Politics

Seeking Immortality In Racism

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There’s a certain kind of man out there we’ve all seen who has a very predictable downward spiral personally and ethically.

He is aging. Perhaps swiftly, more swiftly than usual thanks to lifestyle choices and, ironically, attempts to extend his lifespan.

He starts to make very racist statements. This doesn’t mean he’s just become racist – indeed it is more likely revealing his beliefs and pathologies, and they’re often getting worse. He’s very concerned about other races and of course his. Almost certainly this person is what we’d call White – very White.

He becomes obsessed with genetics and fitness and pseudo-Darwinism. Again, this is perhaps more a revelation than an evolution. But suddenly he’s quite concerned, dare I say radically so.

He is obsessed with reproduction. His race (again, usuallyWhite) must reproduce, though what that race is doesn’t seem to make sense. Perhaps he invokes some kind of generic Whiteness, breathtakingly meaningless in its attempt to lump together people of many backgrounds. He might invoke “European” origins in some unitary manner, as if Europe hasn’t had a history of its people murdering each other in wars for ages.

Inevitably, his obsession with reproduction becomes creepy (or is revealed to be such). He tries to have children with many women. He discusses the fertility of underaged girls in obsessive detail. Perhaps he divorces his wife to marry someone that could be his daughter – or grandaughter. One gets the feeling that this is revelation of and justification of behaviors warranting not just consideration but investigation.

So let me propose that such a man – such men as we are all too used to – are seeking immortality in their racism. Racist they almost certainly are, but there is even more there in the pathology.

They are aging, aging before our eyes and theirs. They have lived life, perhaps being quite successful, but no one can bribe time, only live inside it. They may also be failures, looking back with regret, wanting something to look forward to. Rich or poor, famous or obscure, the flames of history slowly consume them.

So they seek something to give them a sense of immortality, of pemanance in an ever-changing world, and settle on something easily seized on by the pathological – racism. They invest in the survival of their so-called race, whatever bundle of bigotries and demographics they’ve latched on to. They become obsessed with reproduction, both theirs and others, hoping for the immortality in future generations of a specific race.

Of course, their own personal problems become our problems as we’re all to well aware of what fearful bigots can do. Perhaps we didn’t realize how bad they were, but as they got older they got worse, rotting from the inside. Now, many of them at their peak – in age if not wealth – seek to conquer time and they can’t, and it’s our problem.

When I see some White man, aging, obsessed with reproduction and childbearing and demographics, I see someone grasping for immortality and permanence. They latch on to base bias to give them some comfort as their hair falls out and their skin wrinkles. They want something solid in the world as they face the Reaper, and we all know the world isn’t solid.

There, in the end, is the cry of so many bigots – “I am afraid to die.”

–Xenofact

The American Catholic Church?

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In 2026 and I find myself asking if there will be a splinter American Catholic Church. I think this worth analyzing because of so many factors. The Pope outright takes on the Trump Administration in his preachings, social media posts, and actions. Catholics protests in the streets. Some Bishops disagree with the Pope, as do some prominent Catholics despite, you know, Catholicism. I could go on, but if you’re reading this, you’re probably interested in religion like I am and have followed some of this, even if involuntary.

In short, could a bunch of Conservative “Catholics” spin off their own Church?

Now I’ve been thinking this over for awhile, because an American Catholic Church would be a major cultural change, and because it’s fascinating to analyze. So let’s get to it – and be sure you write me back with your thoughts because this could be important – as well as interesting.

So first of all, let’s get to it – there are people in America that claim to be Catholic but also don’t seem to agree with the Pope or even some general teachings of the Church. The Pople in 2026 doesn’t seem to have any tolerance for this crap, but we also see Catholics (including some Bishops) sort of not listening to the Pope. Again, I mean you’re Catholic, the Pope is sort of your thing.

So I was thinking, what motivates these people who want to be Catholic but you know, not be Catholic. Some of them seem to be converts and opportunists, but there’s a chunk of Catholics that seem to want to be something else. So why be Catholic – either becoming or staying?

  • Catholicism is old and has history. People thus attribute stability, accuracy, and endurance to it. People assume old is right. I’d argue timeless is more likely to be right, but in their case age is good.
  • Catholicism has a reputation for organization. It’s got your ceremonies and your penances and stations of the cross and all of that. If you like structure, they’ve got you covered.
  • Catholicism also has class and style. You’ve got gorgeous churches, amazing relics, stately robes, great music, and more. I think converts and the like are getting into Catholicism because it’s classy and they get to feel superior to your average American Evangelical. Is it a class thing? Probably.
  • If you want to be selective you can find Bishops and thinkers and writers who will back whatever weird right-wing control freak beliefs you have.

