![]() They believe the same deep state that controls the world has also infiltrated traditional churches. They further insist that as Trump continues to “drain the swamp” in Washington, it’s “our” responsibility to drain the deep state church swamp. Wagner and Bushey have taught their congregation to stop listening to any media -even Fox News - because they’re are all “Luciferian.” What they provide instead is a road map to QAnon radicalization comprised of QAnon YouTube channels for the congregation’s daily media diet, the Qmap website that lists new QAnon conspiracy theories and Twitter influencers. This blends QAnon’s apocalyptic desire to destroy society “controlled” by the deep state with the need for the Kingdom of God on Earth. Its goal is to attain sociopolitical and economic transformation through the gospel of Jesus in what it calls the seven mountains or spheres of society: religion, family, education, government, media, entertainment and business. Seven Mountains utilizes the language of Dominionism - a theology that believes countries, including the United States, should be governed by Christian biblical law. On its website, OKM references the Seven Mountains of Societal Influence. Wagner regularly mentions that if it wasn’t for Taylor, he would have never started this ministry. OKM’s ministry is rooted in Taylor’s prophecies. Their objective is to train congregants to form their own home congregations in the future and grow the movement.įollowers of the QAnon movement regularly show their support for Donald Trump at his political rallies, including this one held in Pennsylvania in 2018. What is clear is that Wagner and Bushey are leveraging religious beliefs and their “authority” as a pastor and ex-military officer to indoctrinate attendees into the QAnon church. (There is no evidence of this.) And when an anti-vax conspiracy theory documentary called “Plandemic” went viral, the video was shared on the HCW websites as a way for e-congregants to consume the latest in a series of false theories about the coronavirus. Bushey spoke about a popular QAnon theory that the pandemic was planned. On May 3, the theme of the QAnon portion of the service was about COVID-19. Wagner suggested to e-congregants that time travel can be explained by certain passages in the Bible. ![]() ![]() military has secretly developed a form of time-travel technology. The last 15 minutes are dedicated to communion and prayer.Īt a service held on April 26, Wagner and Bushey spoke about a QAnon theory, called Project Looking Glass, that the U.S. Bushey then does 45 minutes of decoding items that have appeared recently on the app called QMap that is used to share conspiracy theories. This is followed by an hour-long Bible study where Wagner might explain the Fall Cabal video that attendees had just watched or offer his observations on socio-political events from the previous week.Įverything is explained though the lens of the Bible and QAnon narratives. The service begins with an opening prayer from Wagner that he says will protect the Zoom room from Satan. The Sunday service is led by Russ Wagner, leader of the Indiana-based OKM, and Kevin Bushey, a retired colonel running for election to the Maine House of Representatives. This 10-part YouTube series was the core material for the weekly Bible study during QAnon church sessions I observed. The resource page of the HCW website only links to QAnon propaganda - including the documentary Fall Cabal by Dutch conspiracy theorist Janet Ossebaard, which is used to formally indoctrinate e-congregants into QAnon. The website of Omega Kingdom Ministries mixes QAnon theories and biblical references. In turn, QAnon conspiracy theories serve as a lens to interpret the Bible itself. What I’ve witnessed is an existing model of neo-charismatic home churches - the neo-charismatic movement is an offshoot of evangelical Protestant Christianity and is made up of thousands of independent organizations - where QAnon conspiracy theories are reinterpreted through the Bible. ![]() I’ve spent 12 weeks attending this two-hour Sunday morning service. 23, I logged onto Zoom to observe the first public service of what is essentially a QAnon church operating out of the Omega Kingdom Ministry (OKM). I have been studying the growth of the QAnon movement as part of my research into how extremist religious and political organizations create propaganda and recruit new members to ideological causes. Now a faction within the movement has been interpreting the Bible through QAnon conspiracies. Followers of the QAnon movement believe in wild and dangerous conspiracy theories about U.S.
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