This weekend’s think piece is, the final piece of a kind of evangelical-QAnon trilogy, in the wake of the must-read — even if you disagree with parts of it — “Shadowlands” package at The Atlantic Monthly.
By the way, I wonder if anyone in management at the Atlantic realized the religious implications that the term “Shadowland” would have for millions of C.S. Lewis readers. That’s the first thing I thought of when I saw the title. Just saying.
Early this week, I wrote a post about the “The Prophecies of Q” piece of the package and followed up with this week’s “Crossroads” podcast and post. In both, I argued that the Atlantic piece was essential reading — especially in terms of politics and technology. The religion angle — with QAnon as an essentially “evangelical” subculture — wasn’t as solid, in part because of next to zero input from evangelical leaders, including mainstream evangelical leaders, academics and writers who view QAnon as a dangerous heresy that catching on with some grassroots evangelicals. Thus, I argued:
It needed material drawn from major evangelical leaders who are concerned about QAnon and who can critique this trend, drawing on deep wells of evangelical history and doctrine. Baylor University historian Thomas Kidd leaps to mind, author of the recent book “Who Is an Evangelical? A History of a Movement in Crisis.” Or how about former GetReligionista Joe Carter of The Gospel Coalition? Karen Swallow Prior, now of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, is a well-known voice online.
Then again, Ed Stetzer — leader of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College — has been writing about conspiracy thinking for several years now. Here is a chunk of a new piece, written with colleague Andrew MacDonald, at The Dallas Morning News. The headline: “Too many evangelical Christians fall for conspiracy theories online, and gullibility is not a virtue.”
The podcast post took a look at that Stetzer-MacDonald essay. Now, I would like to point readers toward a think piece at The Gospel Coalition by journalist Joe Carter (a former member of the GetReligion team). The headline: “The FAQs: What Christians Should Know About QAnon.”
Carter opens with one the key claims in the Atlantic piece: “To look at QAnon is to see not just a conspiracy theory but the birth of a new religion.” Carter then adds:
About three-quarters of U.S. adults (76 percent) say they have heard or read nothing at all about QAnon. But while they may not know the name, they have likely seen QAnon propaganda on social media (President Trump has frequently retweeted QAnon-related accounts on Twitter, and some parenting and lifestyle “influencers” promote the views on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook). Although it’s still on the fringe, Christians should be aware of the threat this political cult poses to the global church.
After a wave of material on the history of the political QAnon phenomenon (“QAnon is the name for both the family of fringe conspiracy theories promoted by the anonymous online figure “Q” or “Q Clearance Patriot”), Carter asks: “What do followers of QAnon believe?”
The core of the QAnon theory is known as #TheStorm. This is a claim built around a vague comment made by President Trump on October 5, 2017.
“Maybe it’s the calm before the storm,” Trump said to reporters. “Could be. The calm before the storm. We have the world’s great military people in this room, I will tell you that. And we’re going to have a great evening. Thank you all for coming.” A reporter requested clarification about what Trump said: “What storm, Mr. President?” “You’ll find out, the president said. “Thank you, everybody.”
Since then the coming “storm” has been connected to everything from secret Democrat pedophilia rings to Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Carter argues that QAnon is, first and foremost, a “political cult” — but one in which some members, including Q, have the ability to weave Christian terms and concepts into their conspiracy theories.
Here is another key chunk of Carter’s essay:
A prime example of an American political cult is the movement led by the late Lyndon LaRouche. Other political cults, such as the Church of Jesus Christ Christian (Aryan Nations) and other groups in the Christian Identity movement, combine both political and also religious elements. While QAnon has primarily been a political cult, there is evidence that offshoots are morphing into full-fledged religious cults.
For instance, Marc-André Argentino recently highlighted a “faction within the movement has been interpreting the Bible through QAnon conspiracies” and “QAnon conspiracy theories serve as a lens to interpret the Bible itself.” Although that particular group is relatively small group of neo-charismatic home churches, it is not uncommon to see QAnon-supporting Christians on social media interpret Q’s predictions as fulfillment of eschatological prophecy.
Is QAnon dangerous?
Certainly, says Carter. Secular experts think so and it’s time for religious leaders to take this seriously, learning some of the lingo and symbols so that they can recognize them if and when they surface among members of their congregations or organizations.
Carter condemns these conspiracy theories in the strongest possible language, speaking as an evangelical writer/editor who knows his audience. This is the angle that The Atlantic package needed to include — criticism of QAnon concepts by experienced evangelical leaders.
Christians should care about QAnon because it’s a satanic movement infiltrating our churches.
Although the movement is still fringe, it is likely that someone in your church or social media circles has either already bought into the conspiracy or thinks it’s plausible and worth exploring. We should care because many believers will or are being swayed by the demonic influences of this movement.