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The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church
The first definitive book that names the massive social movement of people leaving the white evangelical church—the exvangelicals
Growing up in a deeply evangelical family in the Midwest in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Sarah McCammon was strictly taught to fear God, obey him, and not question the faith. Persistently worried that her gay grandfather would go to hell unless she could reach him, or that her Muslim friend would need to be converted, and that she, too, would go to hell if she did not believe fervently enough, McCammon was a rule-follower and--most of the time--a true believer. But through it all, she was increasingly plagued by fears and deep questions as the belief system she'd been carefully taught clashed with her expanding understanding of the outside world.
After spending her early adult life striving to make sense of an unraveling worldview, by her 30s, she found herself face-to-face with it once again as she covered the Trump campaign for NPR, where she witnessed first-hand the power and influence that evangelical Christian beliefs held on the political right. McCammon also came to discover that she is among a rising generation of the children of evangelicalism who are growing up and fleeing the fold, who are thinking for themselves and deconstructing what feel like the “alternative facts” of their childhood.
Rigorously reported and deeply personal, The Exvangelicals is the story of the people who make up this generational tipping point, including McCammon herself. Part memoir, part investigative journalism, this is the first definitive book that names and describes the post-evangelical movement--identifying its origins, telling the stories of its members, and examining its vast cultural, social, and political impact.
Growing up in a deeply evangelical family in the Midwest in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Sarah McCammon was strictly taught to fear God, obey him, and not question the faith. Persistently worried that her gay grandfather would go to hell unless she could reach him, or that her Muslim friend would need to be converted, and that she, too, would go to hell if she did not believe fervently enough, McCammon was a rule-follower and--most of the time--a true believer. But through it all, she was increasingly plagued by fears and deep questions as the belief system she'd been carefully taught clashed with her expanding understanding of the outside world.
After spending her early adult life striving to make sense of an unraveling worldview, by her 30s, she found herself face-to-face with it once again as she covered the Trump campaign for NPR, where she witnessed first-hand the power and influence that evangelical Christian beliefs held on the political right. McCammon also came to discover that she is among a rising generation of the children of evangelicalism who are growing up and fleeing the fold, who are thinking for themselves and deconstructing what feel like the “alternative facts” of their childhood.
Rigorously reported and deeply personal, The Exvangelicals is the story of the people who make up this generational tipping point, including McCammon herself. Part memoir, part investigative journalism, this is the first definitive book that names and describes the post-evangelical movement--identifying its origins, telling the stories of its members, and examining its vast cultural, social, and political impact.
310 pages, Hardcover
First published March 19, 2024
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February 8, 2024
As a member of what I consider the Christian Left, I often wonder if I’m reading the same Bible as the Evangelicals that follow Trump. Where is the compassion for our fellow man? Where is the concern, not just for an embryo, but also the child? So, I was interested to see what Sarah McCammon had to say about the supposed growing number of younger people leaving the movement.
I think one of the important things she says is that it’s not just a religious sect, it’s a community and a culture and leaving it often leads to the loss of family and friends.
McCammon walks the reader through the mindset of the Evangelical culture, especially the belief that the Bible is infallible, scientists are not to be trusted and only they know the “truth”. She spends a lot of time on their refusal to believe in evolution. It actually gave me a better understanding of how so many can fall for Trump’s claptrap. When your belief system doesn’t allow for any wavering or skepticism, for any allowance for change, it makes it more plausible that you’ll only accept the “facts” that suit your narrative, regardless of their accuracy.
“Information is evaluated based not on conformity to common standards of evidence or correspondence to a common understanding of the world, but on whether it supports the tribe’s values and goals and is vouchsafed by tribal leaders. ‘Good for our side’ and ‘true’ begin to blur into one.”
The one problem I had with the book is that she never really makes her case for “the massive social movement” of people leaving the evangelical church. She cites individuals and their reasons - LGBTQ+ issues, women’s roles, sexual freedom and corporal punishment. But I never got a sense of how many people she was talking about. Likewise, while I found the section on religious trauma enlightening, I was curious to know how widespread it was. Maybe there’s no way to know. But I would have been interested to know if there were any studies.
