Salon: An Exvangelical on the Implosion of His Faith
"Theology is not necessarily the defining characteristic of evangelicalism. Whiteness, capitalism and power helped to develop an evangelical industry. The theology takes a back seat. That may not be the case for every single person that uses the term "evangelical." But conservative, white Evangelicals act in a particular way and that deserves our attention. It deserves to be criticized within those terms, as much as whether they live up to their espoused theological beliefs.--Blake Chastain, podcast host, author, Exvangelical and Beyond: How American Christianity Went Radical and the Movement That's Fighting Back.
My own experience involved being raised in an Evangelical church. Growing up, church was something that happened every week for as long as I remember, and that included the nursery and toddler class in the small, Southern Baptist churches where my parents were members. And because it was a routine, and was a large part of our family life, it included Sunday school and worship on Sunday morning, a class in church polity and doctrine called "Training Union" on Sunday evening, followed by another worship service, and then missions groups and prayer meeting on Wednesday night.
When I went to college, choosing a university that was affiliated with the state branch of the Southern Baptist denomination, I discovered quite a contrast between the doctrine and theology taught there, based on the historical and cultural contexts of virtually every part of the Bible, and the simple, folk religion I had grown up with in the church, which included the required intellectual assent to specific doctrines that were "must haves" in order to be truly Christian, according to them. That included accepting the belief that the text of the sixty-six books accepted as the "Protestant" Bible were without error in transmission and infallible in being the "sole authority for faith and practice," interpreted from a literal rendering of the Biblical text.
So all of the history behind the writing of those books of the Bible, the myriads of differing cultural contexts which occurred while it was being written, is all basically ignored by a literal reading of the text in English, even King James English, which some conservatives believe is the original language of the Bible, and which large swaths of conservative, fundamentalist churches teach is "the preserved word of God in English." So, in most conservative, Evangelical churches in the United States, the theology and doctrine upon which the practice of Christianity is based is not the Bible itself, but on the effects and circumstances of American cultural influences, especially those resulting from revivalist movements like the two "Great Awakenings" and various movements that sprang up during the westward expansion of the country.
No Surprises Here, That Superstitious Folk Religion is Connected to Populist Politics
Truth, in the form of objective facts, is the enemy of superstition. The Southern Baptists among whom I grew up had a strong, anti-intellectual bias, which eventually became focused against its own colleges and universities, most of which had been founded to provide an educated clergy for areas of the frontier where there was a huge need. Challenging commonly held beliefs and superstitions in local churches is not easy, especially when the superstitious are the ones who are in control of the church, and some of them sit on the trustee boards that run the colleges, universities and seminaries.
The bottom line is that it has become more about the power to control than it has been over theology and doctrine, which doesn't interest the average pew sitter in the church. A lot of pastors have been moved along to a different career by elder and deacon leadership in the churches who terminate their tenure for the slightest hint of educated liberalism. The colleges and universities have been able to survive, largely by changing their governance structure to self-perpetuating boards of alumni who protect the school from conservatives intent on enforcing their own doctrinal positions. A few schools haven't been so lucky, but most weren't really dependent on the financial contribution from the denomination anyway, a drop in the bucket compared to the revenue they needed to remain viable, which comes from students paying tuition and from alumni donors who are loyal to the school and who have an education that helps them get past religious superstition.
But, it's those engaged in the practice of Christian folk religion who also connect with populist politics. The distrust of institutions is something they have in common, the belief that the world around them is going to hell in a handbasket and they must stick together and try to fight it off, whether it's liberalism in the form of educational institutions, or liberalism in the form of government.
Don't Believe for One Minute That Trump Believes Any Religious Doctrine or Cares About Those Who Support Him That Do Believe
Trump's lifestyle is his clearest expression of his complete and total denial of any kind of religious belief, Christian, cult or pagan. There's no evidence here of his belief in the existence of any kind of god, because he elevates himself to the highest place of importance in his universe, and that's what he cares about. If he has to give away a few insignificant political points, like supporting the religious right's opposition to abortion, he'll do that as long as he benefits the most in return.
He's shown some willingness to throw his Evangelical supporters under the bus as he has realized his stances on abortion, and his helping by appointing the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, have cost him large numbers of votes. He's also openly denied having anything to do with Project 2025, though his fingerprints are all over it, because when it leaked out prior to the RNC, it also wound up costing him votes, ultimately a lot of them. It hasn't really dented his MAGA base much, but he can't win on the strength of their votes alone, and he has lost a significant number of votes among independents, and among members of his own party who aren't so much in the MAGA base.
He basically figured out, once he got politically conservative Evangelicals in his back pocket, that their "theology" is cultural, not doctrinal. "Whiteness," and the idea that the United States was once a Christian nation that must be "take back" are their theological and doctrinal pillars, not anything that Jesus said or taught, is where they invest their faith practice. And they've come up with several points aimed at nullifying Jesus and putting Trump in his place, including the cliche, "God sometimes uses evil men to achieve his purposes." That's theological heresy.
In the Christian gospel, Jesus is the man God sent to achieve his purposes. Claiming that Trump is doing this is idolatry, by definition, but those who make the claim know nothing of the significance or importance of this theological point. They are making Trump into their savior, which is a denial of who Jesus was, something the Apostle John calls "antichrist." [I John 4:1-3]
Joining the Ranks of the Exvangelicals
For me, personally, setting aside the theocratic heresies of populist Evangelicalism occurred way back in the 1980's, when Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson were pushing their own organizations, or "ministries" as they call their profit-making enterprise, to get right wing conservative Evangelicals to vote for Ronald Reagan. It was pretty easy to see that what they were claiming to offer wasn't Christian, especially since Reagan was no saint compared to his opponent, Jimmy Carter, who was perhaps the single most genuine, sincere practicing Christian ever to occupy the White House.
It's a good feeling to wake up in the morning, go to bed at night, and not be worried about the eternal destiny of my soul based on the way I've chosen to cast my vote.
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