QAnon: Political Conspiracy and Religious Icons That leads us to the whole field of conspiracy cults that seem to thrive in the United States today. And perhaps the grandaddy of them all is called QAnon. You probably didn''t know this, especially if you happen to be a Democrat, but in the presidential election of 2016, Donald Trump was running for president in part to expose a cabal of Deep State politicians, celebrity actors, medical professionals, and business tycoons who were engaged in satanic worship and pedophilia on a global scale. This didn''t become public knowledge until 2017, when an alleged top-secret governmental official who goes by the pseudonym "Q," reminiscent of Jean-Luc Picard''s nemesis in Star Trek: The Next Generation , began to post online messages about the "truth" of what is "really" going on, not only in the United States but the whole world. As soon as Donald Trump became President Trump, he was going to order mass arrests and executions of members of the secret cult. This was going to happen on a day called either the "Storm" or the "Event." The cabal was so worried about Trump losing the election that they conducted a secret conspiracy involving Russia in the election. QAnon supporters claimed that FBI director Robert Mueller''s inquiry into Russian interference was really an elaborate cover story for an investigation into the alleged sex-trafficking ring, along with an attempted coup d''état by President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and philanthropist George Soros, who were the ringleaders.
Somewhere along the line, "Q" learned of even greater plans. Deep research into George Soros and the wealthy Rothschild family--common targets of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories--allegedly revealed that Jewish instigators were at the bottom of the whole conspiracy, which used a well-known pizza chain as a front. Russian and Chinese state-backed media companies, along with the far-right Falun Gong-associated Epoch Media Group, were somehow in the mix as well. There is, of course, not a shred of evidence in any of these claims. The day of the "Storm" came and went. Trump was elected, and no arrests were made. But that didn''t make any difference to what is now often called the QAnon Cult. Facts simply don''t matter.
The bulk of the news is reported by the "Fake Media," and you can''t believe anything they say. Therefore, you have to get your real news by way of social media, the only sources to be trusted. Which social media sites, you might ask? Easy! The ones that agree with your opinions. All the rest are attempting to deceive you. And how do you know you are receiving the truth? Well, you must be, because you have gathered around yourself a virtual, online community consisting of hundreds, if not thousands, of people who all reinforce your beliefs. And that many people can''t be wrong. It becomes the main, animating force in your life. In 2013, a social media website called "Infinitechan" or "Infinitychan" was created.
It was often pictured as chan, employing the mathematical symbol for infinity, and this name became 8chan. It was a site that had been linked to white power groups, Neo-Nazis, and other far-right organizations and antisemitic groups. Mass shootings from El Paso and Dayton to New Zealand had been advertised on the site, and it hosted child pornography chats as well. This was the site that first spread the missives of "Q" to the world and is thus the home of QAnon. In 2015 the popular search engine Google stopped showing results for the site, and in August 2019 the service that hosted 8chan on the so-called clear web (where indexed, common-access websites reside, as opposed to the dark web that hosts unindexed, hidden sites) stopped supporting the site. Banned from its home, 8chan returned to the clear web as 8kun in November 2019, supported and funded by a Russian host provider. "Q"''s often symbolic and cryptic posts became known as "drops." To say the least, they are enigmatic.
Take this drop from 2019: " [C] BEFORE [D]. [C]oats BEFORE [D]. The month of AUGUST is traditionally very HOT. You have more than you know. " Once a message was dropped, it spread through private channels with amazing speed, posted and re-posted before search engines could catch up. It soon became a political tool, and Trump supporters began showing up at rallies with "Q Sent Me" placards. Trump himself began quoting so-called Q Drops on his Twitter feed. The QAnon cult has even taken on a religious component.
Jacob Chansley, labeled the "QAnon Shaman," made a name for himself by appearing at QAnon rallies dressed in animal skins and face paint while wearing a pair of bull horns on his head. He was easily the most identifiable character in any crowd that was photographed by reporters, and cameras frequently pointed in his direction. So it didn''t help his cause when, as one of the first wave of people who entered the Capitol Building on January 6th during the insurrection, he was photographed and later arrested. He had left a note inside the building that read, "It''s Only A Matter Of Time. Justice Is Coming!" At his trial, he was sentenced to 41 months in prison. Christian conservatives and Evangelical pastors have weighed in on religion and QAnon. The Rev. Jon Thorngate, for instance, is senior pastor at LifeBridge Church near Milwaukee.
He is one of a small number of church leaders who will actually go on record about QAnon. Most fear backlash from their parishioners. He calls QAnon a "real problem" and recognizes that belief in conspiracy theories is a growing threat. Only five or ten of his church members have actually posted QAnon theories online, but many more--he doesn''t know how many--are open to them. Some of his members have held meetings in which they viewed a short film called Plandemic , which puts forth the theory that the whole COVID-19 epidemic was a moneymaking scheme by government officials. The film has since been posted on common social media sites like Facebook. Some of his members have also distributed a video, which has since been banned by mainstream social media sites, that promotes hydroxychloroquine as a cure for the virus. Many QAnon believers have crossed the line between following and acting.
In 2018, for instance, an armed believer named Matthew Wright blocked a bridge that led over Hoover Dam. He later pleaded guilty to a terrorism charge. Several former associates of President Trump, such as former national security advisor Michael Flynn, and two members of Trump''s legal team, Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, have championed QAnon conspiracy theories. This led to a publicity crackdown on the movement and its claims, which only furthered distrust between followers of "Q" and the media, who were accused of a political witch hunt. Supporters have vowed there will come a day of reckoning, and many believe arrests, convictions, and executions of prominent figures will yet take place. Their slogan has become infamous: WWG1WGA! ("Where we go one we go all"). The movement most definitely has gathered political clout. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a United States congressperson from Georgia''s 14th congressional district, was elected in November of 2021.
Since her election, she has quoted and championed a number of Q Drops. More than 21 past candidates for state legislatures have signaled their support for QAnon. Others, trying to be a bit more circumspect in their language, have decided simply not to publicly condemn the organization for fear of losing votes. How many QAnon members are there? It''s hard to guess. But QAnon-related traffic on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and YouTube has exploded since the first Q Drop in 2017, and indications are the totals have gone up even further, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. Various social media platforms have instituted rules about QAnon content and have banned hundreds of Q-supporting videos. But it''s hard to stay ahead of a constantly evolving technology when so many users contribute to it with such growing technical savvy and political fervor. Who is "Q"? No one knows for sure.
The Washington Post suggests it might be Ron Watkins, an administrator of the 8kun message board. The New York Times has entered the names of Paul Furber, an early follower of the movement, and Ron Watkins, who operated a website where Q Drops began appearing in 2018. Watkins launched a campaign to run for Congress in Arizona in October 2021. Frederick Brennan, the creator of 8chan, swears that his former business partner Jim Watkins, Ron''s father, is the culprit. Jim is a supporter of Q. He began the QAnon Super PAC and wore a "Q" pin during his testimony before Congress about 8chan in 2019. All candidates have denied responsibility. Is QAnon a cult? Many claim it is.
Just as many seem to claim it is simply a truth-telling organization. Tempers run high on both sides of the issues. It might be a while before this one is sorted out for the history books. Sex in the City: The Dark Potency of Cults Throughout this book, we have surveyed various cults that developed, in one way or another, a component of immorality and subjugation that involved sexual dominance and exploitation. Sad to say, this happens more often than not when cults idolize or otherwise revere a vulne.