This is probably a book that will “preach to the choir”. I can’t envision many still firmly invested in the evangelical movement reading it. But maybe it will provide a sense of community to those who have left but feel they’re alone in their situation. I was impressed by the number of folks she mentions that have social media presences.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.
Update - this book is really sticking with me. I find myself recommending it right and left.
I think one of the important things she says is that it’s not just a religious sect, it’s a community and a culture and leaving it often leads to the loss of family and friends.
McCammon walks the reader through the mindset of the Evangelical culture, especially the belief that the Bible is infallible, scientists are not to be trusted and only they know the “truth”. She spends a lot of time on their refusal to believe in evolution. It actually gave me a better understanding of how so many can fall for Trump’s claptrap. When your belief system doesn’t allow for any wavering or skepticism, for any allowance for change, it makes it more plausible that you’ll only accept the “facts” that suit your narrative, regardless of their accuracy.
“Information is evaluated based not on conformity to common standards of evidence or correspondence to a common understanding of the world, but on whether it supports the tribe’s values and goals and is vouchsafed by tribal leaders. ‘Good for our side’ and ‘true’ begin to blur into one.”
The one problem I had with the book is that she never really makes her case for “the massive social movement” of people leaving the evangelical church. She cites individuals and their reasons - LGBTQ+ issues, women’s roles, sexual freedom and corporal punishment. But I never got a sense of how many people she was talking about. Likewise, while I found the section on religious trauma enlightening, I was curious to know how widespread it was. Maybe there’s no way to know. But I would have been interested to know if there were any studies.
This is probably a book that will “preach to the choir”. I can’t envision many still firmly invested in the evangelical movement reading it. But maybe it will provide a sense of community to those who have left but feel they’re alone in their situation. I was impressed by the number of folks she mentions that have social media presences.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.
Update - this book is really sticking with me. I find myself recommending it right and left.
September 21, 2023
Most, if not all of us, have heard the admonition: Don’t talk about politics and religion. I think it’s safe to say that they’re both loaded topics in virtually any environment! In that spirit, I’ll keep this review a little more brief.
An “exvangelical” refers to someone who has left the evangelical church. The reasons for that choice are different, but as with any personal journey, be it faith or otherwise, it usually starts with questions that the individual can’t find satisfactory answers to within the culture they’ve been a part of.
For those who’ve grappled with confusion and disillusionment about their experiences with evangelicalism and are looking for a book that makes them feel seen and heard, Sarah McCammon has written a book that examines the issues sensitively and honestly. Her humility and candor, and that of all the participants she interviewed in the making of this book, were refreshing. It felt like a dialogue - not a judgment.
This book will primarily appeal to those who have been part of the evangelical culture, either through upbringing or choice, though it may appeal to those who are curious to learn more about it as well. It’s unflinching in its observations, so those who are deeply committed to evangelicalism may find it difficult to read.
One warning: this book does dive into the intersection of the evangelical movement and the political sphere, as well as issues of sexual identity, race, gender roles, various forms of abuse and so on, so the list of potential triggers is long. Having said that, the author handles all the issues with a great deal of care and thoughtfulness.
★★★★
An “exvangelical” refers to someone who has left the evangelical church. The reasons for that choice are different, but as with any personal journey, be it faith or otherwise, it usually starts with questions that the individual can’t find satisfactory answers to within the culture they’ve been a part of.
For those who’ve grappled with confusion and disillusionment about their experiences with evangelicalism and are looking for a book that makes them feel seen and heard, Sarah McCammon has written a book that examines the issues sensitively and honestly. Her humility and candor, and that of all the participants she interviewed in the making of this book, were refreshing. It felt like a dialogue - not a judgment.
This book will primarily appeal to those who have been part of the evangelical culture, either through upbringing or choice, though it may appeal to those who are curious to learn more about it as well. It’s unflinching in its observations, so those who are deeply committed to evangelicalism may find it difficult to read.
