I think someone could move from Qagnostic to Qatheist based on accumulation of evidence, not just because they are themselves Q.
Jack, I have always (so far) held you in good regard because of your usual logical and rational input into FR.
But you are beginning to piss me off with your posts on the Q threads.
You are thinking "why do I care if I am pissing you off?"
And you would be correct in that...except...
My comment isn't about me. It is about you.
Q may be real...Q may not be real.
But the Freepers who research the Q drops are real...and their research (not all but some) is stellar.
I don't know if you do research or just snipe from a distance...but if you were to read and consider some of the more serious research posited here, you might change your mind.
If not, I was wrong about you.
Don't be a troll.
Dig in and be a rational Freeper.
Q may be real...Q may not be real.
But the Freepers who research the Q drops are real...and their research (not all but some) is stellar.
I don't know if you do research or just snipe from a distance...but if you were to read and consider some of the more serious research posited here, you might change your mind.
I've pretty much decided to stop posting on these threads because I do not want to be disruptive.
I view these Q threads as almost religious in nature. Indeed the intro which reminds people not to snipe at the posters, reads a lot like the intro of most of the "religious caucus" threads here at FR. Essentially: "This thread is for Mormons. If you are not a Mormon do not post about how Mormonism is a false religion on this thread"
That's basically the response I am getting from a number of people here. It would be churlish to continue to post where disagreement is not being sought.
The idea of "religious caucus" was created a long time ago on Free Republic, to encourage threads where a bunch of Catholics or Mormons or Presbyterians could go and talk about their religion without having the non-believers come in and say "You know you are SO WRONG about ... And, I think that was a very good thing, to enable respectful dialog among believers.
What ever I have to say about Q I will say on "non-devotional" threads, in the future.
As for your other points:
Q may be real...Q may not be real.
Well Q posts are real, that much we can agree on. What we just don't know is who is the author and what are his intentions. Although, again people have interpreted him to say certain things, and there is a lot of consensus about it.
But the troubling fact remains: If Q is not real, if he's not acting in good-faith out of an effort to educate and prepare Patriots for "The Coming Storm" as he has claimed then That Is a Very Big Deal indeed, and not just a harmless little joke.
It really is akin to a false religious leader, who while talking up a set of religious beliefs is profoundly sociopathic, and lying.
There are a lot of examples, but Swami Muktananda is among the most famous. This article gives some background on him.
I was very involved in rescuing two people from this cult in the 1980s. Their deprogramming was consensual, and encouraged by their loved ones, and took a long time to accomplish.
It interesting to wonder about Muktananda, was he always a grifter? Did he start sincere and become corrupted by power? Did he really believe in all his own nonsense?
I'm not able to answer those questions, all I know for sure, was that peoples unqualified belief in him allowed him to do things that he should not have been able to do.
So, my skepticism is hard won. Perhaps I am applying it to the wrong target here, and I do respect the Freepers doing research, but continue to think the main, and most important question is "who is the man you are trusting, and what are his real beliefs and intents", and I remain unsatisfied.
Yes, one can research something Q brings up, and find out all sorts of interesting and important facts, and by the time you get to that third order investigation, that fact that Q was the seed is not that important.
I'm just not that interested in a lot of that historic background and all sorts of things, and much more interested in the core assertions: that there are "white hats" actively working to bring down the Swamp, that they are largely hidden and will at some point be revealed, and that Q is sharing their plans with us.
Anyway, thanks again for your comments. I will be looking elsewhere for a forum for expressing my agnosticism, but may still visit these threads to learn things, because, as you say the work being done by some Freepers is excellent.
Cheers!