Photo: Matteo Ianeselli via Wikimedia Commons.
QAnon is just the latest excrescence of the ancient blood libel against Jews, in all its horror and stupidity, amplified by dishonest media, social media, and the lowest of the low political opportunists, including our soon-to-be former president.
The result? 41% of Republicans believe QAnon is good or very good for the country, and we now have two QAnon-believing members of Congress.
The blood libel dates to the dawn of Christianity but has been refabricated over and over, ever since. One version, from 1475, claimed that a northern Italian boy, who became known as Simon of Trent, was tortured and murdered by Jews. The lie — which led to the real torture and murder of members of the local Jewish community — was promoted by the Bishop-Prince Giovanni Hinderbach.
Hinderbach exploited the then-new media technology of the press to spread the story far and wide while building a cult around Simon as a saint — and raising money from the sale of printed editions and of indulgences to expiate sins.
Sound familiar?
It took until 1965 for the Church to finally abolish the cult.
But as we can see today, as long as power and profit can be reaped from ignorance and hatred, it will not go away.
The blood libel is alive and well. The swastikas, Six Million Was Not Enough and Camp Aushwitz tee shirts said it all. This has never been about Trump. The neo-Nazis and white supremacists have been waiting for the opportunity to go mainstream. They are there now. The no longer have a need for Trump. Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boebert and Matt Goetz will carry the torch from here on out. The cat has been let out of the bag and unless we take direct action quickly to silence the lies we will be looking at Germany in the 1930s; in fact, I fear we’re already there.