Conspiracy theories create close, tight-knit communities. A place where you belong. More, as these communities become embattled in the face of censor, attack or ridicule, they, perhaps paradoxically, bond even more tightly together. Nothing creates group loyalty and solidarity quite like shared persecution.
Basically, conspiracy theories create friendships, meeting social needs in a world where loneliness and social alienation are epidemic and where families bonds have eroded.
As outsiders, we look at the content of conspiracy theories and all we can see is the crazy. What we tend to miss is the social aspect, the friendships, which often is the most powerful part.
We have some friends whose parents, much to our friends' dismay, went down the path of the Big Lie and QAnon. It's made family life hard. And in the final three posts of this series I'll turn to say some things about how to respond to and live with family or church members who have become followers of QAnon. But for today I wanted to share what the parents of our friends said when they confronted them about endorsing a conspiracy theory.
Their parents responded, "But we've met so many wonderful people. We've made so many friends."
