religionnews.com/2020/08/17/qanon-the-alternative-religion-thats-coming-to-your-church/?s=04It’s not coming as is quite obvious through postings jere present and past, but it’s very much at home in Churches of God across the nation. This is expected as Jesus said in Matthew 24. But as so many of us don’t read Scripture anymore but read nice Bible study curricula or podcasts by neoreligious mavens, as the old book says, it came to pass.I’m so done with this mess and look to you for our nation’s salvation, not the mire of the sons of men squabbling with each other. Shorten the days, Lord. Por favor .. Let it come to pass and not stay________________www.spiritwatch.orgAm I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? Galatians 4:16
Politics aside – and please try to put them aside, even though QAnon does tend to align more with one side – I could not agree with this more.QAnon has become a massive internet phenomenon and they are without doubt currently trying to recruit. It is not even a conspiracy theory – it goes beyond that, as the article says, to a set of beliefs so unfalsifiable that they can only be described as a religion.In the past week I have seen members of my family innocently sharing and discussing false QAnon material about child abductions, etc. Fortunately I was able to have some discussions with them and show them where it was coming from.I would urge all pastors to educate themselves about the QAnon conspiracy theory and the way it has grown. Many Republicans have repudiated QAnon and people within the White House have expressed how stupid and dangerous it is. This does not need to be a political thing, even though it is politically charged. It is something everyone of all political stripes should be learning about so that they can recognize the early signs of adoption in friends, family, and fellow church members.
Thank you for sharing this________________
I think part of what contributes to this is artificial intelligence. Facebook and Google have algorithms that feed us what we like to see. If you like conspiracy theories a little, the algorithms may feed you more. If you stay on these platforms a lot, you are bombarded with these theories. They start to seem normal. Fox News is has a pro-Trump spin. They are more inclined to repeat things that support Trump. Conservatives get a certain spin to the information they take in.I’m not liberal, but I suspect liberals who have liberals on their Facebook feeds get liberal content and conspiracy theories. I consider some of the allegations against Trump to be akin to conspiracy theories. YouTube suggest content based on previously watched information. The psychological effect of these platforms is very powerful. I am not an MD, but isn’t there some evidence that hydroxychloroquine may actually be effective? Is it so unreasonable that there may be some hired employees working in the government trying to help oust Trump? That does not seem unlikely from the impeachment trials. Some conspiracy theories may be far fetched, but there may be enough truth to them to make them compelling.And the left-wing media does report ‘fake news’ to some extent. Just the selection of content– leaving out some of the bad things BLM protesters were doing, selecting junk left-wing content and making that out as newsworthy. The worst thing is the spin. I’ll give you an example. CNN had a page up on Roy Moore in which it said that he said that the 14th amendment, which extended Bill of Rights protections to states, was problematic. I looked it up, and he was talking about the problem of the states having no authority over gun rights. He seemed to be in favor of respecting the law, even though leaving gun rights out of the 14th amendment might be considered problematic. Rational liberals should certainly agree. This type of twisting arguments is so common on network news also. The reporter Trump had kicked out for a while said Trump was ‘lying’ for calling people coming across the border an ‘invasion.’ That’s biased an unprofessional language. He should have called it inflammatory language. Trump should watch his words, but it seems like the left wing side of the news apparatus in this country has definitely gone down the toilet, and Fox has a similar conservative spin. I can stomach Fox News. I can’t tell if it is because they are less snarky than CNN or MSNBC or if it is more palatable because Fox’s perspective is more palatable.
We’ve got a few Q disciples and they spend all their time spreading conspiracy theories on social media. When I try to counter their extremism they assure me that I’ve been brainwashed by the mainstream media. Q’s prophecies and predictions are always so generic they can be easily explained away when they don’t come to pass.
Link, I respect what you have written in this post, but the answer to this specific question is no. There has not been any serious evidence that hydroxychloroquine may be effective of which I’m aware, and there have been several serious studies that prove it is not. This is the only point in your post with which I take issue, but I thought it was important to highlight that this one is a huge, dangerous conspiracy theory________________
Link, I respect what you have written in this post, but the answer to this specific question is no. There has not been any serious evidence that hydroxychloroquine may be effective of which I’m aware, and there have been several serious studies that prove it is not. This is the only point in your post with which I take issue, but I thought it was important to highlight that this one is a huge, dangerous conspiracy theory. Consider this: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924857920300996?casa_token=XOncxD5FnE8AAAAA:wJ8cISzXItdyqrZYAHeV8yPZDAUin1qQNGSy7kCr-jzbXoKc2KfwF-M44w3teXoLso-RoZPgcHU
Thanks for sharing this information, Link. I will say upfront that I do not plan to reply to this topic in this thread again because it technically hijacks the thread. However, I will respond to the articles you shared.In response to the first study you posted, Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial, there are several links within the link you posted itself showing that this observational study is not considered serious evidence that HCQ works within the medical community.
ShawnbWilson,Observational data is data collected without the subjects knowledge or consent, right? That’s a research ethics issue. Why would it be a serious methodological one? If the data is foreign, it may not be a legal issue. I don’t know enough about the data to say one way or another, but would any scientist say the use of these medicines have been __debunked__. Have the combinations of medicines been used that the African doctor suggested.
I would agree, Eddie. I just disagree about who it is who is not only ignoring it but, as Paul wrote in Romans, are instead actively suppressing the truth…The truth does indeed matter.VIDEO INTERVIEW OF DR HARVEY RISCHDR HARVY RISCH to AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGYYALE MEDICAL SCHOOL DEPARTMENT HEAD DEFENDING DR RISCH
For every study that claims that HCQ does NOT help, you find another–just as reputable–study that claims the opposite.There are flaws in most studies. Some are more glaring or more serious. But consider that if a person is purposely lying about HCQ, that would deeply tarnish their record, could even cost them their license.I have just about concluded that NO ONE knows what to do. We hear that masks should NOT be wrong. Well, yes, wear masks. But not now. We hear that if you’ve been exposed to COVID-19, you must be tested. Then, today, we hear, nope, not unless you have symptoms (which is the way the Florida prison system proceeded at some point).What you believe (or don’t believe) seems dependent on your political leanings. For instance, I don’t know how my brothers/sisters on Actscelerate lean, but I dare say that if you are against Trump (even if you are conservative), you are also highly skeptical of HCQ. And vice versa. I don’t know what QANON is, though I have heard it mentioned many times. I just figure it’s more of the same, based on the postings here.It is indeed the case that Christians are utterly GULLIBLE when it comes to political sorts of facts. My wife, new to Facebook, asked me last night if it was true that people would be breaking the law if they didn’t stand for Lift Every Voice and Sing. I told her it wasn’t true. She has not yet had the time to set her mental filter for all the comes via Facebook. She is usually very skeptical, but see it in print….