One warning: this book does dive into the intersection of the evangelical movement and the political sphere, as well as issues of sexual identity, race, gender roles, various forms of abuse and so on, so the list of potential triggers is long. Having said that, the author handles all the issues with a great deal of care and thoughtfulness.
★★★★
March 17, 2024
Such a strong young woman. Breaking away from a church that you have been raised in, that your family and friends , many who are still part of, takes alot of strength. I was raised Catholic, and in many ways I can relate to some of what she is detailing in this book. But this is a whole other kettle of fish. Your whole life is based on church teachings, I say brainwashing, where you are given little choice but to fall in line.
Its very frightening to me, the power of these churches. This book is so informative and goes a long way in explaining the evangelicals worship of Trump and his agenda and theirs. If you are curious this is a good book to read because the author was part of this movement and had the courage to leave.
The narration was clear and concise. Well done.
Its very frightening to me, the power of these churches. This book is so informative and goes a long way in explaining the evangelicals worship of Trump and his agenda and theirs. If you are curious this is a good book to read because the author was part of this movement and had the courage to leave.
The narration was clear and concise. Well done.
February 25, 2024
This was a lot to process and I don't have the time to pin down all of my thoughts into words right now, but I'll go ahead and say that this book resonated hard with me. I don't think I had fully recognized what a cult-like environment I grew up in until hearing it all laid out in such simple, relatable ways like this.
There's a chapter in here about childhood religious experiences and the way those can develop into PTSD and other trauma responses later in life that absolutely shook me to my core. I sat on my couch staring at the floor and quietly weeping through that entire chapter of the audiobook because it rattled me so much and explained so many elements of my own PTSD. I'm going to be forever grateful to Sarah McCammon for giving me the space to finally come to terms with that aspect of my childhood.
I strongly recommend the audiobook for this because my only complaint about the book is its occasional dryness; McCammon is a journalist and that shines through in her writing (mostly in good ways). The audio narration makes it much easier to follow, IMO.
Like I said, I'll probably come back later and add on to this more, but these are my immediate thoughts. I recommend this book with my whole heart. 4.5 stars.
Thank you to the publisher and LibroFM for the audio review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: many valuable quotes and segments are credited to Black, trans, and/or otherwise queer individuals regarding their experiences in evangelical settings
✨ Content warnings for mentions of: religious bigotry, religious trauma, child abuse, racism, homophobia, transphobia, Trump and related political issues, church shootings, white supremacy, domestic terrorism, abortion and the overturning of Roe v Wade, abortion clinic harassment, antisemitism
———
bookstagram | booktok | blog | storygraph
There's a chapter in here about childhood religious experiences and the way those can develop into PTSD and other trauma responses later in life that absolutely shook me to my core. I sat on my couch staring at the floor and quietly weeping through that entire chapter of the audiobook because it rattled me so much and explained so many elements of my own PTSD. I'm going to be forever grateful to Sarah McCammon for giving me the space to finally come to terms with that aspect of my childhood.
I strongly recommend the audiobook for this because my only complaint about the book is its occasional dryness; McCammon is a journalist and that shines through in her writing (mostly in good ways). The audio narration makes it much easier to follow, IMO.
Like I said, I'll probably come back later and add on to this more, but these are my immediate thoughts. I recommend this book with my whole heart. 4.5 stars.
Thank you to the publisher and LibroFM for the audio review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: many valuable quotes and segments are credited to Black, trans, and/or otherwise queer individuals regarding their experiences in evangelical settings
✨ Content warnings for mentions of: religious bigotry, religious trauma, child abuse, racism, homophobia, transphobia, Trump and related political issues, church shootings, white supremacy, domestic terrorism, abortion and the overturning of Roe v Wade, abortion clinic harassment, antisemitism
———
bookstagram | booktok | blog | storygraph
February 4, 2024
Note: this turned into less of a review and more of a personal response essay. TLDR- it's not a perfect book but it's a good one and I felt very seen by it.
