QAnon seen having same popularity as some major religions in US, poll suggests

A significant 15 percent of Americans agree with the QAnon allegation that “the government, media, and financial worlds in the United States are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation.”

These are the results of a PRRI-IFYC study conducted online March 8-30.

It was released May 28 on the conspiracy that is known to divide religions, nations, families and to destroy friendships.

The poll examines ties between religious beliefs and belief in false conspiracy theories.

White evangelicals and Hispanic Protestants were the most susceptible to the QAnon theory.

QAnon, or simply Q, is a discredited American far-right conspiracy theory alleging that a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic pedophiles run a global child sex trafficking ring.

That ring conspired against former President Donald Trump during his term in office it claims.

QAnon is commonly described as a cult, according to Wikipedia.

It is not a religion but has many relgious adherents backing the conspiracy particularly from the white evangelical communtiy.

Despite the findings, the vast majority of Americans (82 percent) disagree with such statements.

Republicans (23 percent) are significantly more likely than independents (14 percent) and Democrats (8 percent) to agree that the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation.

‘STORM COMING’

Similarly, one in five Americans (20 percent) agree with the statement “There is a storm coming soon that will sweep away the elites in power and restore the rightful leaders,” while a majority (77 percent) disagree.

Generally speaking, for all three questions, white evangelical Protestants, Hispanic Protestants, and Mormons are more likely than other groups to agree with each of these tenets of the QAnon conspiracy movement.

Nearly three in 10 Republicans (28 percent), compared to 18 percet of independents and 14 percent of Democrats, agree with this secondary QAnon conspiracy theory.

Trends among demographic groups are similar to those of the core QAnon conspiracy theory.

Generally speaking, across all three questions, white evangelical Protestants, Hispanic Protestants, and Mormons are more likely than other groups to agree with each of these tenets of the QAnon conspiracy movement.

And the study finds that Republicans, those who trust far-right news outlets like OANN and Newsmax, and white evangelicals and Hispanic Protestants are all more likely to believe these statements than other Americans.

Robby Jones, the founder of PRRI, said in an interview carried in The New York Times that he was struck by the prevalence of QAnon’s adherents.

Overlaying the share of poll respondents who expressed belief in its core principles over the country’s total population, “that’s more than 30 million people,” he said.

“Thinking about QAnon, if it were a religion, it would be as big as all white evangelical Protestants, or all white mainline Protestants,” he added. “So it lines up there with a major religious group.”

It is not only in the United States the QAnon draws interest, European groups affiliated to QAnon or related to the movement are growing on social media, AFP reported on May 17 in a report carried by France 24.

QANON IN EUROPE

European groups affiliated to QAnon or related to the movement are growing on social media.

Some 30,000 subscribers of messaging app Telegram follow the so-called DeQodeurs in France, more than 100,000 follow German conspiracy theory figures Attila Hildmann and Xavier Naidoo, while almost 150,000 follow Briton Charlie Ward, who offers subscribers a near incessant flow of pro-Donald Trump montages.

“There is a cocktail in place,” a source in the intelligence community in France told AFP, noting there were grounds for concern over the issue.

“Conspiracy theories have taken off significantly with social networks.

“We see now that people are organizing themselves in clandestine cells. Obviously it is a threat,” said France’s national intelligence coordinator Laurent Nunez, acknowledging that QAnon theories have arrived in the country.

In Denmark, Men in Black group members insist that the novel coronavirus is just a “scam”, while in Berlin, demonstrations against restrictions can rally up to 10,000 people, many brandishing QAnon flags.