Therefore, when a farmer in Michigan has his farm repossessed by the government for failure to repay federally insured loans, this conspiracy theory helps explain his plight and identifies who is trying to destroy his life. And passage of the Brady Bill, instituting a seven-day waiting period for the purchase of hand guns, was seen as Clinton's liberal initiative to begin the preparatory work for the takeover. A growing number of Americans are trying to understand where this conspiratorial fear comes from and what implications it might have for our common future. Today, some gay activists maintain that AIDS is really a part of a heterosexual conspiracy to wipe them out, and some black separatists are convinced there is a Zionist-led conspiracy to oppress African Americans. It is not just those on the Right who are preoccupied with conspiratorial fictions.
Conspiracy theories are, regrettably, as American as apple pie.
They also seem to share an extremely polarized view of the world and their foes that goes with it. Usually the strength of a mass movement is proportionate to the vividness and tangibility of its devil. There are abundant examples on the Christian Right and right-wing extremist groups making the devils very vivid and tangible. And too often talk radio inflames these pathological fears, hysterical rage, and venomous attacks on their political foes. Again, I want to emphasize that the Christian Right had no responsibility for the horrible bombing in Oklahoma City.