************************
I know I'm not the only one saying this, but I felt very seen by this book. So many little details of childhood and adolescence that you think you don't share with other people, but are apparently very common pieces of religious trauma. I know this book isn't going to be all things to all people but it's part of the beginning of a much needed reckoning with the long term impact of growing up in white, evangelical churches in America through the 80's, 90's and early aughts. And it's a narrative that should be read in conversation with other books, such as Jesus & John Wayne or #ChurchToo. Bit by bit, a fuller picture comes together.
This book is a blend of memoir and journalism, drawing on the author's background as a journalist. She draws connections between the church embracing Trump and many millennials & Gen X people becoming disillusioned by the lack of consistency between what was taught and what actually happened. And she rightfully shows how many (if not most) "exvangelicals" are people who had been deeply embedded in Christianity, not people who just casually went to church on occasion. We're often the people who did actually read the entire Bible, wrestled with theological questions, invested time and passion in the church, did the things we were supposed to do.
And yet... The cracks eventually began showing. And once you start to recognize and peel back the layers of trauma and anxiety you have carried in your body since childhood- from always trying to be perfect and make sure God wasn't angry with you, fearing being left behind in the rapture, believing that demons were always trying to trick your thoughts and emotions to pull you away from God, believing you were never good enough and constantly needed to repent of sin (like being angry with a sibling or feeling jealous of a schoolmate), purity culture leaving you feeling bad about your body and gender, thinking something must be wrong with you if you were experiencing sexual desire as a young woman because that was only supposed to be something boys dealt with, or maybe even failing to recognize your own sexuality until much later in life because you were told that attraction to your own gender was just jealousy or didn't actually mean anything. And I'm barely scratching the surface here, leaving off all the people who experienced various forms of abuse at the hands of church leaders.
There's a reason people my age are leaving the church in droves. And I especially related to a line in this book about struggling with the fact that your childhood could be both deeply traumatizing, and perfectly fine. Having parents who loved you and did their best to do what they thought was right, not experiencing sexual abuse the way some people did, having plenty of happy moments. But also learning never to trust yourself because "the heart is deceitful", and constantly being aware there is a being surveilling your every action and thought, all of which you will one day have to publicly account for in the afterlife. That's terrifying. No wonder so many of us have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders as adults.
All that to say, this book felt like an empathetic hug and I hope we see a lot more people speaking about their experiences and walking through what it means to find healing and peace as adults. She does a good job too of specifying that this is mostly about the white evangelical church. The Black church and others might have their own issues, but it's not the same thing. And for all the complaints about how this ties in politics, there's really no way not to do that.
The white evangelical church is DEEPLY political and we got that indoctrination as children. I've been at protests and prayer circles outside abortion clinics as a minor, wrote a high school paper about abortion being unethical and murder, another one about how evolution was wrong and unscientific, attended a creationism conference with my class in middle school, heard from the pulpit about how to vote and about fighting marriage equality legislation, attended prayer rallies that were deeply rooted in Christian nationalism... None of which I would advocate for today and much of which I very much regret in terms of the harm that was being done, but it has been a long journey.
And the thing is, I have a better scenario than many fellow exvangelicals. My parents actually were consistent in their beliefs and didn't jump on the Trump train. We disagree about plenty of things, but they've been at least willing to listen and not try to push me back into their belief system. They've respected our choices as parents and because of that can have a relationship with their grandkids. I know plenty of people who have not had that and I'm grateful, but I am also still working through a lot and that makes family relationships complicated. And I'm having to learn how to do parenting from within a very different framework than the one I grew up in, which has it's own challenges.
I think Trump was the turning point for a lot of people, but for me this started much earlier. It was less of a sudden breaking off and more of a slow journey away across more than a decade that culminated with the COVID pandemic. Up until then, we had still been going to church from some sense of obligation, even though I was miserable and fuming, and then would spend Sunday afternoons decompressing by talking to my spouse about all the things I disagreed with from the service. Why were we doing this? We had never NOT gone to church and it seemed unthinkable. But then COVID happened and we couldn't go. And realized maybe we didn't want to go back, and how nice it was to have Sundays at home with our family. Then I started therapy and wow did that help.
