Semirespectable belief systems serve as distribution vehicles for stigmatized conspiracies

Evidence

The linkage of New World Order ideas with UFOs gave the former a bridge to the territory of semirespectable beliefs. Ufology became, as it were, the vehicle for the New World Order to reach audiences otherwise unavailable to it. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 419

Categorization

• QUESTION: Does this bridging mechanism also describe how QAnon later spread through wellness/alternative-medicine communities?
• XREF: connects to: Stigmatized-knowledge belief channels believers toward conspiracy theories — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 186; Belief in one form of stigmatized knowledge predicts belief in unrelated others — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 545

Broader Connections

• Stigmatized-knowledge belief channels believers toward conspiracy theories #corroborates (0.92) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 186
• Belief in one form of stigmatized knowledge predicts belief in unrelated others #corroborates (0.85) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 545