AMERICAN EVANGELICALS

But you are here because like me, you have seen through the package. We remember what Christ said about loving others. Unbelievers are supposed to know we are Christians by recognizing our love.

Maybe you are here because you are sick of being expected to judge people when Christ explicitly taught against it.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you". Matthew 7:1-2

In the United States we inherited a unique brand of Christianity. Evangelical churches are the product of "Awakening" movements which changed Christianity's whole narrative. The Christian message of goodwill toward others took a back burner to angry, judgmental rhetoric about sin and Hell discussed in the section Fear Tactics of the Fundamentalists)

The rhetoric doesn't always look angry and judgmental. Preachers know how to package it to be palpable. They package it together with this personal relationship you get to have with Christ. Follow him and all that angry stuff isn't meant for you.

They package it as legitimate concern for wayward souls, wrapped in contemporary music and in earnest and down to earth pastors with the capacity to captivate, in summer camp experiences, in tear-filled sermons about God's grace- and how you can't be under it if you commit certain sins. I'm sure you know which ones they always refer to.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

But we are supposed to trust our preachers and their interpretations of scripture over our own. That's part of fundamentalist faith.

Maybe sermons condemning people for their life choices don't align with your heart. Maybe sermons framing sexual orientation as everyone's business make you cringe a little. Maybe you just can't get down with the red hats smirking about immigrant detainees being chased by alligators over potluck BBQ chicken.

People come to church after being inundated with politics all week. It spills over into the pews and you don't get liberals and conservatives sitting side by side anymore. People who lean left leave for more progressive churches that acknowledge injustices in society and respond with empathy and compassion as Christ would. People on the right stay away from the woke ideology of Christ and flock to congregations that focus on the evil of abortion and homosexuality.

LISTEN TO THESE PASTORS DISCUSS THE PHENOMENON

But how did this even happen? Why is the political party that consistently votes against humanitarian policies claiming to be the party of Jesus Christ?

A Brief History of the Republican-Christian Connection

Early evangelical political engagement was not tied to a single party, and prominent figures like William Jennings Bryan were Democrats.

The first major shift came with Brown versus the Board of Education in 1954.

Keeping Education White

Christians decided integration of schools encroached on their religious freedom. They saw minorities as people who didn't share their Christian family values. Christians were privileged in American social and economic structures, and these Christians sought to keep it that way (and succeeded). Their agenda aligned with the long-standing tradition of white supremacy in the American South where there was a sense of entitlement to educate children in racially homogenous environments.

After integration of schools passed, indignant bigots and Christians alike started to push for Christians in Congress. Christians would wind back the clock on progressive politics.

Keeping women pregnant

The evangelicals couldn't run their whole movement on a racist agenda to segregate schools again. Fighting for unborn children felt more palpable. Before the modern Evangelical movement mobilized against abortion in the late 1970s, abortion was not a partisan issue and drew support and opposition from both Democrats and Republicans. That changed in the wake of 1974's Roe versus Wade which legalized abortion. Republicans went all-in against abortion, eventual succeeding in overturning Roe with a largely Republican Christian Supreme Court in 2022.

Evangelicals ignore the statistics and science surrounding abortion and make up their own narratives. They lie about frequency of later term abortions, and about the reasons women and girls give regarding this extremely personal choice. They alleged Planned Parenthood was illegally selling fetal organs and tissues. These "pro-lifer"s appear much less concerned about the rights of the mother in cases of sexual assault and incest, or the rights of children after birth: to food, clean air and water, healthcare and education. It's all just a big show to look righteous and get votes.

The evangelicals did not come together to focus on abortion until they became outraged regarding integration.

That's not to say every current evangelical is racist. It's to note they didn't concern themselves so much with judging other's lifestyles until the critical eye was turned on them. They weren't racist, they insisted. And at least they weren't baby killers. People needed to stop concerning themselves with how racist the evangelicals were and start focusing on their own sins like loving people of the same gender and having sex outside of marriage.

Enter Charismatic leaders Jerry Falwell (Moral Majority, 1979) and Pat Robertson (Christian Coalition, 1989) who built organizations to encourage conservative Christians to engage in politics and rally behind causes like opposing abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.

Keeping America Cisgender

The Moral Majority was a patriarchal protest movement. Move aside ladies and non binary folks; it's still a man's world, just ask God. The LGBTQ+ Rights Movement was underway and the evangelicals were not having it.

They responded with the 1981 "pro-family" legislation, and the Family Protection Act, which sought to protect parental rights to corporal punishment as well as demonized and stigmatized the gay community and even sought to bar federal funds from organizations that included them.

The bigots and the Christians were aligned again.