Today it's been almost 4 years since I've attended church, and it has been incredibly freeing. For the most part, I don't miss it. And there has been joy in seeing my kids grow up without the same kinds of fear and anxiety I had. But it has required much more intentionality to find the kinds of regular, recurring community that come built in with attending church. Would I ever go back? I'm not sure. I've sometimes thought about finding a progressive, multi-faith community (the kind of church we would have said wasn't REALLY a church back in the day), but right now it's not something I'm ready for. I still have too much to work through and the idea of having an obligation to go every week or get dragged into volunteering still sends my heart racing with anxiety.
And as far as God...I'm not sure. I'm not an atheist. I think there's something out there, something of ourselves that continues past death. But what always felt so certain, the sense that I was communing and having conversations with some higher being in my head, that seems to be gone. Instead I'm alone in my own mind, and honestly it's pretty peaceful. There are moments where I feel the loss of something comforting in situations that feel out of my control. Like a child being sick, where praying felt like you could at least DO something. But instead I'm finding my own inner strength, resilience, and love. And it feels good to have the freedom to fully be myself and figure out what that is, even if I'm doing it at 36 instead of 16.
I received an audio review copy of this book via NetGalley, all opinons are my own.
************************
I know I'm not the only one saying this, but I felt very seen by this book. So many little details of childhood and adolescence that you think you don't share with other people, but are apparently very common pieces of religious trauma. I know this book isn't going to be all things to all people but it's part of the beginning of a much needed reckoning with the long term impact of growing up in white, evangelical churches in America through the 80's, 90's and early aughts. And it's a narrative that should be read in conversation with other books, such as Jesus & John Wayne or #ChurchToo. Bit by bit, a fuller picture comes together.
This book is a blend of memoir and journalism, drawing on the author's background as a journalist. She draws connections between the church embracing Trump and many millennials & Gen X people becoming disillusioned by the lack of consistency between what was taught and what actually happened. And she rightfully shows how many (if not most) "exvangelicals" are people who had been deeply embedded in Christianity, not people who just casually went to church on occasion. We're often the people who did actually read the entire Bible, wrestled with theological questions, invested time and passion in the church, did the things we were supposed to do.
And yet... The cracks eventually began showing. And once you start to recognize and peel back the layers of trauma and anxiety you have carried in your body since childhood- from always trying to be perfect and make sure God wasn't angry with you, fearing being left behind in the rapture, believing that demons were always trying to trick your thoughts and emotions to pull you away from God, believing you were never good enough and constantly needed to repent of sin (like being angry with a sibling or feeling jealous of a schoolmate), purity culture leaving you feeling bad about your body and gender, thinking something must be wrong with you if you were experiencing sexual desire as a young woman because that was only supposed to be something boys dealt with, or maybe even failing to recognize your own sexuality until much later in life because you were told that attraction to your own gender was just jealousy or didn't actually mean anything. And I'm barely scratching the surface here, leaving off all the people who experienced various forms of abuse at the hands of church leaders.
There's a reason people my age are leaving the church in droves. And I especially related to a line in this book about struggling with the fact that your childhood could be both deeply traumatizing, and perfectly fine. Having parents who loved you and did their best to do what they thought was right, not experiencing sexual abuse the way some people did, having plenty of happy moments. But also learning never to trust yourself because "the heart is deceitful", and constantly being aware there is a being surveilling your every action and thought, all of which you will one day have to publicly account for in the afterlife. That's terrifying. No wonder so many of us have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders as adults.
All that to say, this book felt like an empathetic hug and I hope we see a lot more people speaking about their experiences and walking through what it means to find healing and peace as adults. She does a good job too of specifying that this is mostly about the white evangelical church. The Black church and others might have their own issues, but it's not the same thing. And for all the complaints about how this ties in politics, there's really no way not to do that.
