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This is akin to the kinds of heresy that the church has always faced. But what is new and different is that it is turbocharged through online radicalisation, and thus can bypass traditional ecclesiological stop guards against false teaching.
Also difficult is the style of this phenomenon which has a feverish and paranoid anti-institutional and anti-authority culture which casts suspicion on pastors and leaders who are trying to biblically address this, framing them as part of the evil cabal.
I can’t help but also see parallels to the experiences I have read about of Muslim leaders in the West over the last decade who have had to fight online radicalisation in their mosques and communities.
Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong said not to long ago that in order to preserve the security of his nation’s tolerant, diverse and multi-faith society, it must protect itself from the radicalising online influence of two threats - Jihadism and the American culture war.
For those of us not in the US we used to be able to dismiss this kind of stuff as eccentric Americanism, but it is now being exported at volume. https://www.voanews.com/usa/how-qanon-conspiracy-theory-went-global
Felt this yesterday, after Melbourne has come together and sacrificed so much to flatten the curve and turn our dire situation around, to see a bloke down the shops flouting the mask mandate with a Stars and Stripes Qanon t-shirt was hugely frustrating. https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-08-24/how-the-qanon-conspiracy-theory-is-affecting-australian-families/12564566
Meanwhile in Germany today https://twitter.com/fpleitgencnn/status/1299745386115018752
BTW Qanon is not the only show in town. There are other similar phenomena out there, both on the left and right extremes. As well as other conspiracy theory multiverses flying around the net in Mandarin, Hindi, Arabic, Russian etc Worth noting if you pastor a multicultural church
We even have a Qanon convert in the Bin Laden family now. https://twitter.com/NoorBinLadin/status/1262120584688926720?s=20
Recorded late last night an episode with @CTmagazine Quick to Listen podcast on the Qanon phenomenon. We explored its history, its growth amongst US evangelicals, its global effect, and political impact. Will be out soon.
Watching The Social Dilemma you can see how the YouTube algorithm which recommended conspiracy theories to users already interested into other conspiracy theories, would lead to composite meta-conspiracy theory like Qanon. Creating a kind of digital Borg like entity of paranoia.
The rise of "Pastel Qanon" adds another chapter to the ongoing evolution of Qanon. This confirms what I have been seeing here in Australia, in which people who would be more on the bohemian left side of culture are embracing the trend. https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/playing-with-fire-the-curious-marriage-of-qanon-and-wellness-20200924-p55yu7.html
Plus shows that Evangelical Churches outside of the US, who would not align with US-style right-wing infused Evangelicalism, may still find Qanon an influence in their church through the gateway of members' interest in the wellness & fitness subcultures.
