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The Conspirituality Report
From QAnon to Anti-Woke
A New Age guru pivots to a new conspiracy theory
QAnon content is increasingly a brand liability for conspirituality promoters who need to continue marketing New Age religion and alt-health products.
The January 6th Capitol Siege has indelibly linked QAnon to domestic terrorism, and the deletion of vast networks of QAnon influencers and groups has severely curtailed the monetization potential of QAnon rhetoric. And Cullen Hoback’s Q: Into the Storm documentary has virtually stitched up the origin story of the global fever dream, pinning the scam on a nihilistic, porn-obsessed tech bro named Ron Watkins.
Where will the redpilled run to? If the same QAnon keywords that throughout 2020 extended influencers’ reach now expose their accounts to deplatforming, what terms and ideas will fill the vacuum?
For Bernhard Guenther, a U.S.-based 49 year-old massage therapist, holistic coach, and QAnon promoter, catastrophizing about “woke ideology” and Critical Race Theory will do the trick.
Absent are mentions of pedophilia, Satanism, and the “Storm” of mass arrests. What remains is the apocalyptic urgency of the “spiritual battle” undertaken by “spiritual warriors” requiring a multi-lifetime enlistment.
Also remaining are echoes of QAnon’s anti-semitism, in the flagging of “cultural Marxism” — a century-old slur favoured by the alt-right, who loathed the anti-capitalist analyses of the Frankfurt School. As Professor Nathan Oseroff-Spicer points out, “The reasons BLM and Critical Race Theory are constantly equated with critical theory, Marxism and the Frankfurt School are many, but usually relate to the deeply racist belief that Black scholarship and political movements are secretly funded by a cabal of Jews.”
Guenther’s main target is “woke ideology”, but it’s a debutante concern. A search of Guenther’s Facebook feed shows that he first uses…
