Pastors are ‘exhausted’ by the QAnon conspiracy theory infecting churches: report

On Monday, Axios reported that churches around the country are seeing far-right QAnon ideology creep into their congregations — and they're "exhausted" trying to fight it.

"Russell Moore, one of America's most respected evangelical Christian thinkers, told me he's 'talking literally every day to pastors, of virtually every denomination, who are exhausted by these theories blowing through their churches or communities,'" reported Mike Allen. "'Several pastors told me that they once had to talk to parents dismayed about the un-Christian beliefs of their grown children,' Moore added. But now, the tables have turned."

"That stunning window into the country's congregations followed a major poll, out last week: 15% of Americans, the poll found, agree with the QAnon contention that 'the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation,'" continued the report.

Some faith leaders have been actively trying to fight back against QAnon, but there are evangelical circles in which it thrives like a religious denomination in its own right.

The movement has also encouraged political extremism, with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn endorsing a military coup at a QAnon event in Texas, and some of its believers linked to acts of violence.