The promotion of harmful "conversion therapy" targeting the LGBTQ+ community? That was the evangelicals too. Beginning with "ex-gay" ministries in the 1970s, they advanced the pseudoscientific practice, claiming that same-sex attraction and non-cisgender identities could be changed through prayer and counseling.

To today's evangelicals the bad guys are people who are different and have different views. It's not people who are unjust or consumed with greed. It's "sinners" mentioned in a few verses swiped from the Scriptures.

Different theological theories suggest that certain Bible verses traditionally interpreted as condemning homosexuality do not actually refer to consensual, loving same-sex relationships. Mistranslations, historical context, and the nature of the specific sexual acts being condemned offer alternative interpretation. The word homosexual didn't even appear in English translations until the middle of the 20th century.

But the Evangelical Agenda is anti-LGBTQ+.

Never mind that even their version of Christianity commands them to love everyone and withhold judgment.

They are more about their club and what the club says goes. Forget what Jesus said.

Culture, not Christ

The fusion of white conservative evangelicalism and the Republican Party has morphed a theological identity into a cultural and political one.

I am here to deconstruct religion, not a political ideology. But we must acknowledge this alliance between conservatives and evangelicals and address the very real ways it leads to the church focusing on politics instead of Christ. Indeed Jesus has taken such a back burner, as conservative Christians support an openly sinful sitting president, believing he's called by God. "Touch not God's anointed," Psalm 105:15 warns. You can't judge the movement's leaders.

Jesus has been reduced to little more than a lesser mascot, edged out by a hardened and exclusive version of a baptized Uncle Sam. These Americanized Christians want Jesus to rescue them from hell but ignore the hellish ways they act out in his name." John Pierce

This alignment of Christians with conservatism- at least aspects of conservatism that perpetuate stereotypes and restrict bodily autonomy- overshadows the fact that many liberals and independent voters love Jesus deeply- the version of Christ that promoted love for others.

He would not judge an immigrant who has come here for a better life. Surely the greater sin is to ignore Jesus when he said to feed the poor, welcome the stranger, give him the shirt off your back.

Christ would not judge a person for identifying a certain way or loving a certain way, if they aren’t hurting anyone. Surely the greater sin is to ignore him when he said that only those without sin are entitled to cast a stone.

When Jesus said to love our neighbor as ourselves he meant the girl at the office who had six abortions, our neighbor without documentation. He meant to love our transgender sibling even if we aren’t interested in learning the science that validates them.

How does loving them hurt anyone? That love will decrease their likelihood of committing suicide. If you don't feel it for them because you can't understand them, try understanding.

When you only possess elementary knowledge about gender, stereotypes come easy. But there's so much information available now. Ignorance is a choice and sometimes a cruel one. If you aren't ready for a biology lesson, a simple lesson in kindness will do. Just leave the judgement to the gods and let's be human to each other.

You don't have to make excuses or exceptions for cruel Christians. You don't have to go with the flow and trends of the evangelical church. You don't have to believe that sexuality or abortion are greater sins than lying or lusting. You can remind your pastor that according to the Bible they are NOT. According to James 2:10 if you speak a curse word you already had gay sex and an abortion too.

Maybe today's evangelicals just need to be reminded more often. Don't judge. Lead with love. Do we really need to remind the person on the pew next to us Jesus would feed people and advocate for healthcare? They know he wasn't white right?

You can keep Jesus and ditch the evangelicals. They can keep Republican Jesus

Maybe a more progressive brand of Christian faith is right for you. Click here for a list of churches that are inclusive to the LGBTQ+ community. Even if you aren't a member of the gay community, these churches are more progressive in thinking and into liberal Jesus.

Curious about how the evangelical brand got started? Why aren't other Christian denominations obsessed with gay people and the end of the world? If you haven't already, check out this section on our website.

Ready to deconstruct harmful ideas about sexuality and gender? Check out this page of ours.

Check out this post on our blog: No Hate Like Evangelical Love

Does your church teach that health and wealth are blessings from God? The evangelicals also invented this faulty doctrine: Twisted Scriptures: Prosperity Gospel

And the idea that some people should have more power because of the color of their skin? Twisted Scriptures: Some Racist BS

You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”

Anne Lamont

READ:

Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez

Republican Jesus: How the Right Has Rewritten the Gospels by Tony Keddie

Our brand of belief didn't make it to us by pure accident but that fact doesn't infer divine intervention. Faith was forced by the Crusader's sword, and later interpretations curated to strike maximum fear and elicit compliance. The Reformation afforded denominatons power to interpret Scripture and the "Great Awakening" revivals saw charismatic preachers reinterpret ideas of Hell and apocalyptic Scripture. This is how the evangelicals were born.