The white evangelical church is DEEPLY political and we got that indoctrination as children. I've been at protests and prayer circles outside abortion clinics as a minor, wrote a high school paper about abortion being unethical and murder, another one about how evolution was wrong and unscientific, attended a creationism conference with my class in middle school, heard from the pulpit about how to vote and about fighting marriage equality legislation, attended prayer rallies that were deeply rooted in Christian nationalism... None of which I would advocate for today and much of which I very much regret in terms of the harm that was being done, but it has been a long journey.
And the thing is, I have a better scenario than many fellow exvangelicals. My parents actually were consistent in their beliefs and didn't jump on the Trump train. We disagree about plenty of things, but they've been at least willing to listen and not try to push me back into their belief system. They've respected our choices as parents and because of that can have a relationship with their grandkids. I know plenty of people who have not had that and I'm grateful, but I am also still working through a lot and that makes family relationships complicated. And I'm having to learn how to do parenting from within a very different framework than the one I grew up in, which has it's own challenges.
I think Trump was the turning point for a lot of people, but for me this started much earlier. It was less of a sudden breaking off and more of a slow journey away across more than a decade that culminated with the COVID pandemic. Up until then, we had still been going to church from some sense of obligation, even though I was miserable and fuming, and then would spend Sunday afternoons decompressing by talking to my spouse about all the things I disagreed with from the service. Why were we doing this? We had never NOT gone to church and it seemed unthinkable. But then COVID happened and we couldn't go. And realized maybe we didn't want to go back, and how nice it was to have Sundays at home with our family. Then I started therapy and wow did that help.
Today it's been almost 4 years since I've attended church, and it has been incredibly freeing. For the most part, I don't miss it. And there has been joy in seeing my kids grow up without the same kinds of fear and anxiety I had. But it has required much more intentionality to find the kinds of regular, recurring community that come built in with attending church. Would I ever go back? I'm not sure. I've sometimes thought about finding a progressive, multi-faith community (the kind of church we would have said wasn't REALLY a church back in the day), but right now it's not something I'm ready for. I still have too much to work through and the idea of having an obligation to go every week or get dragged into volunteering still sends my heart racing with anxiety.
And as far as God...I'm not sure. I'm not an atheist. I think there's something out there, something of ourselves that continues past death. But what always felt so certain, the sense that I was communing and having conversations with some higher being in my head, that seems to be gone. Instead I'm alone in my own mind, and honestly it's pretty peaceful. There are moments where I feel the loss of something comforting in situations that feel out of my control. Like a child being sick, where praying felt like you could at least DO something. But instead I'm finding my own inner strength, resilience, and love. And it feels good to have the freedom to fully be myself and figure out what that is, even if I'm doing it at 36 instead of 16.
I received an audio review copy of this book via NetGalley, all opinons are my own.
March 12, 2024
It's difficult to save a world you're taught to fear and are carefully sheltered from. (loc. 314*)
Growing up, McCammon was one of a large number of American evangelical Christians—deeply religious, deeply conservative, inflexible in views and closely focused on things like purity and politics. Only as she grew older did McCammon begin to understand just how deep and complex the roots ran, and just how twisted. And later, she became one of a growing number of American exvangelicals, a term coined by Blake Christian to describe the droves of disillusioned former churchgoers moving on to other things.
My (liberal, nonreligious) background is quite different from McCammon's, but I did grow up (partially) in the American Midwest, and so hers is one that I recognize instantly. Here, she tells not just her own story of disillusionment and deconstruction and, yes, exvangelicalism, but some of the many, many stories of people who grew up with backgrounds similar to hers. I've done a fair amount of reading in this general vein, so some of the names she discusses are familiar to me, but McCammon writes with not only the thoughtfulness of experience but the precision of her journalistic background.
I particularly appreciate that McCammon works to separate out things that are wrong with...let's call it the application of conservative religion in general...and things that feel specific to white American churches; McCammon covered the 2016 election, and when large swaths of white Christians were backing openly racist and xenophobic (among other things) candidates—and using the power of their religious platforms to do so—it becomes impossible to look at any one of those things in a void.
