How Does Qanon Differ from Christianity?

Every movement, tells a story about the world. Sometimes, a simple sketch of the contours of these stories can provide a mental GPS for navigating their terrain.

What Every Story Has  

• quest

• a threat and/or villain who desires to thwart that quest

• a hero who can rescue us from the threat 

• a creed: the beliefs the hero says we must hold to for rescue

• a remedy what the hero says we must do to be free from this threat

• a hope: picture of a good future that will bring our true happiness

A Sketch of the Story Qanon Tells us About the World

What story is Q telling about the purpose of our lives and the world?

The quest: a life of happiness with traditional conservative American values

• The threat? Our American way of life. 

• The villain? Democrats, the liberal elite, who are all involved in a conspiracy to enslave children for sex, and other despicable acts.

• The hero? President, Donald Trump and the Republicans who follow him

• The creed/authority? The riddles, clues and information given by Q. (even when contradictory to itself), all democrats are evil, all those who follow Q are righteous. 

• The remedy? Republican vigilance, violence and even executions if necessary, of evil liberals 

• The hope? That America will enter a new golden age of utopia by returning to what it once was 

Contrast Q with the Story Jesus Tells

• The quest: Reconciliation to God, to love God and my neighbor as myself including my enemy. 

• The threat: Being separated from the God who created us, alienated from others and within ourselves, fragmented from love

• The villain: our sin, death, the devil and worldliness as Jesus defines it, whether we are American or otherwise, republican, democrat or otherwise. All of us are like sheep who’ve gone astray, Jesus says.

• The hero: God revealing Himself in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for any sinner no matter who they are

• The creed/authority: The way of Jesus according to the Bible

• The remedy: The perfect life, sacrificial death, bodily resurrection and return of Jesus. His righteousness not ours. 

• The hope: Forgiven sinners from every tribe tongue and nation are recovered to the God who created them, recovered to peace with others and within themselves. In Jesus, and live together with him forever. 

Sketching the story of a movement like this doesn’t give us all the nuance and detail that an in-depth study will provide. More study is required.

But when we feel confused about how movements differ, sometimes a quick sketch of the story they tell can help us get our bearings.

Whether you love Jesus or not, one thing is certain. The story Jesus tells differs dramatically from the one that Q is offering the world.