The dark conspiracy theory that helped create QAnon
Satanism, child abductions, and shadowy "Deep State" actors have been a part of American folklore for centuries.
LUKE BARNES AUG 10, 2018, 8:00 AM
A shadowy group of powerful figures are secretly in control of the United States. They’re abducting children and subjecting them to lurid, Satanic abuse. Our only hope lies with a single brave source, one with first-hand experience of the horrifying conspiracy, to expose the plot.
This may sound like a brief description of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which, after spending a year bubbling at the fringes of the internet, suddenly burst into the mainstream last week at a Trump rally in Tampa, Florida. But it’s actually a description of another conspiracy theory that gripped America in the early 1980s, one that led to the most expensive trial in California’s history and was eventually proven to be utterly false.
In 1980, Canadian psychiatric patient Michelle Smith co-wrote a book with her psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder — whom she later married — titled Michelle Remembers. In the book, Michelle claimed to “remember,” via hypnosis, that her mother was actually a member of a Satanic cult and had forced her to endure horrific abuse. Michelle claimed that she was caged, was forced to watch the cult slaughter kittens, and endured 81 straight days of abuse in an effort to summon Satan himself.
Michelle Remembers created a full-blown moral panic in America about Satanic Abuse. The book earned hundreds of thousands of dollars, spawned copycats, and helped usher in a series of unfounded claims.
https://thinkprogress.org/qanon-america-conspiracy-theories-satanism-63e20eadc0dd/
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In Rev. Antony’s opinion, QAnon’s only agenda appears to be leaving “breadcrumbs” online and watching others get led on wild goose chases. He’s also noted that while some baby boomers readily buy into QAnon’s tales of child trafficking, they ignore abuses made by Christian institutions or politicians who share their political leanings.
“People are malleable, biased, manipulative and manipulated. Satanists acknowledge that there’s an invisible war out there, and armed with skepticism and pragmatism are able to navigate and exploit it when necessary,” he claimed. “There certainly is a Satanic Elite in the world, but conspiracies like QAnon are barking up the wrong pyramid.”
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I know a man who is frequently mean to his wife. He flirts with and fucks other women and then starts fights with his wife.
When he wants to apologize, he says to her, "The devil got a hold of me, but I was able to shake him off."
She always believes him.
She's a genuine nice person and my wife's best friend.