"the price of being a deranged conspiracy theorist used to be higher. conspiracy theorists themselves risked social ostracism. now the most famous conspiracy theorist in the world is the most powerful man in the world" webworm.substack.com/p/why-saveourc…
2/5:
"promoting conspiracy theories doesn’t isolate you anymore. it pushes you into a welcoming community. when people can acquire power and find companionship despite professing counterfactual claims about the world, don’t be surprised when bullshit becomes more popular"
3/5:
good thing to point out to the qanon crowd:
"despite the fact they fancy themselves “researchers” & defenders of children, they’re useless. the person who helped uncover the facts about epstein that led to his 2nd arrest wasn’t the collective of qanon followers on twitter"
4/5:
"... it was @jkbjournalist, a traditional investigative journalist for the miami herald. despite their fantasy of being “citizen journalists,” a single MSM reporter did better work than every qanon follower combined when it comes to uncovering high powered corruption abuse"
5/5: @travis_view:
"every single true believing qanon follower lacks the mental strength required to face the randomness & cruelty that are an inescapable part of being alive. latching onto qanon is an expression of weakness & lack of self control."
this is part II of my story about physical & emotional abuse within new zealand’s biggest megachurch, arise. this final piece contains distressing descriptions of sexual & emotional abuse. please take care when reading.
PS: arise says it will start its HR review “after easter”.
easter is BIG for arise: they’ve been sending school kids home with easter buns, advertising their easter church services. these will take place across arise’s 11 churches. make no mistake: this is a recruitment drive
PPS: the longer i’ve spent investigating this church, the more cult parallels emerge.
thread 1/8: it's been 10 days since i wrote about the experiences of former and current interns at arise church (webworm.co/p/arise), and still no comment:
thread 2/8: now arise church has engaged a PR firm. i found out last night they'd done this - because they'd engaged with *another* media organisation (@critictearohi) - but not me:
thread 3/8: frustrated that arise church, its leader john cameron, and now a PR agency were talking to others (but ghosting me, and those i wrote about, for 10 days now) - i tweeted my frustration. the next morning i awoke to an email from the PR agency (lol):
thread 1/6: the latest maildrop from fringe disinformation group "voices of freedom" contained the usual lies - but also something interesting in the top right hand corner: a tick from kiwi advertising watchdog, the advertising standards authority:
2/6: curious, i dug in, and yes - it appears the ASA agreed with 5 of the 6 pieces of disinformation distributed by voices for freedom. here is just one example, of many:
3/6: i wrote back and forth with the CEO of the ASA several times, who seemed to keep falling back onto the point that this is "advocacy advertising" which is different to other advertising, somehow:
thread 1/8: often hear from people asking for advice on what to do when a loved one or friend falls down the conspiracy theory / misinformation rabbit hole - so here's a list of pieces i've run featuring advice from experts, that may help:
thread 2/8: how to talk to people stuck in a conspiracy theory hellscape, with mick west - master debunker and creator of tony hawk pro skater: webworm.co/p/how-to-talk-…
1/10: i've been sent a cease & desist by chris patterson barrister on behalf of dr dan, the NZ doctor i wrote about who’d been posting about ivermectin. they want a signed apology & retraction by end of day. i will not be doing that, and this is why: webworm.co/p/ceaseanddesi…
2/10: at its most basic, the 3 page letter alleges the webworm i’d sent was defamatory (it wasn’t). it ended with the threat that if i didn’t sign the document “we reserve all of our client’s rights including his right to bring proceedings against you without further warning”
3/10: at this point i knew i would be writing a webworm about this, because i am sick of men hiring lawyers to shut me up. this usually goes on behind closed doors, but i’m kinda over of it by now, and want *you* to see how this process works
1/5: i wanted to explore the strong links between evangelical christianity & the anti-vax movement, so started by looking at new zealand's city impact church which recently held a 90 minute "special meeting", spreading conspiracy theories & misinformation: webworm.co/p/worshipping-…
2/5: i was alerted to this by concerned family members who have loved ones that attend this church. while destiny church gets a lot of flack, i'd argue city impact is much bigger & more dangerous - yet tends to fly under the radar (because, well: white. it's very fucking white)
3/5: from there, i spoke to a former evangelical christian who explains why this breed of christianity (pentecostal, charismatic, apostolic, evangelical - call it what you want) tends to embrace conspiracy messages. in fact, it's practical unavoidable: