there are a number of good videos on youtube or similar sites providing compelling evidence that the "government" has lied to us about a great number of things in order to slowly create an orwellian dystopian state. I personally dont believe everything i see, and am fully aware of the power of misinformation in EVERY aspect of the media, but it certainly is worth researching this subject, with a film called Zeitgeist - The Movie being an essential introduction to Conspiracies and some of the many lies perpetrated throughout history and even to this day.

The question still exists, is there really any truth in these theories?

Well, anybody who believes everything they are told in the media is obviously a fool, tabloid newspapers clearly have an agenda and motivation to lie/distort the truth. Surely this is common knowledge. But theres a difference between sensationalist headlines designed to sell papers and increase profits, and the sort of lies the governments are alleged to have spun for years/decades/centuries.

Is it really plausible that 9/11 was orchestrated by some highly influential families pulling the strings behind the US government? Surely the fact that an idiot like George W is "in charge" is suspect enough. Those attacks were clearly a good motivation for war and the gradual removal of a great number of our civil liberties. Inside job or not, 9/11 has been used to the governments advantage ever since. In the last decade we have been fed anti-Islamic propaganda on many levels while lately the public opinion of China's communist state has become a popular subject in the media, reminding us how lucky we are to have our own (ever-dwindling) freedoms. Is the timing of the olympics really a coincidence?

Religion, of course, is a major part of all good conspiracy theories, and for good reason. Alongside money (the other great evil of the world) religion is historically the most powerful tool ever conceived for controlling the masses. Religion has encouraged both love and hatred equally, forgiveness and intolerance are both huge factors in all the worlds great monotheistic religions. The contradictions are obvious. All based around the fundamental questions of what happens to us after we die and why we are even here in the first place. God's name is used to justify so many human actions both good and bad, which coupled with his alleged ultimate power over us for eternity means that for a significant proportion of the worlds population, the fear of disagreeing with God's word is so great that the only conceivable option is to comply. The fact that religion is "inherited" and thrust upon the impressionable minds of children makes the brainwashing even easier.

Regardless of whether there is any real truth in spiritualty of any sort, anyone with half a brain should be able to see the dangers of organised religion.

So do the government/illuminati/bankers really benefit from creating these lies and controlling us in this way? Well if they are lying, it seems to be working, the rich and powerful get richer and more powerful while the majority of us remain poor and apathetic. The mainstream media continue to shape our opinions of the world and the conspiracies remain underground and, suspiciously, censored or deleted where possible.

Somewhere between the extremes the real truth exists, it is only through an awareness of all the different viewpoints that we can begin to see it and make our own decisions and, if the time comes, we can be prepared for the worse.