Media obsession with the ‘far right’ provides ample cover for left-wing conspirators

“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.” This worrying phrase comes back to me every time I hear conspiracy theories being obsessed about in the media. And predictably such discussions are usually linked to obsessions about the ‘far right’.

The Pat Kenny Show (Newstalk) has been particularly guilty as charged on both counts, but recently they’ve taken it to a new level – a whole new series on famous conspiracy theories. They could be accused of giving air to these theories, but the stories do have a certain fascination. On Tuesday of last week the topic under the ‘conspirascope’ was the allegation that the 1969 moon landing was a hoax. We heard from the devotees of the theory with stories of lunar inconsistencies, including one awkward and ignorant moment when a guy tried to force one of the astronauts to swear on the Bible that he had been to the moon. The hoax footage was supposed to have been filmed by director Stanley Kubrick, who allegedly admitted his guilt in bizarre coded messages in his later film The Shining. Conspiracies certainly provided the plots for films like Capricorn One, Conspiracy Theory, and TV series The X-Files. More recently there’s the ‘bent coppers’ conspiracy from Line of Duty – ‘it goes all the way to the top’, like a good elevator. The proliferation of bizarre theories provides effective camouflage for those involved in real conspiracies and the media’s obsession with the far right provides ample cover for left wing conspirators.

Resurgence

You couldn’t get much farther to the right than the Nazis, and you’d always be worried about a resurgence. I’m not convinced that Nazi memorabilia would bring this about, but it might accompany it. On The Hard Shoulder (Newstalk) that same Tuesday, there was a minor controversy about a Nazi poster being auctioned from Co. Meath. Mick Barry TD was effectively saying ‘down with this sort of thing’, and thought the suitable place for the item was in a museum, so people could learn from it. Columnist Ian O’Doherty saw this as a version of left-wing censorship, but their area of agreement was considerable – both had revulsion of Nazi ideology. I liked Mr O’Doherty’s assertion that if you clamp down too heavily on such items you’d be in danger of making martyrs out of morons, though I could also see merit in Deputy Barry’s museum idea.

Show

Back on the Pat Kenny Show (Newstalk) last Friday the show started with Fr Iggy O’Donovan. I found his contribution very downbeat about the state of the Church. At the end he said he had hope but I didn’t find much of it in the rest of the interview. Yes he had some valid points, for example about the apathy towards the Church in some quarters and about the legacy of clericalism. And yes the pandemic exposed weaknesses from which the Church will take a long time to recover. But recovery will not be promoted by such bleak assessments. With Pentecost imminent I would like to have heard more about the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I find Fr Iggy too inclined to see things in black and white – the lovely liberals v the nasty right wingers.

Towards the end Fr Iggy said there was room for all views, but where were the diverse views on the show? Once again it was one of Pat Kenny’s wooden interviews, when the issue was crying out for a real debate or discussion. Mr Kenny obviously wasn’t willing or able to ask any challenging questions, even as devil’s advocate, so he should have included a guest that might have a more hopeful, less polarised view of the Church’s present and future. There were accusations of hypocrisy on the part of the Church, but the prophets of diversity would want to question their interest in hearing a diversity of views.

I found there was a different tone when Pat Kenny interviewed Fr Aidan Troy on last Monday morning’s show. Fr Troy is currently ministering in St Joseph’s Church near the Champs Élysées in Paris and was commenting on the opening up of society and Church after Covid-19 restrictions. He was so enthusiastic about the return of First Communions and about the great lay volunteer teachers who did all the preparation on Zoom with the children. And in other good news there were 23 young adults for Confirmation. Now that made me hopeful.

Pick of the week

Sunday

BBC Radio 4 Sunday May 30, 7.10 am

A detailed look at the ethical and religious issues of the week

Unreported World

Channel 4 Friday June 4, 7.30 pm

In the city that never sleeps, Unreported World discovers a homelessness epidemic in New York’s shelter system made worse by the Covid-19 crisis.

Selma

RTÉ 2 Friday June 4, 9.30 pm

(2014) David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tim Roth. A chronicle of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.’s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.