QanonCausalties Support Group

[Revoltingest]

Interesting list. Even more interesting what you didn't list.

It was far from an exhaustive list.

Alien, shape-shifting lizards! Why didn't you list those? Do you have something to hide? Just asking questions.

If I told you, I'd have to silence you.

 

[Callisto]

The Guardian published an article today in which a survey shows 70% of Republicans do not think the U.S. election were free and fair. Before the election a poll indicated 35% of Republicans thought the election would be free and fair. This in itself is a profoundly alarming indicator on the state of American politics right now.

However, this is twenty-twenty, and the fun just doesn't stop there.

The Guardian then draws an link between this state of affairs and polling data which suggests that half of Trump supporters believe in the "Qanon Conspiracy Theory" in which "a cabal of satan-worshipping paedophiles is running a global child sex-trafficking ring and plotting against Donald J. Trump, with is [supposedly] fighting the cabel." (Wikipedia). This means that more than half of Trump supporters, based on this polling data, believe that leading Democrats are involved in child-sex trafficking. However, as we know from election day, polling isn't everything and these numbers should be tempered by trying to understand the depth and degree of that support as well as accounting for the inaccuracies inevitably involved in polling.

I don't really know how to respond to that or even where to begin. It is quite an assault on the assumptions of western rationality which have already been greatly tested by the onslaught of previous years "craziness". But having wrestled with my own experiences of extremism, and knowing that it is remarkably easy to be seduced by compelling narratives from a position of vulnerability, it is both frightening and pitiful to think of so many people have succumbed to this and are in need of help. It is frankly just tragic, but here we are.

So I feel somewhat obligated to share the link to the group on reddit called "Qanoncasualties" where people can get emotional support for those who, as they put it, have had "a loved one who's been taken in by Qanon conspiracy theory." Its not much, but you never know how much difference small acts of compassion can make. Sometimes it just good to know you aren't alone. Maybe you'll share it with others if you feel so inclined.

Obviously, please take this thread as an opportunity to discuss your experiences and views on the Qanon conspiracy theory. Perhaps you or someone you care about has been affected by it and you may be able to offer worthwhile advice. It certainly bring the peculiar unreality and irrationality of our times in to context.

Any thoughts ladies and gents? Perhaps you'd like to burst in to song and give us all a musical solo number to creepy church organ music to express the horror of the times? Just stay safe and stay as sane as you can.

I say this in all seriousness and without contempt: this just underscores just how much mental health needs to be better addressed in this country. There comes a point where things go from simply difference of opinions to full own questionable grasp on reality. This is just another iteration of Pizzagate - the 2016 conspiracy claiming pizza restaurants served as a front for a child trafficking ring that supposedly Clinton was involved in. Restaurant owners were harassed, one place was shot up and set on fire (two separate attacks). These conspiracies are dangerous and can cost ruination and possibly lives all because someone is malicious and knows there's always a portion of the population that is incapable of rational thought. It's literally playing with people's lives.