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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 w

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 6y ago
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 6y ago
  > 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 6y ago
    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.
zimpenfish 6y ago
> Obsession does not mean religion. I can't believe such drivel makes it past the Atlantic's editorial. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion #4 > a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith That definition certainly applies to QAnon, no?
- badrabbit 6y ago
  No it does not. First, you very well know that is not the definition any english speaker identifies as religion. Second, you may think it's by faith but to them it's facts, so even by that definition it's wrong. Is anti-vaxxing a religion? Is flat-earth conspiracy a religion? This is the sort of dishonesty disguised with well wordes intellectual phrasing I despise. No reasonable adult believes any of these things are a religion. I have a fun one, is FOSS a religion if I have faith that it will lead to the best outcome for society and I hold that belief with ardor?
  - gdulli 6y ago
    We invoke the metaphor of religion to describe fanatical adherence to technology preferences all the time. It doesn't mean we think the metaphor involves every aspect of actual religion.
    - badrabbit 6y ago
      As a metaphor or to exaggerate? Sure. In this case the article is taking it literally!
  - zimpenfish 6y ago
    > First, you very well know that is not the definition any english speaker identifies as religion. It's certainly not the first one people may go to but it is by no means the only understanding English speakers have of religion. I'm a native English speaker and I will attest that I perfectly well understand that usage. > Second, you may think it's by faith but to them it's facts https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith "something that is believed especially with strong conviction" - kinda duplicating the "ardor" but absolutely nothing to do with whether things are facts or otherwise. > is FOSS a religion if I have faith that it will lead to the best outcome for society and I hold that belief with ardor? By MW's definition? Yes, it can be.
solidasparagus 6y ago
I think in the full article, the religious overtones are pretty obvious. The coming apocalypse, the 'true-believers have nothing to fear', Q as a prophet, the biblical quotes, Q encouraging prayer. Also quotes from adherents such as "I feel God led me to Q. I really feel like God pushed me in this direction." or "My dreams have suggested that God wants me to keep my attention focused on politics and current events". New religions don't emerge fully-formed, they splinter from existing religions. QAnon appears to have a Christian basis. You can argue whether or not that's overstating the religious connotations of QAnon, but IMO the article makes a pretty compelling case and certainly isn't drivel that shouldn't have made it past the Atlantics editors.

amanaplanacanal 6y ago

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 6y ago
> 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 6y ago
  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.

zimpenfish 6y ago

> Obsession does not mean religion. I can't believe such drivel makes it past the Atlantic's editorial. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion #4 > a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith That definition certainly applies to QAnon, no?

badrabbit 6y ago
No it does not. First, you very well know that is not the definition any english speaker identifies as religion. Second, you may think it's by faith but to them it's facts, so even by that definition it's wrong. Is anti-vaxxing a religion? Is flat-earth conspiracy a religion? This is the sort of dishonesty disguised with well wordes intellectual phrasing I despise. No reasonable adult believes any of these things are a religion. I have a fun one, is FOSS a religion if I have faith that it will lead to the best outcome for society and I hold that belief with ardor?
- gdulli 6y ago
  We invoke the metaphor of religion to describe fanatical adherence to technology preferences all the time. It doesn't mean we think the metaphor involves every aspect of actual religion.
  - badrabbit 6y ago
    As a metaphor or to exaggerate? Sure. In this case the article is taking it literally!
- zimpenfish 6y ago
  > First, you very well know that is not the definition any english speaker identifies as religion. It's certainly not the first one people may go to but it is by no means the only understanding English speakers have of religion. I'm a native English speaker and I will attest that I perfectly well understand that usage. > Second, you may think it's by faith but to them it's facts https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith "something that is believed especially with strong conviction" - kinda duplicating the "ardor" but absolutely nothing to do with whether things are facts or otherwise. > is FOSS a religion if I have faith that it will lead to the best outcome for society and I hold that belief with ardor? By MW's definition? Yes, it can be.

solidasparagus 6y ago

I think in the full article, the religious overtones are pretty obvious. The coming apocalypse, the 'true-believers have nothing to fear', Q as a prophet, the biblical quotes, Q encouraging prayer. Also quotes from adherents such as "I feel God led me to Q. I really feel like God pushed me in this direction." or "My dreams have suggested that God wants me to keep my attention focused on politics and current events". New religions don't emerge fully-formed, they splinter from existing religions. QAnon appears to have a Christian basis. You can argue whether or not that's overstating the religious connotations of QAnon, but IMO the article makes a pretty compelling case and certainly isn't drivel that shouldn't have made it past the Atlantics editors.