The Independent: “Trump’s refusal to acknowledge reality, combined with the increasingly intricate nature of Republican conspiracy mythology – theories that are becoming more intertwined with the flavor of evangelical Christianity that dominates the GOP – that have extremism experts and former Republicans warning the violent movement centered on the 45th president is not going away. In fact, they say, it will most likely become more violent. Colin Clarke, a senior research fellow at The Soufan Center who studies extremist violence, said the upheaval wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, the recent presidential election, and the continued prosecution of several overseas wars has created a confluence of circumstances that scholars would consider a perfect incubator for belief in conspiracy theories and apocalyptic mass delusions. ‘It’s not going to get better anytime soon, unfortunately… Conspiratorial thinking is very closely associated with high-anxiety situations and endless wars, elections and national tragedies,’ he said.”

“Moreover, Clarke said there has been a ‘crossover’ between the QAnon systems and evangelical Christianity that is going to imbue right-wing extremism with the sort of violent fanaticism more associated with al-Qaeda or ISIS. ‘Religious terrorism tends to be more lethal, because people believe they’re serving a higher purpose by committing acts of violence, as opposed to secular groups or ethno-nationalists who are fighting over territory or land,’ he explained. ‘You can’t negotiate with these people, and you especially can’t negotiate with QAnon, because how do you assuage grievances that don’t exist?’ Clarke also posited that synergies between QAnon and the American anti-abortion movement – another religiously inspired faction that dominates the GOP – could spark extremist violence in the mould of the string of bombings carried out by Eric Robert Rudolph between 1996 and 1998. Another prominent researcher of extremist movements and disinformation, former GOP Representative Denver Riggleman, said the connections between QAnon and white evangelical Christianity have ‘metastasized’ into something else that is both ‘messianic’ and ‘apocalyptic’.”