I would say &quot;secretly theist&quot; rather than &quot;secretly authoritarian&quot;. I can see a strong parallel between conspiracist and theist beliefs, in that the mundane world is an illusion, lie or trap beyond which a metaphysical world exists full of hidden truths and malevolent beings who conspire to control everything behind the scenes, of which most people are completely unaware. Conspiracy theorists merely replace a supernatural demiurge with a political one.<p>I think one of the compelling aspects of conspiracy theory as an expression of faith, is that it&#x27;s comforting to realize that even if the world is run by a dark and malevolent agenda, at least it has an agenda, and someone or something is in control.<p>One can see this expression of conspiracy as religion here on Hacker News. Whenever a skeptical statement is made about some conspiracy theory, someone will inevitably state that because Edward Snowden was proven right, conspiracy X should be considered true. Or, because people considered the things Edward Snowden described were once considered &quot;conspiracy theory&quot;, one should accept that conspiracy theorists are enlightened about the true nature of the world.<p>Rationally, this argument makes little sense as one conspiracy theory being true doesn&#x27;t validate the truth of another, but such statements are made in the context of religion all the time, as expressions of faith.