Evidence for God from Science

I happened to come across an interesting review of a book (“The QAnon Deception: Everything You Need to Know about the World's Most Dangerous Conspiracy Theory”) about Q'anon and conspiracy theories, written by an evangelical minister, I thought I’d link here, (https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-revi ... B08R6PFMH1), as it nicely summarizes some of the wild things and conspiracies that many Christians have recently bought into. In fact, we had one rather persistent fellow right here on Godandscience that was really into this stuff – and especially where he thought Trump was going to be some kind of prophesied “savior” of America.

Of course, Christians are failable humans just like everyone else, and so they aren’t necessarily immune to buying into seductive narratives and reasoning. I get it – we live in a very scary, broken world, filled with disinformation, whether originating from government and or whatever secretive groups and plotters, and so we, understandably, trust almost no one anymore. What we don’t know and do know both worry us immensely. And so it’s understandable that Christians, like everyone else, struggle to make sense of chaotic events in a 24/7 news cycle, in which things can change radically overnight and it can be exceptionally difficult to know what is truly happening.

What is greatly disturbing is when Christians have bought into information / disinformation that originates from ANONYMOUS sources that cannot be verified. Often, many of the false things we read are attached to true things we do know - but we can’t know the truth or falsity of what’s it’s also been tacked onto – which, of course, is how disinformation tactics are most successful. Often, people buy into whatever it is that their “itching ears wish to hear,” especially if it lines up well with their already entrenched political / theological beliefs. And once a source of information has been accepted as reliable, then a person will be very vulnerable to any lies or agenda that source intends to get across. Also, prophesies from Scripture, particularly relating to the Endtimes, currently leave us with much uncertainty – and so false political or conspiracy narratives incorrectly utilizing Scripture can be especially effective at deceiving Christians (and others).

Anyway, read the linked book review (above) and tell me what you think.

Here's another short article on...
How Religion, Education, Race And Media Consumption Shape Conspiracy Theory Beliefs
https://www.npr.org/2021/05/27/10008651 ... ory-belief

The poll examines ties between religious beliefs and belief in false conspiracy theories. White evangelicals and Hispanic Protestants were the most susceptible to the QAnon theory.
About 1 in 4 respondents from those religious groups said they believed that "the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation," a statement associated with the false QAnon conspiracy theory.
....
Americans who said they consume far-right news sources reported the highest rates of conspiracy theory acceptance; close to half said they believe in the tenets of QAnon. The survey defined outlets such as Newsmax and One America News Network, or OANN, as "far-right."

Another disturbing conspiracy making the rounds, is the idea that the Covid-19 virus was manufactured in a lab in Wuhan. Those crazies who promoted that right-wing conspiracy...

DBowling wrote:
Anyway, read the linked book review (above) and tell me what you think.

So, you want us to review a review?

RickD wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 3:54 am

DBowling wrote:
Anyway, read the linked book review (above) and tell me what you think.

So, you want us to review a review?

That was actually from Philip, not me...
but... I did read the review and I thought it was interesting,

That was actually from Philip, not me...

So, we have another leftist sympathizer wolf in sheep’s clothing here?

RickD wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 9:25 am

That was actually from Philip, not me...

So, we have another leftist sympathizer wolf in sheep’s clothing here?

There may be "wolves in sheep's clothing" in this forum
But, Philip most definitely does not match Jesus' definition of 'wolves in sheep's clothing" at all
Mat 7:17-19

15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

However, QAnon and Co match Jesus' description to a t- with their lies, criminal behavior, and false predictions and prophecies.

And as an Evangelical Conservative, I am extremely concerned about how QAnon ideology is infesting and corrupting both Conservatism and Evangelicism.

There may be "wolves in sheep's clothing" in this forum
But, Philip most definitely does not match Jesus' definition of 'wolves in sheep's clothing" at all

It was a joke. I don’t think Philip is a false prophet.

DBowling wrote:
However, QAnon and Co match Jesus' description to a t- with their lies, criminal behavior, and false predictions and prophecies.

Since I’m not at all familiar with qanon, they have actually claimed that God told them a prophecy, and they spoke about it? I know some of these wacky groups make false predictions a lot, but prophesies?

RickD wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 3:50 pm

There may be "wolves in sheep's clothing" in this forum
But, Philip most definitely does not match Jesus' definition of 'wolves in sheep's clothing" at all

It was a joke. I don’t think Philip is a false prophet.

I know

But I thought your allusion to "wolves in sheep's clothing" was just too excellent of a transition to the incredible damage that QAnon is doing as it infiltrates the Conservative movement in general and Evangelicals in particular.

Both of whom I care about deeply.

DB: But I thought your allusion to "wolves in sheep's clothing" was just too excellent of a transition to the incredible damage that QAnon is doing as it infiltrates the Conservative movement in general and Evangelicals in particular.

Both of whom I care about deeply.

So, as Q'Anon is likely multiple sources - and not necessarily in contact or organized, do you think they are trying to harm Christians or target Christianity specifically? It's almost as if they are merely anarchists simply sowing chaos wherever they can.

Philip wrote: ↑Thu Jun 24, 2021 11:48 am

DB: But I thought your allusion to "wolves in sheep's clothing" was just too excellent of a transition to the incredible damage that QAnon is doing as it infiltrates the Conservative movement in general and Evangelicals in particular.

Both of whom I care about deeply.

So, as Q'Anon is likely multiple sources - and not necessarily in contact or organized, do you think they are trying to harm Christians or target Christianity specifically? It's almost as if they are merely anarchists simply sowing chaos wherever they can.

What about the possibility that they are very sincere people, who actually believe what they’re espousing, and aren’t trying to harm anyone, except for those who they believe are in on whatever conspiracy they’re against?

