ABSTRACT
The relation between conspiracy beliefs and religion has often been treated as having three different components: Conspiracy theory as religion, conspiracy theories about religion and conspiracy theories in religion (e.g. Robertson et al. 2019). These draw on different sides of complex cultural dynamics. Conspiracy theory as religion centres on the philosophical and psychological underpinnings of ideation, while the other two deal with case studies of socio-political relevance. Conspiracy theory about religion typically focuses on ingroup/outgroup dynamics in complex socio-political situations. Conspiracy theories in religion deal with different sets of conspiracy beliefs ideologically attuned to the particular religious group and circumstance. This chapter will give a brief introduction to all these relations.
