These days, we see multiple examples of people who are “true believers” of questionable ideology, both political and religious, who label information they disagree with as “theory”. The questions are: What are they doing and why are they trying to do that?

Two prime examples are Christians called evolution a theory, and conservatives and ethnocentrists talking about “critical race theory.”Neither use of the term theory is factually accurate. In the first example, Evolution is not a theory. It is a scientifically proven fact Christians use the term “theory” to try to denigrate the facts of evolution, as they believe that it goes against their theology.

The fact is that they do not know what a theory is. A theory is not wild speculation drawn from thin air, nor is it and hypothesis. Rather, a theory is based on substantial proven scientific facts and those facts are used to go a step farther to explain some events and facts observed. It is infallible 100 percent true without exception. Neither are so-called scientific principles. As new studies are done and new data derived, many scientific principles are disproven or modified. On the other hand, religious “principles” and dogma are not grounded in factual observations and data, and have no proof of validity. They are not worthy of being called “theories.”

The second example is the use of the “deliberately bogus term. “critical race theory.” Just like the Christians, ethnocentrists and right wing figures try to use the term they created to diminish or denigrate proven facts. The effort is entirely bogus at its core. Om most cases, however, I do believe that many of them know what a real theory is, but that does not stop them from using the term totally falsely and inappropriately.

So, any time you hear a religious or political figure using the term “theory” to try to diminish adherence to reality, BEWARE!! Somebody is trying to snooker you.