Conspiracy: A Biblical View, by Gary North - EntreWave

COURT HISTORIANSRelativismBut wait a minute. Those of us who hold a conspiracy view of historyare also interested in discussing the climate of opinion, or economicforces that create the historical setting for a shift in the climate ofopinion. What is the difference between our interpretation and theinterpretations of conventional classroom historians? The difference isthis: the conspiratorialists know that there is a continuing ideologicaland theological war going on. Different players, same issues. Newfaces, same conflict. Those who favor a conspiracy view argue thatthere are fundamental issues — moral, religious, and political issues— that divide good from evil, good guys from bad guys. In short,conspiracy buffs usually are opposed to ethical relativism. They tendto be moral absolutists. They view history as a continuing personalstruggle between the forces of good and the forces of evil.This is what outrages professional historians, including mosteconomic historians. (An exception was Murray Rothbard, whobelieves in natural law and permanent ethical standards, and who wasready to consider almost any conspiracy theory.) They are weaned ona diet of ethical relativism; this perspective is basic to all the socialsciences and humanities. They will admit today that Stalin was evil(by today's' standards). "But we need to understand that in his time,and confronting the situation of an economically backward nation,Stalin faced tremendous difficulties in modernizing Russia, someasures that we now regard as extreme had to be imposed... blah,blah, blah."On the other hand, Hitler was absolutely evil. (Goodbye relativism —or so it initially appears.) Don't push them on why it is more evil toslaughter Jews than kulak peasants. They grow evasive. Why?Because their bottom line on political morality is pure pragmatism.The basis of their absolute opposition to Hitler boils down to this:Stalin, Churchill, and F.D.R. beat Hitler. In short, Hitler was a loser.He was a conspirator who got caught before he had consolidated hispower. Herein lies his offense. To use language from anotherdiscipline, he went for an inside straight, and missed.There was a period before the War when he looked as though hewould be successful. In this period (you will never be told in anyuniversity classroom), some very powerful and influential Americanshttp://freebooks.commentary.net/freebooks/docs/html/gnco/html/5.htm (5 of 15) [5/26/2000 1:48:13 PM]