Are You Q?

We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and adhere to His teachings - we believe in his death, burial , resurrection, and recognize that He is seated at the right hand of God the Father. Bible prophecy teaches us that world events will accelerate as we approach the day of His return. 2nd Peter 3 says that there will be critics of our deeply-held beliefs:
(3) scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,
4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."
5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

God has a plan, and it's laid out for us in His Word.  Events will occur, according to Scripture, that will pave the way for a one-world government, led by a man who would want to usurp the power of God. He will be defeated and Christ will return to establish His Kingdom forever. We can be encouraged by these words - we have to be astute when it comes to world events and be sure that we are learning what the Scriptures teach about the days to come.

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The Bible encourages us in 2nd Timothy 2 to hold fast to the truth of God's Word:
22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.
24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,
25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth...

As believers in Christ, we have a responsibility to stay grounded in Scripture.  There will be those who relate ideas that sound remarkably like the Word of God, but we have to recognize that there are deceivers in this world.

Which brings us to the so-called "Q" or "Q-Anon" philosophy, which has been termed a "conspiracy theory" or even a new religion.  Researchers Paul Djupe and Ryan Burge, in an article at the Religion in Public website, say, "While QAnon may be 'highly unoriginal' by drawing on existing conspiracy theories, their combination at this time under the Q label arguably constitutes a movement." They say:

We focused our attention on feelings toward the QAnon label using a feeling thermometer (running from 0 “cold” to 100 “warm”). And we also asked for agreement or disagreement with this statement which we adopted from Eric Oliver,

Within the upper reaches of government, media, and finance, a secretive group of elites are thwarting Donald Trump’s efforts at reform, fomenting street violence, and engaging in child trafficking and other crimes.

In their analysis, they engage in this "you could be a Q supporter, if" rhetoric. For instance, they say, "...a strong majority (almost 60 percent) agreed or strongly agreed with the 'upper reaches of government'” statement listed above. It’s not wholly owned by Republicans, however, as a quarter of Independents and thirty percent of Democrats agreed as well."  Then, they begin to try to link Biblical ideas about the nature of evil in the world and the end times with Q, stating:

Those who believe in a fallen world, where evil acts unfettered, also tend to believe in the idea of an end times, when heaven and earth will be reunited, perhaps after the forces of good and evil meet for a final battle (there are many versions of the end times tale). We asked if “We are very likely entering the prophesied ‘end times’” and 42 percent of the sample agreed. Validating the arguments in early reporting, end times believers are more likely to believe in Q, too.

And, then of course, you see the element of the so-called "Christian nationalist." The survey summary says, "Put together with the religious beliefs in evil, Christian nationalists could be susceptible to the idea that a vast conspiracy has taken root opposed to God’s anointed champion of their cause – Donald Trump – a belief that has been growing through his term in office." They add, "Only an eighth of the least Christian nationalist believe in Q, but huge numbers of the most ardent Christian nationalists are QAnon believers. Almost 80 percent of politically interested Christian nationalists believe in Q, though it is a bit less among those with less political interest."  And, those who might tend to embrace Q, they contend, may also be concerned about persecution of Christians.

Well, no doubt the awareness of this "conspiracy theory" is growing, but people are not quite sure what it is.  Pew Research states:

In a Feb. 18-March 2 survey, about a quarter (23%) of U.S. adults said they had heard “a lot” or “a little” about QAnon. By September, that number had increased to 47%. At the same time, though, very few Americans have heard a lot about it: 9% as of September, up from 3% in February.

The survey report also states: "When asked to describe QAnon, people most often mentioned that it was a group of some kind (41%) or a conspiracy group or theory (44%). When Americans who said they had heard at least a little about QAnon were asked to write in their own words what they thought it was, they were most likely to describe it as a group of some kind or include a more specific description of it as a conspiracy group or theory."

So, it seems in the general public, there's a knowledge of QAnon, but people don't really know what it is. Unfortunately, there seems to be a mislabeling of traditional Christian thought, especially regarding matters of end times theology and even religious freedom, as being tied in somehow to Q. It's easy to label someone a "conspiracy theorist" these days, and we have to be careful that our belief systems are rooted in Biblical truth and practical reality.  

But, it can be easy to dismiss a person's beliefs by merely labeling him or her as a conspiracy adherent. This is dangerous and does not promote unity.  There will be matters over which we disagree, but we have to be careful not to ostracize someone or "cancel" him or her out merely because their position does not line up with ours. I do believe that we have to be prepared to defend our positions Biblically, and make sure that we are guided by the Spirit.