There is no “Crossroads” podcast during this short work week, but there is another GetReligion-related podcast for those with ears to hear.
Jon Ward, senior political correspondent for Yahoo! News, contacted me after seeing some of the social-media fallout from the recent trilogy of GetReligion posts about the Atlantic Monthly “Shadowland” project, especially the content about white evangelicals and the mysterious QAnon movement.
For those who missed them, those posts were: “The Atlantic probes QAnon sect and finds (#shocking) another evangelical-ish conspiracy,” “New podcast: The Atlantic needed to interview some evangelical leaders about QAnon heresy” and “Thinking about QAnon: Joe Carter sends strong warning to evangelicals about new heresy.”
If you have not followed his work over the years, Ward describes himself this way:
I write about politics, culture and religion. I'm pro-complexity, pro-nuance, and pro-context. I've covered two White Houses and two presidential elections. I'm the author of "Camelot's End," a book released in 2019 about the epic clash between Ted Kennedy and Jimmy Carter in 1980. I'm trying to understand how our politics is broken and how to fix it, and host a podcast on that topic called "The Long Game." I live in D.C. with my wife and our kids.
I ended up spending an hour-plus online with Ward, recording material for an episode of his “The Long Game” series.
The podcast that grew out of our conversation (“Religion reporter Terry Mattingly on White Evangelicals and the Qanon political cult”) in part of an effort by Ward to explore the broader world of conspiracy theory life, with some extra attention devoted to the anti-vaccine movement.
During our conversation, Ward noted that he grew up in evangelicalism (as did I, on the way to Eastern Orthodox Christianity). This entire discussion, he said, has reminded him of the famous book by historian Mark A. Noll entitled, “The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind”
Here is a key comment from Ward:
“I guess what I am still trying to figure out is whether white evangelicals are more susceptible to conspiracy theories than the next person or whether what bothers me more is the fact that Christianity is a religion that claims to know and seek truth, regardless of where it leads, and in this case you have people who are adherents of that religion … who are not only not seeking truth but are spreading falsehoods.”
That’s a great summary, I noted, of the commentary being offered by mainstream evangelical leaders — Ed Stetzer, for example (Dallas Morning News essay here) — about the conspiracy theory view of the world. Would the “Shadowland” package at The Atlantic Monthly have been stronger if it included some of those voices, in addition to remarks by some grassroots evangelicals who have embraced QAnon?
Ward’s big question is whether white evangelicals have become uniquely “gullible” — a word some evangelical leaders have used, as well — when it comes to being sucked into conspiracy theories.
My take: I think that evangelicals are more likely to fall for conspiracy theories that directly address issues that are of great concern to them, especially when they believe the mainstream press is ignoring or twisting their lives and their concerns (which may be true, to one degree or another). After giving up on the mainstream press, they are highly likely to trust activists in social media who are skilled at manipulating evangelical lingo.
Meanwhile, other groups of people in American life — secular, liberal, whatever — will be more likely to fall for conspiracy theories that preach directly to them.
Consider the work of anti-vaccine activists. That online world includes more than a few evangelicals — but there are many tribes of secular people and other religious believers involved, as well. On the liberal side of the aisle there are religious liberals who see Russian demons behind every event in American politics, but there are plenty of secular folks who see American life through that same lens.
In other words, religion is a key factor many conspiracy theory sects on the right and left and, truth be told, this has been going on for decades. Religion is often part of the mix — a must-cover factor, let me stress — but rarely the defining element.
Thus, we are talking about religion (left and right) mixed with political conspiracies (left and right).
Once again, please note this word from former GetReligionista Joe Carter, writing for The Gospel Coalition website (“The FAQs: What Christians Should Know About QAnon”). He calls QAnon a “political cult,” and then goes much further:
Christians should care about QAnon because it’s a satanic movement infiltrating our churches.
Although the movement is still fringe, it is likely that someone in your church or social media circles has either already bought into the conspiracy or thinks it’s plausible and worth exploring. We should care because many believers will or are being swayed by the demonic influences of this movement.
What role does the mainstream press play in all of this?
One of the big themes in my conversation with Ward is that I think that it is especially tragic that so many religious believers — evangelicals included — have lost all hope that America’s elite press will cover their lives and concerns with respect, fairness or even accuracy.
As more and more American newsrooms embrace an openly biased, advocacy business model, our culture is losing a key source of common discourse and information. When evangelicals, and many other kinds of believers, lose faith that journalists can “get religion” they almost always turn to their own brand of advocacy media — including many social-media and online sources that have zero commitment to journalism standards of any kind.
In my “On Religion” column for this week, I connected this reality to the wider QAnon debates. The headline: “Evangelicals in the Age of ‘Fake News’ and QAnon.” Here is a key part of that column:
“A reflexive disregard of what are legitimate news sources can feed a penchant for conspiracy theories,” said Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.
Many mainstream journalists do a fine job of covering the complex world of evangelicalism, stressed Stetzer, reached by email.
Nevertheless, he added: “I think that the bias of much of mainstream news has to be considered in this conversation. Many evangelicals have seen, over and over, news sources report on them irresponsibly, with bias, and -- at times -- with malice. When you see that enough, about people you know, there is a consequence. Regrettably, I don’t think many in the mainstream news world are thinking, ‘We should have done better.’ “
It doesn’t help that Americans disagree about the meaning of “fake news.” Many Americans on the left define “fake news” as rumors, acidic political fairy tales and outright hoaxes spreading via social media, often created by activists or hostile operatives overseas. Many conservatives use the same term to describe news warped by errors, ignorance, bias or a near-total dependence on anonymous sources. Many Trump supporters pin this label on any news hostile to the White House.
There is much, much more to discuss.
Thus, please enjoy this episode of “The Long Game,” and pass it on to others.
By the way, in part one of this series, Ward talked with a never-Trumper GOP insider and scribe: “Tim Miller on the need to take conspiracy theories and disinformation seriously.”