This is another one of those self-indulgent posts in which I spend my (unpaid) time writing about a subject that other (paid) people handle much better than I can or do. But hey! Sometimes you just hafta express yourself!
I was inspired to write this post because of a video I watched by a man named Brandon Holthaus who is the pastor of a church out in California called Rock Harbor and who makes “prophecy update” videos about once a week. I had been told that he’d “thoroughly debunked” the whole QA hoo-ha, which seemed a little unlikely given the other nonsense he peddles, but I decided to check this particular video out. So I watched the first little bit. Hmmm, I thought, He seems to be on the right track. He said something I’ve said repeatedly, that a belief in conspiracy theory is actually a form of Gnosticism, the idea that there’s some “secret knowledge” out there that only the initiated, the worthy, can know. It’s a very seductive idea, which, if you think about it, goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden when Satan said to Eve, “In the day you eat of it you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” This school of thought is totally opposed to the message of the Gospel, which is “whosoever will may come and drink of the water of life freely.” C. S. Lewis says something somewhere about the Gospel’s being “as plain as bread and as clear as water.” In other words, the idea of secrecy and mysticism is satanic, not godly.
So far, so good. Then this pastor said that it was a mistake to think of Donald Trump as a savior, and that only Jesus could save us. Okay, great. Good to hear that, too. But I decided to go ahead and watch the segment specifically on QAnon. Just in case you’ve missed out on this idea (lucky you, if so—but your luck just ran out), the QA conspiracy—and I’m not making this up, I swear—says that there’s a worldwide cabal of globalists and elitists who, among other things, are pedophiles and child murderers, using the blood and other bodily fluids of the children to renew their youth—so cannibals as well. “Wait!” you may say, clutching your head, “Nobody actually believes this!” Well, folks, we have two QA believers running for Congress in the upcoming election, and one of them, Marjorie Taylor Greene, will probably win her seat since she’s running in Georgia, a heavily-Republican state. Nothin’ like a few cuckoos in Congress, I always say.
If you’re up on your history you’ll immediately see parallels between this theory and one circulated during the Middle Ages about the Jews kidnapping Christian children and drinking their blood. (Side note here: Any time you see the words “elitists” or “globalists” you know you’re dealing with ideas that have anti-Semitic roots. And yet many of the people who most loudly espouse their support of Israel buy into these theories. Holthaus has an Israeli flag displayed along with the American flag in the background of his video. Weird, huh?) And if you’re up on your iconic movies you’ll recognize “our precious bodily fluids” from Dr. Strangelove.
So what does Holthaus say specifically about QAnon? Does he really debunk it? Well, I’ll post the video below so you can judge for yourself, but here are some of his main ideas:
- QAnon is the idea that there’s a globalist worldwide cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who control everything.
- There are elements of truth in that. We know that the elites—politicians, the UN—are moving us toward a one-world government.
- We know that lots of these people are pedophiles. Like whom? Well, Jeffrey Epstein, for one, he says. Look at the people around him—we know that there’s a lot of that going on. But—my insertion here–just as a matter of public record, the “people around” Jeffrey Epstein have included Donald Trump. (and Bill Clinton.)
- A lot of these people are Satan worshipers. We’ve seen a lot of these people get involved in “spirit cooking,”* like John Podesta and Hillary Clinton.
- George Soros is of course involved, with these politicians “doing his bidding.” “Yes,” Holthaus says, “that’s true.” (Poor old George! He gets blamed for just about everything!)
- So, Holthaus says, all of the foregoing is true, or has truthful elements to it. He actually does believe that Podesta and Hillary Clinton have been involved in this whole thing. (Can anyone say “Pizzagate”?) He actually does believe that George Soros is pulling the strings. (Soros is Jewish, by the way.)
- BUT—these QAnon people go too far when they say that Donald Trump is going to save the world from this Satanic worldwide conspiracy. That’s the part that they get wrong.
You see what’s been done here? In the name of debunking a ludicrous conspiracy theory, this man (and many others like him, believe me—Holthaus is a very tiny rivulet in a huge river of this bilge) actually supports great swathes of it. The whole thing is very cleverly done. As a sadly misled Christian, you can tell yourself, “Well, I haven’t been sucked into this nonsense! I don’t believe in Donald Trump as Savior of the world! I’m good! But I also know that Hillary Clinton is a Satan-worshipping blood-drinker!” It’s a way of having it both ways. The right hand giveth, and the left hand taketh away. It’s very insidious.
Man! What’s next—the Dark Ages?
*What’s “spirit cooking,” by the way? It’s a term used by a seriously weird artist named Marina Abramovic who does art installations that include “recipes” with ingredients such “13,000 grams of jealousy.” She’s a strange, strange woman—but that’s about as far as it goes. Podesta’s brother Tony apparently donated to a Kickstarter campaign of hers, and because of that connection John was also invited to a dinner at her house, which he didn’t attend. That’s about it.
Here’s the video. If you’re interested specifically in the QAnon section, that begins at around 18:15: