As a former doctoral candidate in New Testament/Early Christianity, the power and appeal of Q for the ultra religious right makes perfect sense to me. Let me explain why using this post by CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-the-qanon-conspiracy-theory/

First, the idea that the current governing powers who were unjustly oppressing the religious minority is not a new idea. Though we’ve seen this take root in the US over the years (thinking here of recent of state legislation requiring “In God We Trust” in public schools...2/?

...buildings), the more recent protests by the religious right focusing how their constitutional rights were being impedes by covid-19 rules around mass gatherings (including religious services) really epitomize the “us vs. them” mentality so present in apocalyptic thinking.

We see similar thinking in many communities that are experiencing real or perceived oppression, including examples from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) in books such as Ezra, Isaiah, and Daniel and in the New Testament book of Revelation (no “s”! It was one revelation). 4/?

The idea here is that there will be a savior figure who will come and rescue his (always his, NB) people from the injustices that they’re experiencing. For Q, this person is Trump. Violence is always seen as a part of this freedom from oppression, indeed so much that...5/?

...oppressed become the oppressors. This expected violence is memorialized in the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which echoes Isaiah 63 in which God tramples the wine press (the machinery of the oppressors) and the “wine” (blood) of enemies flows through the streets. 6/?

Second, Judeo-Christians were constantly trying to crack the code of the prophetic writings; we see this most clearly in pre-millennial Christianity (think the rapture), in which all symbols mean something deeper (ex: the trumpets in Revalation, 666, the mark of the beast). 7/?

We see the person posting as “Q” doing the same thing when s/he posts clues about the deep state, pizzagate, etc where only astute followers can understand the meaning of these posts (Mtw 11:15: “whoever has ears, let them hear”, admonishing the listener to “crack the code”). 8/?

Third, the YouTube videos created by Q followers serve as the scriptural commentaries for the scriptures that are Q’s posts. They attempt to interpret and understand the “true” meaning of Q based on their cultural context and feelings of oppression. 9/?

Four, this quote reveals that Q is prepared for the “final battle,” their version of Biblical Armageddon: “Q is releasing sanctioned leaks to the public in order to galvanize them ahead of "The Storm," which is the moment when the deep state's leaders are arrested...10/?

... and sent to Guantanamo Bay.” This is the equivalent of Revelation 20:10 in which Satan (“the adversary” in Hebrew) is thrown into the lake of hell and tormented forever and ever. In Q parlance, “the storm” is the long-awaited end of the world. 11/?

Need more proof? Thought you would. Over the century, Christians have attempted to predict the exact time the world would end and Jesus would return to save his faithful followers; examples of such failed predictions are Hippolytus of Rome, Sextus Julius Africanus, and...12/?

...Irenaeus, who predicted the world would end in 500 AD/CE (it didn’t, FYI); Pope Sylvester II, who predicted the end of the world in January 1, 1000 AD/CE (it didn’t) and then later rescheduled it for 1033 AD/CE (still batting zero); to more recent (relatively) predictions 13/?

...from John Wesley for 1058-1836 AD/CE (how do you miss an almost 800 year window?!) to the Millerites, who set so many dates and missed every one of them that their predictions were called the “Great Disappointment.” People keep setting dates and even times to no avail.

In the same way, “Q has repeatedly suggested that the storm would hit in the very near future...[and] when those dates come and go without any arrests, Q says that they needed to be delayed for one reason or another, but that Pres Trump still has the situation well in hand.” 15/?

But wait, there’s more! Q followers have the expectation that Trump will save them from government oppression and will take them with him (to where, currently, is unknown). This is akin to belief in the Rapture, where Jesus will come back and take the faithful w/him...16/?

...and leave everyone else to their own devices. This, of course, would exempt them from the coming violent overthrow of the government (and Satan, can’t forget him [Ed: her?]). Others would stay and fight against the powers of evil in the final battle of Armageddon. 17/?

Thank goodness John of Patmos didn’t have access social media or it would have happened a long time ago! You may be asking yourself what this all leads up to...and I’m so glad you did, bc this is what I’m seeing on parler and on social media. 18/?

This is from Q’s latest video that’s circulating on parler.

Folks, they’re not kidding around. They’re looking forward their née heaven and new earth to begin next Wednesday, January 20, 2021. I fear strict Q adherents used the Capitol insurrection as a trial run for the main event (just to be clear, I have no knowledge of this...20/?

...firsthand, but it fits the pattern). The ultra religious right was primed for Q, they were the perfect target for an extremist movement that played into the recording of the end of the world/rapture/return of Jesus that they’ve been hearing their entire lives. 21/?

Though they’d never verbalize it this way, Trump is their Messiah who will right their perceived wrongs and put them in charge at long last. Some of these perceived wrongs? 2nd amendment restrictions, “free speech” restrictions, morals gone amuck, etc. 22/?

Make no mistake, they’re ready for this because they’ve been preparing since they were old enough to go to church school and start learning about the book of Revelation (again, no “s” at the end-pet peeve of mine). They’re furious at their perceived oppressors and...23/24

...are ready to fight this to the bitter, bloody end for their Messiah. Or at least, that’s my interpretation of events. I pray to God I guess we’ll see in 10 days. God protest and defend our country; I fear we’re going to need it if this plays out like Scripture. 24/24 END

NB: many violent movements have couched their actions in apocalyptic thinking as a basis for their actions. 2 somewhat recent examples are Charles Manson and the Branch Davidians/Waco. Their problem was that they didn’t have social media to help organize. Q does.