
The Atlantic Daily: QAnon Is a New American Religion - SirLJ
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2020/05/qanon-q-pro-trump-conspiracy/611722/
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badrabbit
Obsession does not mean religion. I can't believe such drivel makes it past
the Atlantic's editorial. Does Qanon have any unique belief that describes how
the world came to be? why people exist? what the purpose of people is? What
happens when you die? What the correct way of living is? Even a cult thinks
their leader knows all these things.

I mean come on, you can't be sillier that Qanon when trying to do discredit
them. I hate partisan propaganda so much,it thrives on intellectual
dishonesty.

Qanon is a social movement,ideology,cultural phenomna and other things. Much
like the teaparty movement a few years ago (one can say it evolved from it).

Of course I personally think it is something people who hated Obama rallied
around. A social movement to promote modern xenophobia and racism and
implement fascist rule in america and the west. Perhaps a Russian thing.
(Reminds od this bad guy speech from "The sum of all fears" :
[https://youtube.com/watch?v=Wzp2rpe06j8](https://youtube.com/watch?v=Wzp2rpe06j8))

~~~
amanaplanacanal
It's a stupid headline, but I followed the link to the article and it was
fascinating. I was aware of QAnon as a thing after the pizzagate incident, but
wow.

~~~
badrabbit
> Among the people of QAnon, faith remains absolute. True believers describe a
> feeling of rebirth, an irreversible arousal to existential knowledge. They
> are certain that a Great Awakening is coming. They’ll wait as long as they
> must for deliverance.

This is the sort of silliness I meant,not just the title but the whole
content. According to the author religion is anything that rejects
"enlightenment values". Every conspiracy theory,flat earthers, anti-vaxxers
are all in the same boat as 90%+ of the planet (or at least a majority
depending on how you mea,sure regular participation in religious services)
that subscribe to organized systems of belief that describe origins of the
world and how to live life correctly.

To me (and I am biased), this sounds like a propaganda piece meant to spread
hate against anyone that disagrees with the author about "enlightenment
ideals". Qanon is as much a religion as fascism and communism were at their
very early stages. It's a social (dis)order , it has nothing to do with
religion.

~~~
hindsightbias
Early Fascist tenents were very much a reaction to the godless enlightment and
19th century secularism.

It is religious if that’s your social baseline. I’ll predict that Qanoners
lean evangelical.

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commoner
This submission is a newsletter briefing. The feature article ("The Prophecies
of Q") is here:

[https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-n...](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-
nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567/)

The comparison to religion is better explained in sections VI and VII.

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chanbam
I believe "cult" is the word they were looking for

~~~
free_rms
Cults have leaders.

~~~
squarefoot
Religions have both leaders and tax exemption. I wouldn't be surprised if in
some time they'd become one by similar means to the ones employed by
Scientology some time ago. Being pro-Trump might add some attached benefits
too.

~~~
badrabbit
Non-profits have a tax exemption, religios orgs don't specifically have an
exemption. Qanon related orgs can be exempt if they are not for profit.

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pstuart
Brings to mind a scene from _Fight Club_ \-- "His name is Robert Paulson"

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zozbot234
They got it wrong. The Cult of Kek is the religion, and Qanon is its prophet.

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freen
Boomers sure were exposed to a whole hell of a lot of lead from leaded
gasoline.

More interestingly, it seems as if it is actually follows the plot of a novel,
called “Q” written in 1999 by an Italian surrealist collecting under the
pseudonym “Luther Bisset”.

~~~
jml7c5
The QAnon stuff probably skews young rather than old, given it spread via
reddit, twitter, and 4chan.

