David Irving

David Irving was born in London, 1938. He wrote many publications and books about World War two. David Irving is one of the few Holocaust deniers who has gained world wide "popularity". Unfortunately for Irving, it wasn't the good kind of popularity. Irving mostly gained media time through his numerous law suits and by joining controversial groups that have supported the idea of being a Holocaust denier. The governments of Canada, Austria, Germany and Australia have barred Irving from entering their countries. He has been convicted of defaming the memory of the dead in Germany and has lost civil suits in England and the United States. His most significant legal battle ended unsuccessfully in April 2000 when a British court ruled that American historian Deborah Lipstadt had not libeled Irving when she called him a Holocaust denier. Because of this latest law suit, it is unlikely that Irving will ever receive the publicity he used too.

The Holocaust

I want to begin my research with the Holocaust conspiracy theory because it was a major historical event in America. Like September eleventh, the holocaust changed the modern perspective on how war is fought. For example, before world war two Americans could never have imagined concentration camps. Further more, before September eleventh Americans would never have expected a popular American city to be attacked by terrorist who would suicidally crash plains into important buildings. The Holocaust killed millions of people by torture and unthinkable murders. American soldiers stopped this suffering when they fought in WWII and they prevented these concentration camps from spreading and even possibly coming to America. The survivors of those concentration camps would never forget how American soldiers saved their lives and neither should we. that is why i think it is most important to remember The sacrifice American soldiers have made for us through out history and to never diminish their sacrifice with ridiculous theories.

link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conspiracy_theories

Above is a link that has a list of popular conspiracy theories today. Although the three theories i am going to discuss are not listed (The holocaust, the resurrection, and September Eleventh) it provides interesting facts and examples of how conspiracy theory is prevolent in our modern society. I especialy foud the medical and biblical theories interesting.

Defining Conspiracy Theory

To truely understand how conspiracy theories originated, one must first understand the term and its original context.
The term was originally a neutral descriptor for any claim of civil, criminal or political conspiracy. (so mostly a political term used toward those who sought to swindle their way to the top) The first recorded use of the phrase "conspiracy theory" dates from 1909.
To conspire means "to join in a secret agreement to do an unlawful or wrongful act or to use such means to accomplish a lawful end." However, conspiracy theory is also used to indicate a narrative genre that includes a broad selection of (not necessarily related) arguments for the existence of grand conspiracies.
The word "theory" is, in this usage, sometimes considered to be more informal as in "speculation" or "hypothesis" rather than mainstream scientific theory. In fact scientists and academics veiw conspiracy theory with skeptism and have performed studies that go against these "theories" Also, the term conspiracy is typically used to indicate powerful figures, often of the Establishment, who are believed to be deceiving the population at large, as in political corruption.

Introduction

Conspiracy theories demonstrate how human physiology instinctively breaks down events that are terrifying or may be difficult to comprehend. I think it is interesting how it is human nature to deni that something life changing has happened and so we want to assume that it is a lie. Someone must be tricking us and using us to their advantage. I also think the denial of these events have alot to do with shame. No one wants to admit that they or their country was involved in something horrible. Yet the fact is that we must learn from the past in order to achieve more in the future.
Two popular events that have conspiracy theories tied to them are, The holocaust and the terrorist attack on September eleventh.I found these events to be most interesting because they all still have influence on modern day America. Also both of these events involve terror that many people would like to believe didn't happen but except that it did. The issue is that some people are claiming these events didn't happen and were infact a lie told to civilians by the government. I strongly disagree with this and will provide proof that these events did actually take place.I think it will be interesting to learn how these events could possibly be believed to be conspiracy.