Many Spy readers probably have no clue about Heaven’s Gate, and that’s OK. It happened in March 1997, so 24 years ago. A quick precis: Heaven’s Gate was a California cult, led by Marshall Applegate. He convinced 47 followers they should wear the same black uniforms, the same brand of new black/white Nike basketball shoes (“Decades”), climb into bunk beds, cover themselves with a purple sheet and commit suicide.
If they did so, and 39 did, their souls would be transported to a spaceship trailing a nearby comet called Hale-Bopp, and be immediately beamed to heaven. Applegate had selected 8 to remain on Earth to serve as a communication center and to recount their story.
Fast forward to March 2021, when a poll sponsored by the Public Religion Research Institute, was undertaken. The 5625 American respondents were queried about the degree of their belief in or support for, the QAnon conspiracy theory. It was launched anonymously on social media in 2016-2017 and continues to evolve.
Just a reminder, QAnon’s storyline is much more complex and considerably more effective than Heaven’s Gate. It asserts that power in the United States is in the hands of a cabal of satan worshiping pedophiles who traffic in children. Moreover, it is the duty of real American patriots, to depose the pedophiles, with violence if necessary, and restore the country’s rightful order.
One of the more recent extrapolations accepted by a QA scism, holds that a biblical-scale storm will sweep away these evil elites and restore the rightful leaders.
It has generated a large cult following, which the poll measured. Given the small number of respondents, the results only indicate the scale and nothing more. The poll’s political party percentages below are too precise, but believable as one is more a Qanon acolyte than another.
2021 Poll Results:
15% of Americans believe the basic fact of powerful devil-worshipping pediphiles controlling the US.
14% of Americans fall into the category “QAnon Believers” who accept all the above.
Party Affiliation:
Republican – 25%
Democrats – 7%
Independents – 12%
55% of Republicans fell into a poll category “QAnon Doubters”, i.e. disagreed with most, but didn’t reject..
58% of Democrats were “ QAnon Rejectors”.
The fundamental question is why Heaven’s Gate was dismissed by media and polled America as simply crazy, while QAnon was not? One believer, armed with a gun invaded a Washington, D.C. Pizza restaurant, to rescue children confined in its basement. It had no basement and the police removed the believer.
Is the latter accepted by millions and the former by 45 because it’s related to political beliefs, i.e. QAnon arose as something of a supplement to the currently labeled “Big Lie”, that former president Trump actually won reelection, but Democratic fraud stole it?
Or has QAnon become something of a game with secret codes and special vocabulary and the mystery of Q’s identity and fun to follow
Or is America in the 21st Century considerably more gullible than it was in the 20th.
Who knows?
Tom Timberman is an Army vet, lawyer, former senior Foreign Service officer, adjunct professor at GWU, and economic development team leader or foreign government advisor in war zones. He is the author of four books, lectures locally, and at US and European universities. He and his wife are 24 year residents of Kent County.
Stephen Schaare says
Hi Tom Timberman, There have always been “nut jobs” out there, and the very impressionable that will follow. Remember psycho Jim Jones in Guyana? The popular phrase “drink the kool ade” came from that horror. That demure Austrian who rallied in beer halls, founder of the National Socialist Worker’s Party. True, his following was an entire nation, and his impact was horrific.
I well remember Applegate and his followers in “Heaven’s Gate”. Take a good look at this nut job’s eyes. A number of his followers also castrated themselves. This is not normal, in my personal opinion.
There will always be mental illness. I never really knew what this “Q anon” was, but I see no purpose bringing in party affiliations. Let us all hope for better.
Deirdre LaMotte says
You are mistaken. This group associates with the GOP. And the GOP, aka Trump, has yet to dis-
associate with them as the Party is obliged not to offend supporters, no matter how noxious.
January 6, 2021
Matt LaMotte says
The Wash-Po recently published an article penned by a professional video game creator who said QAnon has all the elements of one, only dumber. I’m badly paraphrasing H.L. Mencken, but “never underestimate the stupidity of the American citizenry!”
rc shafer says
careful, Mr. Timberman — you may give yourself a hernia by over-extending yourself to this degree — in this Mad Hatter quest of yours to over-analyze the much ballyhooed QAnon cult phenomena — as if crazed conspiracy theories theories are the exclusive domain of Rightest radicals …. I choose to figuratively believe that there must be some fantastical Willie Wonka chocolate factory somewhere out there in the wild, churning out a full line of “conspiracy” product to satisfy the appetites of conspiracy nut consumers of every ilk …. here is a small sampling of delicious QAnon-like snacks recently served up by our hosts and hostesses from the radical Left: the protracted Mueller Russian-Trump collusion probe; the spectacle of that Lincoln Project charade; the “staged death” by fire extinguisher of officer Sicknick during the January 6 riot that seems destined to go down in history as a capital “i” “insurrection”; Nancy Pelosi’s hyperbolic police state over-reaction, encircling the Capitol with thousands of National Guard bodyguards, aledgedly to hold off imagined hoards of White Supremacist Visigoth invaders; and what about all those fairy tales meant to obfuscate the true origin of the dreadful Wuhan Flu? —- I could go on and on and on…….
Keith Alan Watts says
Excellent observations.
For more on Heaven’s Gate and “cognitive dissonance”:
https://www.hbomax.com/series/urn:hbo:series:GX72QuwdZ0yGqwgEAAAY4
Another well researched and highly detailed documentary is “Wild Wild Country.”
https://g.co/kgs/jrCeT3
Finally, why “smart people” may be more susceptible . . . .
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/01/why-smart-people-are-more-likely-to-believe-fake-news
The rise of Artificial Intelligence has given birth to vast arrays of personal data stored, then aimed towards manipulating (greater and lesser degrees of persuading; influencing, etc.) the information you see and the products you buy. This ever more “tailored-to-you,” approach challenges the ability to objectively analyze.
Critical thinking and analysis has never been more important. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan once famously said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”
See also: “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Revised Edition),” Robert B. Caldini, Ph.D.; Collins Business; Harper Collins Publishers; 2007.