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The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

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Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#71

Post by stillbourne »

aleister_777 wrote: post #12

It seems like the media is talking about this more than anyone else at this point. There have literally been over 2000 articles written to debunk this. The content has been banned from reddit, twitter and other platforms. Why is everyone so vigilant to call it "dangerous"? Why not flat earth and chem trails? Why all the attention for this one thing?

Let me tell you why this is dangerous. QAnon evolved from an earlier movement, the spiritual warfare cult. My Father's family was all very deeply entrenched in this movement and while QAnon may be a new movement the spiritual warfare cult has been around a long time and rears its ugly head in many ways. While I was growing up the spiritual warfare cult was being expressed as the satanic daycare abuse scandals and the satanic abuse panics for the mid-80's and 90's. After my mother ran away with me from my father for being a physically abusive dick his entire side of the family came together to attempt to regain custody from my mother by saying that she was a satan worshiper. The case dragged on through the courts for years, I was sent to a church shrink that basically brainwashed me into saying whatever they wanted me to in front of a camera and my grandparents and father ultimately won the custody battle. It took years for me to realize what had happened to me. Needless to say, it ruined my life, my mothers life, my brother's, and my step father's. I have extreme trust issues with romantic partner's to this day.

I first heard about QAnon when I heard about the Cosmos Pizzeria accusations of hosting a basement full of children that were being "sacrificed to satan" and then canabalistically eaten by democrat elites in DC. Don't think that's harmless well what about the guy that shot up the place in an attempt to free those children from the nonexistent basement. Seems pretty dangerous to me.

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#72

Post by throwaway_pdp09 »

kodyo wrote: post #44

When people lose faith in the people who are supposed to be telling the truth, they look for other things to fill the gap. The media is unreliable to say the least, government is compromised and corrupt, the academy is both self-serving and "woke." Why wouldn't alternative explanations for things seem appealing at this point?

Your post is the 4th made from an account created 12 months ago. What that means I don't know. But it's signalling a lot of 'you can't trust anything' which is interesting.

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#73

Post by sunseb »

alexilliamson wrote: post #50
sunseb wrote: post #15

Black Live Matters and QAnon = two sides of the same coin brainwashing people. Blue (democrats) or Red (republicans): pick your poison.

You might not agree that Black lives matter, but it's not a conspiracy theory. With BLM, people are opting in to a social movement rooted in observed police violence. QAnon is not tethered to reality in the slightest.

[flagged]

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#74

Post by anthony_romeo »

sunseb wrote: post #26
aleister_777 wrote: post #12

It seems like the media is talking about this more than anyone else at this point. There have literally been over 2000 articles written to debunk this. The content has been banned from reddit, twitter and other platforms. Why is everyone so vigilant to call it "dangerous"? Why not flat earth and chem trails? Why all the attention for this one thing?

Media are endlessly debunking QAnon and PizzaGate, yet no media is investigating things like Epstein network (Mr Clinton traveled like 30 times in the famous island - he must really liked the beach).

I'm pretty sure I've heard plenty about the Epstein network from the mainstream media over the past couple of years. Are you really sure there's no media investigating it?

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#75

Post by tmpz22 »

elliekelly wrote: post #58
drcongo wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is going to get voted down to hell, but I'd like to reply before it does: America really does have a long history of huge numbers of people believing absolutely insane things. QAnon is the new satanic panic. I'd love to know how and why, but I think the answer is probably just religion.

I’ve seen quite a few people connect the rise of “main stream” conspiracy theories in the US to the demise of religion here. I suppose I could see that as a plausible explanation. But why is it that Europe seemed able to move on from religion without turning to conspiracies? Is the answer as simple as Europe reaching the secular “tipping point” before the age of social media?

I disagree, look at the origins of the Mormon religion and just their first 50 years of history - this stuff has been happening forever and it usually involves groups of people being killed/raped/tortured for being against it.

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#76

Post by dogman144 »

flaque wrote: post #30
aleister_777 wrote: post #12

It seems like the media is talking about this more than anyone else at this point. There have literally been over 2000 articles written to debunk this. The content has been banned from reddit, twitter and other platforms. Why is everyone so vigilant to call it "dangerous"? Why not flat earth and chem trails? Why all the attention for this one thing?

The scale of QAnon is much bigger than the others. There's a QAnon candidate in Georgia who's won her primary for a senate seat. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/us/politics/marjorie-tayl...

HoR seat but yes

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#77

Post by luckylion »

kodyo wrote: post #44

When people lose faith in the people who are supposed to be telling the truth, they look for other things to fill the gap. The media is unreliable to say the least, government is compromised and corrupt, the academy is both self-serving and "woke." Why wouldn't alternative explanations for things seem appealing at this point?

Especially when those alternative explanations are exciting (Spies everywhere!) and simple ("Oh, so that's why!") instead of boring, vague, complex, and nuanced.

I believe there's also a fair bit of package-deals. If you believe in one thing, you trust people more who also believe in that thing ("they see the world as it really is"). If they also believe in something else, that's a strong vote for that other thing.

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#78

Post by matwood »

tjpnz wrote: post #49
bearjaws wrote: post #2

As someone with a family member who is falling into this non-sense, I will tell you it is extremely dangerous. We essentially have some teenager on 4chan trolling an entire audience of probably hundreds of thousands of individuals. They now believe Trump is our savior and the deep state wants to take him down. There are violent undertones to the entire conspiracy and I do worry they are going to turn into terrorists.

>We essentially have some teenager on 4chan trolling an entire audience of probably hundreds of thousands of individuals. That's the most plausible explanation and I've explained it that way to several people already. Doesn't work though - you'll either be dismissed or discover later on that they've found a way of reconciling it with their already crackpot worldview.

Maybe that's how it started, but I think foreign actors work to amplify what's happening. I can't help but thinking of this paper though:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6137759/

> Conclusions. Whereas bots that spread malware and unsolicited content disseminated antivaccine messages, Russian trolls promoted discord. Accounts masquerading as legitimate users create false equivalency, eroding public consensus on vaccination.

Substitute any other absurd topic. By having any discussion at all, it legitimizes position.

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#79

Post by sudosysgen »

sonotathrowaway wrote: post #62
99_00 wrote: post #35

All misinformation is a risk and threat. But Qanon seems minor when compared to others that are perpetuated by major news organization and undermine democracy: Russia collusion conspiracy theory, fine people on both sides hoax (the belief that the President called neo-nazis fine people). These have much more public and institutional support than QAnon.

I’m sure Trump’s love of neo-nazi imagery, slogans, ideas, policies, and people is just a coincidence, like the video he tweets of his supporters yelling ‘white power’. I’m sure it’s all a hoax, like his support of the very fine neo-nazis that killed heather heyer or the trump tower meeting with veselnitskya.

The ad with the downwards red triangles had me spooked, personally.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/18/trump-cam...

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#80

Post by dleslie »

hammock wrote: post #53

What if we thought of QAnon as a political party?

It's not so dissimilar to the Tea Party movement in its early days. That was a fringe tax-revolt movement that relied heavily on misconceptions and ignorance about how progressive taxation works and who benefits from social spending; and it really took off when it gained assistance from private capital and public figures.
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