My acquaintance with conspiracy theories began shortly after 9/11.

My acquaintance with conspiracy theories began shortly after 9/11. They made no sense to me because I knew the facts and had met people who were actually at the scene.

I was in New Jersey at the time and was in constant contact with a close friend who was receiving updates from the U.S. military.

On September 10, I stood atop the Empire State Building and watched the final sunset over the Twin Towers. Strangely, I remember asking my hosts whether those buildings were designed to collapse upon impact or topple sideways if struck by an aircraft.

The following morning, I watched the events unfold live as the second plane - United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767 - struck the South Tower.

I know police officers who saw the wreckage recovered across Lower Manhattan, including a large section of landing gear, an engine, pieces of the fuselage, and other aircraft fragments. I also met flight attendants who lost many friends - and, in some cases, family members - who were aboard those planes.

Yet, to my shock and disbelief, I encountered respectable people, including pastors, who unashamedly claimed that no planes had ever struck the towers.

And what about Israel?

Although all 19 terrorists were identified as Muslims from Middle Eastern countries - 15 of them from Saudi Arabia - and despite Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, acknowledging and celebrating the success of the operation, people still pointed their fingers at Israel and claimed that 9/11 was a Mossad operation.

Therefore, the conspiracy theories surrounding October 7 - the claims that Israel initiated or orchestrated the attack - did not surprise me. I had already seen how this works in the aftermath of 9/11.

Conspiracy theorists do not allow facts to confuse them. They allow dark spirits to rule them.

“And they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”
2 Timothy 4:4 (NKJV)