There is a lot to say about the year of 2020 and the previous 4 years, but most of what I would say has already been written and said. The small portion that I think is valuable will be written on another time and day. So for today I thought I would write about something that I hope some will take and pray about and some will take and help those who are caught up in a political cult that is in these days very intertwined sadly with their faith even though they don't see it. It's interesting that there are not many Christians talking about the cult of Q in any sense of warning against it or helping those who are caught up in it. Which to me is accusation as to how much the church is both blind to it and/or caught in it by many Evangelicals being caught up in this Q conspiratorial thinking.

For some background I suggest watching these two reports on it:

Now that we have got some background on Q and some of these racist, antisemitic, and disgusting conspiracy theories, let's look at the what is meant by cult.

Cult is loosely defined as a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange, novel, socially deviant or sinister.

While it is more on religion, many examples show a political group can take on religious undertones and practices.

Additionally, some aspects of Q fit into what is normally identifying marks of a damaging cult:

1. The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader, and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.
2. Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
3. Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, or debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).
4. The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (e.g., members must get permission to date, change jobs, or marryor leaders prescribe what to wear, where to live, whether to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).
5. The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s), and its members (e.g., the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avataror the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).
6. The group has a polarized, us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.
7. The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders, or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).
8. The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (e.g., lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).
9. Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.

We can see that the QAnon Cult has these aspects in many ways. It also preys on the disunity and current starvation for community in society that existed even before the pandemic.

Since I sadly couldn't find any Christian resources on this, I'm posting a non-Christian but helpful source on helping those caught up with Q:

4 Keys to Help Someone Climb Out of the QAnon Rabbit Hole

And some hope for those who are coming out of the QAnon nightmare:

Some QAnon Supporters Checked By Reality Seek A Way Out

Finally, on Twitter, I commented on one of my favorite childhood writers, S.E. Hinton post on the article above and I got a retweet which was a nice surprise: