After the insurrection on Jan. 6, I posted a question on social media asking if ministers across the United States would denounce violence and white supremacy. As we watched angry rioters scream Jesus is my president, Trump is my savior during the raid on the Capitol, it was a genuine question. Quickly after sharing this post, I received a text message from a friend insisting that Christianity wasnt linked to the Capitol insurrection.

I explained to her, as a Muslim American, that any time there is an attack committed by a fellow Muslim, our leaders are called to address radicalization, violence and terrorism within our community. She replied that Muslims were responsible for 9/11 and the casualties that took place. Then, she questioned whether my family and I were a threat to her because as Muslims we are allowed to kill Christians and Jews.

It was surreal but not unexpected.

As a Houston transplant, and a Muslim homeschool mom in a state where homeschooling is popular among the alt-right, I had expected to find myself at its epicenter, but that hadnt been the case until this year. Prior to 2020, I worked in academia and existed in circles that mimicked my own views. Even my Republican colleagues were shocked that Donald Trump won the 2016 election. As my adviser said the day after the election, Well, it seems like Ive been sittin in the Ivory Tower too long to know whats goin on out there. It should also be noted, Houston is a very blue city and extremely diverse.

But, when I joined the homeschool group in my Houston suburb, I came into touch with a different reality.

After quitting a Ph.D. program in the fall, I wanted to meet other moms and help my kids make friends. I eventually joined a local playgroup of fellow homeschool moms that I was introduced to by another mom friend. My children and I were warmly welcomed to the group and my kids formed some friendships. Initially, the groups conversations were solely about nearby hiking locations, family-friendly activities and vacations, healthy snacks and other mom-ish topics.

I knew most of the moms were more conservative than me, but it wasnt until the onset of COVID-19 and the 2020 presidential election that it became apparent most of my new friends were either Trump supporters and/or entangled in QAnon conspiracy theories.

The first glimpse into some of their distorted realities came in the form of Facebook and Instagram posts and stories propagating popular conspiracy theories, like one that claimed Bill Gates co-created COVID-19 to microchip members of society. By late May, I began seeing a host of different views appear on my feeds, including how mask mandates are a violation of our personal rights, references to COVID-19 being a plandemic, and that 5G cellphone networks contributed to the rapid spread of COVID-19.

Slowly, posts and conversations began migrating from medical misinformation to election misinformation, with thoughts ranging from election fraud to the deep state working to limit our freedoms as Americans.

One afternoon, I met a friend at a local park where she went on to tell me children in America were no longer safe due to the prevalence of sex trafficking. She mentioned a few moms I should follow to learn more about sex trafficking in the United States, and for a while I thought #savethechildren was a hashtag campaign for the nonprofit organization Save the Children.

It wasnt until a few months later that I learned about QAnon, and that the far-right conspiracy theory movement propelled theories that Trump was secretly fighting an underground child sex-trafficking scheme run by Democratic leaders like Hillary Clinton and other elites. I also learned that these infamous QAnon conspiracy theories were often propagated through the mommy blogging community on social media.