But historians offer another thesis for the purpose QAnon serves. The “nocturnal ritual fantasy”—a term coined by the historian Norman Cohn in his landmark study of European witch trials, Europe’s Inner Demons—is a recurring trope in Western history. And it is often a politically useful one. Deployed by the Romans against early Christians, by Christians against Jews, by Christians against witches, by Catholics against “heretics,” it is a malleable set of accusations that posit that a social out-group is engaged in perverse, ritualistic behaviors that target innocents—and that the out-group and all its enablers must be crushed.
In the list of peoples who have been so used and abused as the out-group we get no mention of kulaks, the bourgeoisie or the running lackey dogs of the bloodsucker capitalists. Even as many tens of millions more were killed for such than any other social enemy creation.
But then this is The New Republic and it wouldn’t even occur to them, would it?
Counterpoint: the most logical explanation for medieval witch trials is that medieval people had a problem with witches. All knowledge is local, and the learned doctors of the time were a lot more local to the subject matter than we are, QED.
Also, King Jamie Did Nothing Wrong.
If we *don’t* think witches are real, how else to explain 200,000+ abortions a year and the TV show Loose Women? Blaming Satan is the kinder, gentler option.
You mean like frat boys gang raping girls in weird rituals that no one has ever heard of?
Why do women want to be members of men’s clubs again – unless it is a belief that they exercise secret powers.
“… we get no mention of kulaks, the bourgeoisie or the running lackey dogs of the bloodsucker capitalists. ”
I wonder why that might be? It’s almost as if a powerful group who sympathise with the perpetrators control what we’re allowed to notice from an historical PoV. Endless going on about the Holocaust but nothing about the Holodomor, the Great Leap Forward or The Armenian Genocide.
In Totally Unrelated News, Israel supplies Muslims with weapons to kill Christians…..
https://twitter.com/Conflicts/status/1311036123565764608
a social out-group is engaged in perverse, ritualistic behaviors that target innocents
This isn’t implausible on its face, it’s probably still happening in Rotherham.
The interesting thing about Qtardery isn’t their specific claims, it’s the phenomenology of conspiracy theorism itself. Why are so many otherwise completely normal middle class people willing to believe their elites are shapeshifting alien paedophiles who deliberately invented Covid (or whatever)?
Because they intuit there’s something hideously wrong with their elites, and have lost faith in the official narratives. Are they fundamentally wrong about that? Narp.
“QAnon are the crazy conspiracy theorists who think there is a global pedophile ring at the heart of the global elite. In unrelated news, there have been fresh developments in the Jeffrey Epstein case…”
It seems to me odd that when the Reformers got rid of so many medieval Roman Catholic habits they retained witch trials.
What are the odds of COVID pitching up at the beginning of Trump’s election year? All those children sacrificed to Moloch must have paid off.
“It seems to me odd that when the Reformers got rid of so many medieval Roman Catholic habits they retained witch trials.”
Yes, but those habits were warm on cold winter’s nights. So they chucked another witch on the fire.
I saw a bbc thing in the context of online sources covering US elections. Young man contacted bbc worried that his mum had been “radicalised” by Queueanon. Young man was British so was Mummy. Whatever is these two oedipus thing is it ain’t going to affect the outcome of the US election, and without any explanation in the piece linking it to Brit politics, it comes across as very sloppy bbc panic mongering.
“ Why do women want to be members of men’s clubs again”
Because women can’t play nicely together.
Can anyone explain to me what the difference is between QAnon & the mainstream media? Apart from QAnon having to lurk on social media platforms
Q is just a counter drug to the creepy brain washing that seems to afflict the west. It’s not supposed to be true, just useful. Otherwise the weirdos in charge can hide anything and are……
‘… t is a malleable set of accusations that posit that a social out-group is engaged in perverse, ritualistic behaviors that target innocents…’
Like Brexiteers, Trump supporters, climate deniers and people who won’t wear face-nappies?
QAnon and similar are just larks to get the liberal elite nervous about what the untermensch are thinking, no? I imagine if you’re a 4channer you throw a scattergun of shit out there, hoping some of it is coincidentally true and puts the wind up them.
All the hysteria about QAnon suggests some bit of it might actually be true! Lord knows what though, but the useful idiot media serfs have clearly picked this one up for a reason.
“ a social out-group is engaged in perverse, ritualistic behaviors that target innocents
This isn’t implausible on its face, it’s probably still happening in Rotherham.“
Au contraire. Have you seen pictures of Rotherham? White’s, and especially white girls, are the out group, their attackers are the in group.
“is a recurring trope in Western history. ”
I think the villainising of “out-groups” is a common trope throughout human history, regardless of the location, or how far back you go..
“Them ain’t Us” is a rather easy to spot reason for a lot of nastyness people perpetrate on each other. Nothing “Western” about it.
Hell, in your average wholesome Disney Highschool series it’s the main driver of the plot-armor…
My year sevener today came home from school, and what purported to be a geography lesson the headline to which, as she put it to me, was that “Africa is poor because Europeans took all their money”.
This is in a school in the capital of England.
Makes you wonder who’s in, and who’s out.
Not really. We all know the answer to that.
Then there must be a lot of Nigerian nairas stashed around the place. You got any under your bed, M’Lud? Tanzanian shillings? Congo francs? Zimbabwe dollars made good toilet paper until the thinner ones. Put your finger through those.
” Makes you wonder who’s in, and who’s out.”
English people are definitely the Out-Group.
BiS: I have to confess I have one billion Zimbabwean dollars, or rather, a piece of paper that says that. And no, I didn’t rip it off from some shady guys in Bulawayo, it was conveyed to me in consideration of a somewhat larger sum in value (£1) a few years ago. I think it’s probably toilet grade – the later ones had a trillion on them I think.
Alas I haven’t been able to find any actual statements by QAnoners. Merely accusations of their awfulness. Perhaps those horrid white/Trumpists/rightests are being set up for the witch trials once the day of liberation has come and a stake driven through the Orangeman’s heart.