I want to believe

Why people can be made to believe on stupid things

Concentrate on their opponents' weak points, while rarely saying anything definitive about their own position.
Exploit errors made by scholars who are making opposing arguments, implying that because a few of their opponents' conclusions were wrong, all of their opponents' conclusions must be wrong.
Use quotations, usually taken out of context to buttress their own position.
Make them mistake genuine, honest debates between scholars about certain points within a field for a dispute about the existence of the entire field.
Focus on what is not known and ignore what is known, emphasize data that fit (their distorted world view) and discount data that do not fit.