I’ve always been intrigued and, at the same time, disgusted by cults. It falls under my umbrella interest in psychology which started at age 13 when I picked up a psychology book my father had left in the living room. Then I was off to the library reading Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, B.F. Skinner, the list goes on.
It’s an interest that dovetails with my interest in writing fiction – because psychology comes into play when developing fictional characters and story plot lines.
During the start of the COVID lockdown, I binge-watched Leah Remini’s documentary series on Scientology. Over the years, I’ve read bits here and there about this faux religion yet, after watching interview after interview of former members, I was blown away.
How could seemingly normal people allow themselves to be sucked into believing this garbage? How could they allow it to take over their lives? Voluntarily endure extreme mental and physical abuse? Ex-communicate their own children?
Especially since the entire, insane belief system was cooked up by a science fiction writer: L. Ron Hubbard. A second-rate science fiction writer at that – let’s just say he was no Phillip K. Dick. In fact, P. K. Dick, a contemporary of Hubbard in the mid-1950s, wrote a novelette poking fun at Hubbard’s insane ideas: The Turning Wheel.
By now you’re likely wondering what does this have to do with Qanon? Bear with me.
Back in 2017, the first time I read a reference to “Q” was on the far-left site, Caucus99 (I occasionally lurk C99 because their psychology intrigues me as well).
A member of the site quoted a cryptic message from “Q” that they’d found posted on 4chan. It was explained that “Q” was a military higher-up who started leaking to the world what was really going on in the “Deep State.”
Of course, the first thing that came to my mind is that “Q” (short for Quartermaster) is a character in the James Bond movies who makes the weapon gadgets for 007.
It seemed to me that the early “Deep State” conspiracy theories “leaked” by “Q” on 4chan, starting in 2017, were straight out of a spy novel – the work of a fiction writer using the “What if” method to develop a story concept.
“What if earth was originally a dumping ground that ancient aliens used to get rid of the worst of their kind?” (Scientology).
“What if a shadowy Black ops group brainwashed and trained soldiers to be super assassins and then one of them suddenly lost his memory?” (The Bourne Identity).
“What if voting machines were rigged by the evil Deep State to ensure trump lost the election because the Deep State fears our patriot hero?” (Qanon).
What we know as Qanon today was started by three people who took it upon themselves to interpret the early and cryptic 4chan posts of someone named “Q.”
From an NBC article:
How three conspiracy theorists took ‘Q’ and sparked Qanon
In November 2017, a small-time YouTube video creator and two moderators of the 4chan website, one of the most extreme message boards on the internet, banded together and plucked out of obscurity an anonymous and cryptic post from the many conspiracy theories that populated the website's message board.
Over the next several months, they would create videos, a Reddit community, a business and an entire mythology based off the 4chan posts of “Q,” the pseudonym of a person claiming to be a high-ranking military officer. The theory they espoused would become Qanon, and it would eventually make its way from those message boards to national media stories and the rallies of President Donald Trump.
This article is worth the read and aligns with a strong hunch I’ve had since the start: the original “Q” of 2017 may be a fiction writer who jumped onto 4chan to rattle the cages of crazy conspiracy theorists as a lark. And, whoever the original “Q” may be is long gone -- the myth taken over by the people featured in the above referenced article.
How did I come up with this?
By comparing and contrasting the quality of writing of the early “Q” posts to Qanon postings, today -- a literary analysis of sorts.
For example: Pizzagate predates the first appearance of “Q” and is clearly garden-variety, nutjob CT that almost ended in murder. However, there’s no spark of creativity in Pizzagate and not a shred of plausibility — which is a cornerstone of good fiction.
In those early days, when the cryptic “Q” 4chan posts first appeared, what this “insider” was saying back in 2017 had the ring of intricate spy-fiction plots that could have come out of the Bourne franchise and others in the spy genre.
As a writer and reader of fiction, I’m good at discerning when the hand of a fiction writer is at play. There are a number of tells indicating when a talented writer is putting forth a message verses the average Joe who hasn’t written a lick of fiction in his life.
What’s currently coming out of Qanon — writing style and tone, POV, nonsensical lies, etc. — vastly differs from the original “Q” messaging. Current Qanon theories are far less sophisticated and imaginative than the early “Q” postings.
I would not be surprised if the first and original “Q” had bowed out long ago — likely embarrassed or horrified that his/her “What if” fiction morphed into a full-fledged cult of people who actually believe this current junk is real.
Another thing that supports my argument:
“Q” is no longer discussed or taken seriously on Caucus99. Those early “Q” postings about the “Deep State” had just enough plausibility (the sign of a good fiction writer) for Caucus99 members to take seriously.
But when the Qanon CT grew whackier and whackier, “Q” was no longer quoted or discussed on the site. At this point in time, some members of C99 poke fun at Qanon, conveniently forgetting they once thought “Q” was a real “Deep State” operative with a conscience leaking the truth on 4chan.
Tying this back to Scientology, Tony Ortega, a former editor of The Village Voice, has been investigating and writing about the horrors of Scientology since the mid-90s. His blog, The Underground Bunker, continues to monitor this dangerous cult and also reports on other abusive cults.
Currently, Ortega has been posting updates on what’s happening in Qanon world. Which is a logical segue since Qanon exhibits all the benchmarks of a cult and, if my hunch is correct, may have originated with a fiction writer, as did Scientology.
The horror of Qanon is that it’s influenced so many seemingly normal people who believe “Q” is a real political insider. This article from the Atlantic does a deep dive into the demographics of what we’re witnessed on Jan. 6th and well worth the read (emphasis mine):
… a closer look at the people suspected of taking part in the Capitol riot suggests a different and potentially far more dangerous problem: a new kind of violent mass movement in which more “normal” Trump supporters—middle-class and, in many cases, middle-aged people without obvious ties to the far right—joined with extremists in an attempt to overturn a presidential election.
… a large majority of suspects in the Capitol riot have no connection to existing far-right militias, white-nationalist gangs, or other established violent organizations. We erred on the side of inclusion; we counted an arrestee as affiliated with such an organization if any court documents or news articles describe the person as a member, refer to social-media posts expressing an affinity for a certain group, or attest to patches or apparel that directly indicate support.
… Importantly, our statistics show that the larger the absolute number of Trump voters in a county—regardless of whether he won it—the more likely it was to be home to a Capitol arrestee.
Of course, the bedrock of far right conspiracy theories is, without a doubt, the deeply rooted racism and xenophobia in this country, dating back to our founders. It’s what trump tapped into as soon as he ran for office.
However, I can’t help but consider the hate may have been spread even wider by wrapping it up in fictional stories published under the pen name “Q.” It’s grown to the point we now have elected office holders in Congress who actually believe “Q” is a real, live “patriot” dispensing truth.
There’s something about the psychology of the human mind that’s enamored by mythology and fictional tales. Since the days of telling stories around the campfire, fiction has shaped society and influenced beliefs.
Sadly, with Qanon, it’s being used as a tool of evil and it’s damn scary.