Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
Gnostic Conspiracies

Gnostic Conspiracies

Last updated on: September 4, 2025 at 6:00 am by Gene Veith

0 Comments

Gnostic Conspiracies 2025-08-31T16:04:15-04:00 Gene Veith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

As we live our every day lives in our every day world, we may think that society is pretty straight forward. But behind it all is a sinister system of oppression!

The left says you need to wake up–that is, become “woke”–to recognize the systemic power structures that keep the privileged in power. The right says you need to stop taking the “blue pill” that makes you think everything is normal and instead take the “red pill” to recognize how the establishment is trying to control you.

According to political scientist Wilfred Reilly, this mindset is a secular version of the ancient heresy of Gnosticism, which teaches that the physical world we inhabit is an illusion that we need to escape by pursuing True Reality.

In his article Political Gnosticism Is a Modern Sickness, he writes,

Almost every prominent left-wing critical theory — and, today, more than a few right-wing equivalents — rests on the idea that what seem to most “normies” to simply be the uncomplicated and necessary workings of civilized society are in fact part of massive hidden systems of “oppression” or “power and dominance.”

This “political gnosticism,” in turn, manifests itself in conspiracy theories, some of which Reilly goes on to list:

–The American justice system is not about locking up killers, rapists, and other criminals. Rather, it’s really all about locking up black and brown males so they won’t stage a revolution.

–The purpose of standardized testing is not so colleges can identify good students in their admission process. Rather, it’s really all about keeping out poor people.

–Marxists believe that cultural practices and institutions–including morality, laws, governments, and religion–are really about the rich keeping the working class under their control.

–Critical race theorists believe that cultural practices and institutions–including morality, laws, governments, and religion–are really about white people keeping black people under their control.

–Radical feminists believe that cultural practices and institutions–including morality, laws, governments, and religion–are really about men keeping women under their control.

–Radical members of the “manosphere” believe that cultural practices and institutions–including morality, laws, governments, and religion–are really about women keeping men under their control.

–Some on both the left and the right believe that Jews are actually behind the scenes controlling everything.

You can no doubt think of other similarly-constructed conspiracy theories that Reilly doesn’t mention in this article (e.g., the Communist conspiracy many Americans feared during the Cold War; the “deep state” that actually runs the government no matter whether Democrats or Republicans get elected; the Q-Anon theories; “Queer theory,” which claims that “heteronormativity”–the view that heterosexuality is normal–is an oppressive social construct of the male-female binary, etc.).

Notice that a good number of the “gnostic conspiracies” that Reilly mentions are not just prominent among alienated individuals. Rather, they are enshrined in the Halls of Academia as actual scholarship. These views are taught. College students are taught to think in this conspiratorial way. And when college-trained teachers get jobs in public schools, they teach their elementary and secondary students to think in this way as well.

If you go to a university and take a literature class, you will be taught to employ the “hermeneutics of suspicion.” That is, to read a play by Shakespeare or a novel by Jane Austen, or, by extension, legal codes and Scriptures, and interpret them through a lens of “suspicion,” so as to ferret out the oppressive views that they are hiding.

To be sure, conspiracies do exist. We now know that Communists really were infiltrating the American government and institutions during the Cold War, though they did not completely control the country as some people feared. The federal bureaucracy may well control the operations of the government more than our elected officials, constituting a “deep state” whose power needs to be trimmed.

But the notion that any group of people is so well-organized, well-placed, and omni-competent as to exert control over every facet of society is pretty unlikely. Society is very complicated, to put it mildly, and it is a vast over-simplification to believe that some cadre of human beings are behind the curtain pulling levers to steer the rest of the human race according to their will.

Gnosticism is a heresy that denies God’s creation and His sovereignty. Reilly’s article made me think of this passage from the prophet Isaiah:

Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. (Isaiah 8:12-13)

Illustration by CHRISTOPHER DOMBRES from SETE, France, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

hermeneutics of suspicion

political gnosticism

Previous Post

September 3, 2025

Abortion May Account for ALL of the Decline in Births

Next Post

September 5, 2025 DISCUSS: What Books Shaped You in High School?

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Or both."

Tom Hering

Monday Miscellany, 10/26/26

"He's never been especially bright, but his hubris (and his fierce and Machiavellian devotion to ..."

1another

Monday Miscellany, 10/26/26

"The man is mentally unwell, and getting worse every day. No telling what the next ..."

Tom Hering

Monday Miscellany, 10/26/26

"Regarding the ongoing Iran war in the Hormuz Straight, it bears repeating that our military ..."

1another

Monday Miscellany, 10/26/26

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category America Apologetics Art baseball Bible Blog Christ Church crime Culture Economics Education Ethics Family Food Football Government History Holidays Holy Week Humor International Islam Language Law Life Issues Literature Media Medicine Movies Music Nature News Personal Philosophy Politics psychology Reformation Religions Sacraments Science sex Social Science Sports technology television terrorism Theology Uncategorized Vocation war

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: The entire city of Nineveh repented after Jonah preached to them.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE

Books by This Author Books by Gene Veith

See All Titles »