My mother called me an "extremist" for pointing out the links between QAnon and American Christianity.
(The anatomy of a thread)
(The anatomy of a thread)
My parents aren't a part of QAnon (they aren't really even all that online other than forays into Facebook and a diet of Conservative news sources) but I'm watching as they are slowly being drawn in to a variety of Right-Wing conspiracy theories.
The popular one right now is that Black Lives Matter is really a "Marxist, terrorist, organization" and that various BLM "operatives" are responsible for the majority of rioting, looting, and violence that has sprung up since the murder of George Floyd. (See also: Paid Protester)
What resulted in my being called an extremist, however, was a lengthy thread discussing the links between QAnon, Western folklore, and American Evangelical Christianity. Apparently, making note of Right-Wing extremism is evidence of personal Left-Wing extremism.
And it made me realize that there are certain characteristics that these Conservative-leaning conspiracists very effectively target. Aside from a penchant for cognitive dissonance (à la Festinger), this is what I have noticed in the people they're after as converts:
1. Little or no sense of the outside world beyond one's immediate surroundings. I.e., One's "home town" being the limits of what they know of or think of as important about the world.
This dovetails on the tendency not to care about an issue until it affects one personally.
This dovetails on the tendency not to care about an issue until it affects one personally.
2. No understanding of contexts or systems. Everything is reduced to individuals and the perceived intents of those individuals.
(Caveat: this can be rescinded when it suits their purposes and nuance considered if it makes their arguments looks better.)
(Caveat: this can be rescinded when it suits their purposes and nuance considered if it makes their arguments looks better.)
3. They are the holders of "real" knowledge. What they know is universal. Their experiences are universal. And this knowledge enters them into the community of "Those Who Know What's Really Going On." In short, the identity becomes key.
4. Building on that sense of identity, this is a group of people who feel isolated and ignored from the kinds of power they feel entitled to (even if they aren't) and would very much like the world to go back to being made in their image.
5. As such, as critique or deconstruction of their views is met with immediate hostility because, for them, this is not a re-thinking or criticism of ideas, it's a personal attack on their very sense of self.
"Destroying America" means them specifically.
"Destroying America" means them specifically.
6. They honestly do not see things from any other point of view other than their own. They are informed only by their personal experiences and understandings. And anything that refutes that wisdom is the enemy and must be exiled.
This is how I ended up a "Far Left Extremist." There is no quarter for ideas that do not align with theirs and no benefit of the doubt that, though you might disagree, you are both thinking and acting in good faith.
Facts, reality, and/or truth don't actually matter. They will read and interpret all presented information through the lens of the conspiracy even if said information directly refutes its existence. Or demonstrates that the narrative is nonsensical.
This was how a quoted Bible verse I explained in detail and which was then sent back to me could be read as saying something that was completely the opposite of what it explicitly said.
In short, conspiracy theorists will not be convinced that they are incorrect on anything. Because they don't want to be. The truth isn't important. Being right is.