Catholicism has it all for people who are into control, and you get to have all sorts of dignified and cool ceremonies and churches. Throw in the reputation, and yeah, a certain kind of person might gravitate to it.

Of course I think the various people gravitating to the church, the converts, essentially want to be Evangelical Protestants. That seems to be the mindset they’re coming with. It’s just there’s some people there ready to welcome them – just not this Pope.

So I think there are people who want to be Catholic but not BE Catholic and all that you inherit with it. A spinoff splinter Church in America sounds perfect for them. Think about what you get!

  • You get your own Church. You can basically band together some thinkers and bishops and congregations automatically! It’s prefab.
  • You can get ahold of some Church finances, probably. The Church seems loaded anyway.
  • You get to steal the reputation and rituals and fame of the church. Plus the controversy gets you more attention.
  • You can try to become a new rallying point for conservatives and religious authoritarians. All of the above make it easier.
  • If you help found this new American Catholic Church, you get a big halo effect. You get fame and attention and maybe the suggestion you’re guided by your god.

So there seems to be no reason for people not to try to create an American Catholic Church. I figure at some point between 2026 to 2030 there’s going to be a possible schism. More so if the Pope keeps going hard at American policy, and he doesn’t seem to want to back down.

Now is it going to succeed? Almost certainly not.

First, even if a split happens I have no reason to believe that it won’t be abortive or small. Any effort to do this would have to be organized, large-scale, well-funded, and well-attended to succeed and hope to have any impact. That takes time, organization, and willingness to risk because if it fails you’ve humiliated yourself, so people will only do it if they think it will work.

However, even if enough people do rally the famous people, the Bishops, and the money to pull it off, I don’t expect it to survive.

Bluntly, any attempt to create an American Catholic Church is going to be creating yet some other “Conservative” political interest group dressed up as religion. It will be home to a bunch of grifters battling with other grifters in the religion scene. The amount of corruption, infighting, and backstabbing resulting will ultimately be destructive.

Meanwhile, while people jockey for power in the American Catholic Church, there will be other authoritarian religious groups against them. They will want the power. They will want the influence. They also will probably draw on previous anti-Catholic sentiment. An American Catholic Church will have enemies within their own political sphere.

Meanwhile the Pope – the Pope – and Catholics around the world will look down on them.

So I expect if an American Catholic Church is created – enough of a possibility to consider – it won’t survive. It’ll fragment from grifting, loose people, find itself at odds with others, and so on. The result will probably be a shrinking denomination that merges into others.

Will it be a wild ride if it happens? Yes. It’ll also be kind of stupid and sad in the end.

So what are your opinions on the possibility of an American Catholic Church?

–Xenofact

You Had QAnon, You Didn’t Get QAnon, Because You Had QAnon

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(This is written in late February 2026. Please consider it a commentary on a period in time. In addition I am not an expert on Conspiracy Theories, but a follower as part of other interests, others have written and commented on this far better than I.)

In the second decade of the 21st century a kind of Conspiracy Theory community arose online around the persona of Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president. Christened QAnon around online personality and poster “Q,” a mysterious figure(s) who posted vaguely about a horrific conspiracy of corruption, child abuse, and more. It expanded, drawing in other conspiracy theories and past biases, evolving to a belief system with distinct traits:

  1. There was a global conspiracy of high-placed individuals – and most of them traditional liberals and figured hated by right-wing conspiracists.
  2. They were engaged in corruption at the highest level, and this included satanic child abuse. This in turn included feeding on “adrenechrome” from these children – a common chemical that achieved mythical status due to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
  3. Donald Trump and an elite group of military/government operatives were going to stop this.
  4. Some of this veered into aliens, time travel, and more as it integrated other conspiracy theories. It was extremely “yes-and,” almost a game.

I followed this Conspiracy Theory as it was having effects far off of internet message boards and family arguments, and because it was instructive. I saw familiar beat after familiar beat, having lived through multiple Satanic Panics, integrating other conspiracy theories and beliefs I’d seen since the 70’s. Of course there was also the shadow of anti-Semetism lurking around as always in the form of re-envisioned Blood Libel, and one could see the potential danger.

Any reasonably informed observation of QAnon would be hard pressed to ignore a bloodlust straight out of the worst of human history. Dreams of mass executions, of military tribunals, of coups. A great revolution was predicted, a kind of spiritual awakening combined with bloody purges. Needless to say some people did not wait, and there were actual crimes, threats, and so on. The glee one could witness in QAnon and QAnon-adjacent communities was disturbing, and was a reason to keep an eye on it.

