Red Pills, Rambo Jesus, and Righteous Digital Soldiers: The Relationship Between Memes, Religion, and On-Screen Storytelling in QAnon Communities

Abstract

This digital humanities dissertation examines how QAnon-related digital artifacts (particularly memes) draw upon and extend Christian nationalism through tropes, imagery, and narratives borrowed from both U.S. popular culture and North American evangelical Christianity. Through qualitative analysis of over 4,800 memes collected primarily from Telegram, Truth Social, and Twitter/X (between 2020-2025), I identify how these visual artifacts construct a compelling participatory narrative: one that attracts followers through a “popcorn framework” that positions viewers as audience members who conflate current events, religious beliefs, and on-screen stories. Three case studies demonstrate this dynamic: (1) The Matrix: the appropriation of The Matrix film trilogy as a metaphorical blueprint for reality; (2) The Heroic: the construction of heroic masculine figures that fuse evangelical Christian ideals with action hero archetypes; and (3) The Horror: the depiction of monstrous villains that dehumanize perceived enemies through on-screen monsters and spiritual warfare imagery. Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches from religious studies, media studies, and feminist cultural studies, I demonstrate how QAnon memes function as a form of “restorying” (Thomas 2019) that repackages white Christian nationalism through familiar popular culture references and religious symbolism. This research contributes to our understanding of how contemporary extremist movements leverage participatory digital cultures to spread ideology, build online communities, and blur the boundaries between fiction and reality.