This is a fascinating look at the emergence and growth of QAnon from the “supply” side — its origins as 4chan roleplay and its spread to more “accessible” forums. It dovetails with the @CRightcast discussion of “supply-side demand” for apocalyptic narrative frames.
The explicitly supernatural apocalyptic narrative favored by many fundamentalists isn’t exclusive to QAnon, only highly compatible with it; cross-pollination isn’t restricted to “normies joining Q” — the Q vision is informed by millennia of end times showdown predictions.
The endurance of the apocalyptic (evil appears to be winning/supernatural-heroic intervention will save us/their evil will be revealed/they will be judged and punished/a new just order will emerge) both feeds and is fed by these theories.
One of the luxuries of approaching this from the “supply” side on the Rightcast episode is seeing how deep the appeal of these narratives goes. In particular, the role they play in justfiying “we are persecuted” frames by members of a dominant group. https://rightcast.substack.com/p/episode-7
Elaine Pagels’ “Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation” was a treasure trove of context — and supplies some ominous hints about how the narrative hard-shifted to antisemitism once Roman Christians suddenly found themselves on the side of power.
Other articles that have come out recently — REALLY good ones! — follow this thread of apocalyptic framing in the Q story, in particular how they helped it gain traction and how it will shape the response Q believers have to the failure of its predictions.
Last year, @AmarAmarasingam and @_MAArgentino wrote this excellent, prescient piece for Religion Dispatches: https://religiondispatches.org/qanons-predictions-havent-come-true-so-how-does-the-movement-survive-the-failure-of-prophecy/
And @tlecaque’s piece for The Bulwark, written right around the same time, is similarly fantastic. The predictions in both pieces about how Q would play out, given its conceptual building blocks, have been spot on. https://thebulwark.com/when-the-qanon-apocalypse-doesnt-come/
Various threads are making the rounds, noting the importance of treating QAnon as more than simple political belligerence and conspiracy-theory credulousness. It’s not “religion” but it bears all the structural elements of a politicized apocalyptic religious movement.
It’s unfair that the absurdity can’t simply be laughed off, at least by folks trying to engage friends and family who’ve fallen down the rabbit hole. But understanding the underlying dynamics and how it ties into deep, pre-existing frames of belief can help.