As the various permutations of QAnon played on, it absorbed the real-life crimes against humanity surrounding public figure Jeffrey Epstein. It took little effort to discover how this well-connected monster and his allies had engaged in despicable crimes, and dangerous “Epstein Files” integrated into QAnon. In time, they even took on a life of their own, transcending QAnon, a belief that Epstein was a kind of key to unraveling a Global Conspiracy.

In fact, QAnon in many ways had become mainstream, had become “real life.” You’d see many a politician or political figure reference it, if only obliquely. The obsession with the Epstein Files also lived on, even in the minds of people not as connected to the original QAnon.

Then in 2025 during the second Trump administration, after a year of dodges, publicity, and ultimately Congressional action under duress, some of the government’s information on Epstein was released. Heavily yet poorly redacted, handled by a Department of Justice clearly covering for Trump and his allies, the information was still explosive. As I write this it has spawned arrests and investigations across the world – except in the US.

And the result? Was there Satanism, was there alien technology? No, there were a lot of famous, connected, rich people doing assorted crimes, looking for new opportunities at the expense of others, and engaging in cultural and financial manipulations. Even in documents filled with black bars and selective release, it was apparent that there was conspiring by Epstein’s crowd over the decades, sometimes involved directly in cultural and financial trends.

You didn’t need aliens, Satan, or anything else. You had a bunch of banal assholes.

Of course, even with the limits of what was revealed, Epstein was deeply connected to Donald Trump and his circle, along with other figures from internet culture, finance, science, and so on. Some were already reprehensible before any connections were publicized.

The QAnon and QAnon-adjacent crowds – which in many ways had been subsumed into the Republican party – had a crisis. They could face the fact that there were really conspiracies (which anyone could have told you). They could try to ignore it. They could try to cover up for “their people” who had allied with if not been monsters – as was joked by some, “Epstein was in the Trump files.”

What I saw at this time was a lot of the latter two. Among people who followed conspiracy theories and politics, showcasing “covering for Trump” was a bit of a sport, in the “can you believe this type” attitude. Some of it was strange, brittle people saying words out of a mouth that wanted to scream something else. For some you could see the horror of what they were doing to themselves trying to cover for this.

QAnon’s theories were not real. But they were real in a different way. QAnon was wrong, but also right. The problem was they were the assistants of the monsters.

But as people once ready to “save the children” rushed to preserve some people from accountability for and association with child sex crimes, they missed an irony. They who had decried cover-up, decried conspiracy were now part of cover-up in their online streams and chats. They needed their internet clicks and merch sales, and so would suddenly try to cover for some of Epstein’s associates.

QAnon and it’s allies and descendants thus became became part of the conspiracy. Watching reactions of various conspiracist theorists, QAnon or QAnon adjacent, was disturbing – to see people rush to defend people clearly involved in crimes they once decried. They were helping people they should have despised, but these people were their people and they got a pass.

Also, where was the glee at going after the sex predators and abusers of children? Where was the desire for tribunals and bloody vengeance? That too had faded, which was strange, because the utter joy at imaging the deaths of hated political figure seemed to motivate so many of them. Now where was that joy?

I think they had missed all along that their passion for harm was a sign of how bad they could get. These people who had claimed that children were abused, tortured, made afraid, and drained of vital chemicals were themselves motivated by the suffering of others. They joyfully awaited the horrible deaths of people they hated as part of a conspiracy theory that they then happily became part of.

Had they asked for a moment what they were, maybe they would have seen what they might be. They were the monsters all along, they just didn’t know it.

QAnon was a fever dream online of people who thought they were fighting a conspiracy that fed on pain and suffering. All these years later it turned out they were part of the same, covering for monsters and having never seen how they fed on dreams of human agony. For every conspiracy theorist and conspiracy influencer out there, one has to ask how many have always taken joy in the pain of others, and how much evil they will cover for their own needs.

Here now, as I try to learn from this, it’s a challenge as there’s so much. Academics and historians and psychologists have decades if not centuries to dwell on. Books will be written. Documentaries will be made. What lessons are revealed may we listen to, if only because we clearly have much to learn as we failed so far. I will assuredly write more.

But if there’s a reminder for me. The belief in an other means you can too easily become it or find you were it all along. Decide evil is outside of you and you’ll never see when it sprouts inside, never see when you’re supporting it, never see when you create it. You are so dedicated to a worldview, you’ll destroy it to preserve the illusion you haven’t.

It’s up to build a world where people are safe from the monsters, and hopefully that the monsters don’t gain power at all. Make sure you’re doing good before you decide to hunt evil, or you just might not like what you see in the mirror one day.

-Xenofact