Kris Kofoed started listening to alternative media sources and podcasts during the pandemic, hoping to hear other perspectives.
But at some point, the Utah resident felt he was overdoing it. He switched from those podcasts to messages from leaders of his faith on his morning commute.
In retrospect, Kofoed shared, sinister narratives can start to “take over” mentally and emotionally — to the point where, as he put it, a “wrong kind of passion becomes your religion.”
For years, experts have warned about how mental health and relationships suffer when people fixate on shadowy plots involving nefarious actors. Far less attention has gone to what this can mean for people’s faith.
But as conspiracy becomes a popular explanation for world events, it’s important to consider how this mindset shapes and potentially stymies individual faith.
Shaping a purely ‘defensive’ faith
Daniel Asara, a media and religious communication dean at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, told the Deseret News, “Conspiracy theories, that is, explanations that attribute the cause of something to a secret plot by a group of powerful and malicious actors, may certainly shape and condition how we live and express our faith.”
In particular, this way of thinking “can generate contradictions within our spiritual and religious life,” he said.
For instance, “my faith can tell me that I’m a son of God, I can trust him and rely on his providence,” Asara said. But if he became “convinced that we are totally controlled by authorities through digital systems, or that powerful occult groups can decide our financial future without our intervention,” faith may falter and spirituality can become “sick, obsessed, or purely defensive” rather than a “real moving force and motivation.”
Making sense of disheartening realities
Considering the influence of secret arrangements on world events isn’t inherently unhealthy. The hidden impact of “secret combinations” on earlier societies is a central theme of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.”
Insinuating that those who entertain conspiracies are somehow irrational or unhealthy misses how widespread certain kinds of conspiracy beliefs really are. Instead of asking whether people entertain conspiracies, dialogue expert Arthur Peña likes to encourage everyone in a group to answer: “What’s YOUR conspiracy theory? What do you think is ‘really going on’?”
This openness is important, since Rutgers University scholar Jack Z. Bratich, author of “Conspiracy Panics: Political Rationality and Popular Culture,” has demonstrated how the label “conspiracy theory” has been used to police the boundaries of legitimate public discourse and dismiss concerns.
Boise State scholars have similarly pointed out how the “conspiracy theorist” label can be a “reframing mechanism that deflects questions or concerns about power, corruption and motive.”
Making sense of unsettling events
Especially when things are confusing, seeking broader explanations is natural, whether by invoking their faith or something else. British researchers wrote in 2017 that an emphasis on conspiratorial explanations can be motivated by “reducing uncertainty and bewilderment when available information is conflicting” and by “finding meaning when events seem random.”
Likewise, British researchers in 2026 summarized that an emphasis on hidden plots was associated with “unresolved existential concerns and the desire to impose coherence on complex events.”
Sorting the world into clear heroes and villains offers instant comfort — reassuring people in a bewildering world that things aren’t random, someone is responsible and events are connected. In addition to granting a heady sense that “you see deeply and clearly what others do not,” these narratives can persuade people that they may have a meaningful role in determining the outcome of an epic larger struggle.
So much of this sounds similar to what classic faith narratives provide: revelation to grasp “things as they really are,” clarity on broader forces of good versus evil operating in the world, and a sense of deeper identity as to a positive role to play.
Explanations without peace
Religious narratives have repeatedly been positively associated with better mental health and emotional well-being. Conversely, research suggests that meaning-making that leans on dark conspiracy ends up “heightened and unresolved.”
In other words, these more sinister explanations offer moments of satisfaction without ever resolving the deeper search for meaning. This kind of conspiracy thinking has also been associated with greater pessimism and insecurity and ultimately lower well-being.
A 2026 analysis notes that worldviews emphasizing intentional malevolent agents makes threat and mistrust intrinsic to how the world is seen. Once a worldview revolves around deception, betrayal, manipulation and hidden actors, day-to-day perspectives naturally end up being saturated by threat.
Although a religious worldview acknowledges real suffering, betrayal and evil, the ultimate focus still remains fixed on other life-giving realities — God, relationships, service, repentance, love, eternal purpose.
While a conspiratorial worldview may also acknowledge benevolent forces in the universe, the central attention tends to remain fixed on malevolence just around the corner: Who is behind this? What are they hiding? What does this event really mean?
An insider in exciting revelation
Jeremy Boreing, former CEO of The Daily Wire, recalled in a YouTube video how he was listening to a 9/11 podcast when he started feeling drawn to the possibility of the tragedy being an inside job.
“Something shifted in my chest,” he said. “It felt like waking up. It felt like scales falling from my eyes. It felt like I was finally seeing the truth that had been hidden from me. And the feeling was, I’ll be honest with you, exhilarating.”
Discovering information that hints at troubling realities carries psychological weight. Seconds earlier you were blind; now you see — joining an exclusive group that sees behind the curtain.
Columnist Moshe Gerstley suggested in The Jerusalem Post this summer that the first time this tactic was used was when the serpent enticed an undecided Eve by saying, “Your eyes will be opened.”
Podcaster Joshua Carr noted how one prominent influencer tends to release “little tidbits” of information. Even when a piece of information ends up getting debunked, this individual moves on to the next disclosure: “Oh, but the next episode is going to be so crazy. I’m going to reveal everything.”
Plain and precious and … boring?
The continuing excitement of insider “reveals” can make the rest of life — which can feel mundane — more like a thrilling movie plot. In turn, a more nuanced life plot — with less drama and fewer villains — may seem less captivating.
That includes spiritual realities. When attention is captivated by malicious plots, the “plain and precious truths” of faith, hope and repentance begin to feel irrelevant or distracting at best.
When researchers presented participants with conspiratorial versus standard accounts of the Notre Dame fire or Jeffrey Epstein’s death, the darker plot elicited higher entertainment ratings and stronger emotions.
The narrative that was more “interesting, exciting and attention-grabbing” also ended up being believed more often as well. If a hair-raising tale is more exciting than a more nuanced reality, who wouldn’t tend to pick the scary movie or detective mystery?
By comparison, those insisting that most people are well-intentioned and doing the best they can but making mistakes in a complicated world with unforeseen consequences — well, they can seem downright naive.
Where does this leave people in relation to faith?
Ultimately, conspiratorial thinking can render faith either too boring or too suspect. Soon enough, those exercised in the disposition to see malevolence around every corner will be primed to see it lurking in their own faith community — perhaps explaining the correlation between a conspiracy worldview and religious inactivity.
When deep suspicion takes over, even the most life-giving traditions can get warped and recast as hidden schemes of control and deceit — leaving little room for the quiet, plain and precious truths that actually heal.