What Christians should know about QAnon

 

QAnon is the name for a family of fringe conspiracy theories promoted by the anonymous online figure “Q” or “Q Clearance Patriot.” It is also the name of the community of supporters who promote and advocate the theories.

The reason I’m writing about this unusual topic is because QAnon is rapidly gaining influence within the American church, especially among Evangelicals & Charismatics.

Origin

QAnon started in October, 2017, when a person identifying himself as “Q Clearance Project” posted a message on an obscure message board entitled “Calm Before the Storm,” an apparent reference to a puzzling comment President Trump made a couple of weeks earlier.

While posing for pictures with a gathering of top military leaders, President Trump described the gathering as “maybe the calm before the storm.” When a reporter asked what he meant, he replied “You’ll find out.”

Q would later claim to be a government agent with access to top-secret information. He touts the theory that the president is waging a secret war against a global cabal of pedophile elites that includes an array of Hollywood actors and Democratic politicians who allegedly worship Satan. Chief among them is Hillary Clinton.

Supporters of QAnon believe that a day of reckoning called “The Storm” is coming – when President Trump uncovers the cabal, leading to the arrest of thousands, including the Clinton’s.

Growth

Rather than share this information publicly and in a verifiable form, Q chooses to provide what the community calls “breadcrumbs” – vague, mostly incoherent posts that are only comprehensible to those who frequent internet message boards. Over time, the “breadcrumbs” and speculation about them have moved to mainstream internet platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

While the phenomenon has mostly been limited to internet postings, a number of terrorist threats and violent acts have been attributed to QAnon, including a case of arson in California that destroyed 23,000 acres. In 2019, the FBI officially labeled QAnon a domestic terror threat.

Appeal to Christians

Christians are among the most ardent supporters of QAnon. Increasingly, its worldview and conspiracy theories are infiltrating churches throughout the US. Some churches even have QAnon Bible studies and small groups. This is an example of “syncretism,” the blending together of biblical Christianity with other belief systems. In short, QAnon has many of the earmarks of a fledging religious cult.

A Scriptural Admonition

Colossians 2:6-8:

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

 

Pastor Dan