As I’m not familiar with this group specifically, I can only speak in general terms from what I know about other groups. There may be an element or elements of truth that they use to suck people in. Then there’s the off-the-wall stuff that people get sucked into when their trust is gained. These kinds of groups have some similarities to religious cults.

Philip wrote: ↑Tue Jun 22, 2021 8:40 pm

I happened to come across an interesting review of a book (“The QAnon Deception: Everything You Need to Know about the World's Most Dangerous Conspiracy Theory”) about Q'anon and conspiracy theories, written by an evangelical minister, I thought I’d link here, (https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-revi ... B08R6PFMH1), as it nicely summarizes some of the wild things and conspiracies that many Christians have recently bought into. In fact, we had one rather persistent fellow right here on Godandscience that was really into this stuff – and especially where he thought Trump was going to be some kind of prophesied “savior” of America.

Of course, Christians are failable humans just like everyone else, and so they aren’t necessarily immune to buying into seductive narratives and reasoning. I get it – we live in a very scary, broken world, filled with disinformation, whether originating from government and or whatever secretive groups and plotters, and so we, understandably, trust almost no one anymore. What we don’t know and do know both worry us immensely. And so it’s understandable that Christians, like everyone else, struggle to make sense of chaotic events in a 24/7 news cycle, in which things can change radically overnight and it can be exceptionally difficult to know what is truly happening.

What is greatly disturbing is when Christians have bought into information / disinformation that originates from ANONYMOUS sources that cannot be verified. Often, many of the false things we read are attached to true things we do know - but we can’t know the truth or falsity of what’s it’s also been tacked onto – which, of course, is how disinformation tactics are most successful. Often, people buy into whatever it is that their “itching ears wish to hear,” especially if it lines up well with their already entrenched political / theological beliefs. And once a source of information has been accepted as reliable, then a person will be very vulnerable to any lies or agenda that source intends to get across. Also, prophesies from Scripture, particularly relating to the Endtimes, currently leave us with much uncertainty – and so false political or conspiracy narratives incorrectly utilizing Scripture can be especially effective at deceiving Christians (and others).

Anyway, read the linked book review (above) and tell me what you think.

There is no such thing as QAnon.There is Q and there are anons but there is no QAnon. As you all know I know all about Q and I can tell you that there is nothing at all dangerous about Q. If there was anything wrong,sinful,criminal,etc attached to it I would not like it. But I love Q and everything they are for. First off,there is a lot of false information about Q and anons.Even if you don't understand Q there is still nothing wrong with Q. Q is about trusting the plan to bring traitors in our government to justice by exposing it to unite the people against it so that they can be brought to justice. We have corrupt people in our Government who are criminals wo have committed serious Federal crimes against America and there is a plan in place to bring these people to justice.Q is a small group of people who devised this plan to expose and bring these corrupt people to justice and they posted coded messages on a web-sight to reveal the plan and bring to light crimes committed by these corrupt people. Anonymous people were fascinated by these Q drops or messages and they worked together to decipher and figure out what Q was trying to reveal.The only reason you could be against Q is if you don't desire criminals disguised as politicians who are in our Government who have committed crimes that need to be brought to justice to go free and nothing be done about it. Some of the things anons came to realize based on going down rabbit holes doing research trying to figure out what Q was revealing are hard to accept and believe,even to anons it was shocking but this does not make Q evil even if you don't believe the sick crimes they came to realize from research like child sex trafficking,how they use it to control and blackmale politicians and people they control,etc.The people involved in these crimes need to be brought to justice and it can only happen by uniting the people against it,which is hard to do because of the news media and their corrupt censoring system that controls what we know about.When I think of Q I think of Sun Tzu - The Art of War vs Saul Alinsky - the rules for radicals and Sun Tzu is going to win the war. "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting"

Abel: There is no such thing as QAnon.There is Q and there are anons but there is no QAnon.

So, Abe - who exactly IS Q? Do you know the identity? And how do you know what Q says is true and not lying? You have absolutely know idea who anyone claiming to be Q is nor whether what he says is true!

DBowling wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 7:37 pm

RickD wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 3:50 pm

There may be "wolves in sheep's clothing" in this forum
But, Philip most definitely does not match Jesus' definition of 'wolves in sheep's clothing" at all

It was a joke. I don’t think Philip is a false prophet.

I know

But I thought your allusion to "wolves in sheep's clothing" was just too excellent of a transition to the incredible damage that QAnon is doing as it infiltrates the Conservative movement in general and Evangelicals in particular.

Both of whom I care about deeply.

I think Q critics should show the Q posts that are pushing lies,promoting criminal behavior and making false predictions and prophecies that are damaging to the conservative movement because they won't be able to.They are just believing fake news and spreading lies about Q,which they accuse anons of doing.Why don't Q critics actually show the Q posts they find so troubling because I have'nt ever seen any Q posts that I thought were troubling.

Q !4pRcUA0lBE No.74
May 10 2018 21:43:20 (EST)
Here is an example of a Q post. Find anything wrong?

Fellow Patriots:
What you are about to learn should not only scare you, but intensify your resolve to take back control [Freedom]. The information that will become public will further demonstrate the criminal & corrupt [pure evil] abuse of power that the Hussein administration undertook in joint efforts w/ domestic and foreign dignitaries. The snowball has begun rolling - there is no stopping it now. D5.
Stay the course and trust the plan.
Protective measures are in place.
Remain BRAVE.
We knew this day would come.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2qIXXafxCQ
United We Stand (WW).
WWG1WGA.
We FIGHT.
Conspiracy no more.
Q