I have been puzzled as to how Conservatives who were reluctant (so they say) Trump voters have been converted to all-in Trump supporters, and in particular QAnon conspiratorialists. I base this partly on friends and family that come across my wife's Facebook feed, as well as crazies I have seen in other social media.
There really were many people who didn't particularly like Trump because he wasn't a true Conservative, or they disapproved of his grab-em-by-the-pussy morality, or some other reason. They actively supported one or another of Trump's primary opponents. These people ended up voting for Trump--I think--largely because of their anti-abortion beliefs.* The problem arose for them because Trump turned out to be so much more awful that even I expected. So, in order to justify their vote for this psychopath, they have to create an alternate reality where Trump's opponents are even more evil than he is. As Trump got worse and worse, it required them to create more and more devilish opponents.
No longer are we just tax-and-spend liberals and soft-on-crime radicals. Now the Dems are just a cover organization for organized pedophiles hiding their evils in the (nonexistent) basements of pizza parlors. Or some other satanic cabal. It really is an alternate reality because they actually believe this shit and even run Congressional campaigns based on it. They really don't even defend Trump so much. It's more like he is our only choice against the Devil incarnate.
This is why it is impossible to engage these folks in any kind of dialog. We live in different worlds.
* The twenty-first-century conservative Christian church (to the extent that it is Christian or a church) has become a two-sin church: abortion and homosexuality. All other "sins" (i.e., the ones committed by conservative Christians) are secondary and less serious. Conveniently, it is now pretty easy to justify all sorts of judgment on others while overlooking one's own transgressions.
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