The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church, by Sarah McCammon
As someone who left evangelical Christianity behind over 25 years ago, one of the most striking things I’ve noticed in my work as a therapist (and from reading about others’ experiences) is how much white evangelical culture has NOT changed. Clearly, the rest of the world has. So it’s been interesting to meet with clients who are young enough to be my adult child, and see that they’re recovering from indoctrination and a cultural context that is still very familiar from my youth. Some of the songs, media sources, and figureheads may have changed (though some haven’t), but much of the content and messaging is all the same.
It’s no wonder that so many followers have begun questioning and moving away from that unchanging, old-fashioned sexism, homophobia, and exclusivity that fundamentalism and evangelicalism espouses. The Exvangelicals documents and explains this mass exodus, on both a personal and societal level, while managing to maintain a sincere respect for the core beliefs of Christianity. After all, this is what many exvangelicals are saying: they’re not walking away from their Jesus; they’re walking away from all of the bullshit and hurt that evangelicalism has created.
As someone who was also raised in evangelicalism, McCammon explains what it feels like on the inside of that powerful demographic while documenting its interplay with the US culture-at-large. With sensitivity and humble authority, she manages to take her extremely personal experiences and evolving inner beliefs and interweave them with a well-researched, tactful narrative of the exvangelical movement and contemporaneous social and political developments.
The Exvangelicals is a fascinating sociocultural exploration with personal flavor. For me, a fellow former evangelical who has been long out, it felt like a mashup between an anthropological study and reading old diary entries about a first true love. (And McCammon mashes it up masterfully.) There are the expected walks down church-life memory lane like purity rings, abortion protests and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, but we also get to visit weirder relics of my evangelical childhood, like the song, “I’m In The Lord’s Army” (complete with hand motions), author and radio host James Dobson (IYKYK), and debates over pre- or post-tribulation rapture. The author manages to connect these dots to bigger picture issues like political candidates, racism, gay marriage, and so on, by utilizing her own personal stories, various interviews, and research. If you are much closer than I am, emotionally speaking, to the evangelical action, and you’re dealing with religious trauma or other adverse consequences of religion, this book could be a bit triggering at times. But it also could be extremely helpful in your healing. Consult your therapist.
And if you’re not, or never have been, a white evangelical or fundamentalist Christian, and you’re not even sure what I was talking about in that previous paragraph, this book is absolutely written for you. It is the explainer you never knew you needed. You will appreciate The Exvangelicals if you’ve ever asked questions like:
- What is the deal with the evangelicals? Why are they so intense?
- What makes (white) evangelical Christians different from other Christians?
- How the hell did evangelicals end up supporting Trump?
- Why do evangelicals find it so hard to leave? Can’t they just decide they don’t believe anymore and walk away?
McCammon’s professional experience as a political journalist and her personal history have come together to produce a powerful and polished portrait of The Exvangelicals. I don’t know that anyone could have done it better.