This is not a book about religion: it's a book about the ways in which people use and abuse religion to in turn use and abuse people, politics, and power. This is something of a theme in books about religion I've read lately, and if this is material that's of interest to you, you're in luck because there's a lot out there—an entire generation growing up to realize that, whatever they do or don't believe now, many of the teachings they grew up with were damaging at best. (Sarah Stankorb's Disobedient Women and Jon Ward's Testimony are not bad places to start for further reading.)
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.
*I read an ARC, and quotes may not be final.
Growing up, McCammon was one of a large number of American evangelical Christians—deeply religious, deeply conservative, inflexible in views and closely focused on things like purity and politics. Only as she grew older did McCammon begin to understand just how deep and complex the roots ran, and just how twisted. And later, she became one of a growing number of American exvangelicals, a term coined by Blake Christian to describe the droves of disillusioned former churchgoers moving on to other things.
My (liberal, nonreligious) background is quite different from McCammon's, but I did grow up (partially) in the American Midwest, and so hers is one that I recognize instantly. Here, she tells not just her own story of disillusionment and deconstruction and, yes, exvangelicalism, but some of the many, many stories of people who grew up with backgrounds similar to hers. I've done a fair amount of reading in this general vein, so some of the names she discusses are familiar to me, but McCammon writes with not only the thoughtfulness of experience but the precision of her journalistic background.
I particularly appreciate that McCammon works to separate out things that are wrong with...let's call it the application of conservative religion in general...and things that feel specific to white American churches; McCammon covered the 2016 election, and when large swaths of white Christians were backing openly racist and xenophobic (among other things) candidates—and using the power of their religious platforms to do so—it becomes impossible to look at any one of those things in a void.
This is not a book about religion: it's a book about the ways in which people use and abuse religion to in turn use and abuse people, politics, and power. This is something of a theme in books about religion I've read lately, and if this is material that's of interest to you, you're in luck because there's a lot out there—an entire generation growing up to realize that, whatever they do or don't believe now, many of the teachings they grew up with were damaging at best. (Sarah Stankorb's Disobedient Women and Jon Ward's Testimony are not bad places to start for further reading.)
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.
*I read an ARC, and quotes may not be final.
November 19, 2023
If you are going to go do something, you should go all the way with it. Unfortunately, Sarah McCammon plays it safe in her book, The Exvangelicals.
A bit of a clarification for this review. I will not comment on what I think of Evangelical Christianity, Donald Trump, or any sort of political agenda. What I am going to comment on is McCammon's point and whether or not she makes it.
Long story short, she doesn't. McCammon is a former evangelical and is clearly trying to work through her feelings of leaving her childhood religion behind. She is a brave person and is on a path which seems to be better for her. Quite frankly, if this were just a memoir of and by McCammon, then I would feel differently about it.
The problem is that McCammon tries to keep her journalist hat on while presenting this story. Which would be fine if not for the fact this is still half memoir. McCammon relives hurtful personal memories without fully placing blame and calling out the perpetrators. For example, (avoiding spoilers) McCammon has multiple stories about her relationship with her grandfather. I was invested in this thread and I wanted McCammon to truly vent her spleen about the wrongs done to their relationship. We don't get that. Instead, we move on to other topics or the views of other exvangelicals instead of spending more time with the author and her family.
Another example of problems with scope in this book are multiple references to Donald Trump which don't always fit. It certainly makes sense to point out the current political climate and Trump specifically but not repeatedly based on the way the author handles the rest of the book. McCammon herself points out that the problems with evangelicalism came way before Trump. He becomes a needless distraction instead of getting a catharsis from McCammon.
I was truly frustrated because I think McCammon pulled her punches. I think she intended for this to be an indictment of the state of evangelicalism, but instead it feels like a kind admonishment. She lit a match but refused to burn it all down.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and St. Martin's Press.)
A bit of a clarification for this review. I will not comment on what I think of Evangelical Christianity, Donald Trump, or any sort of political agenda. What I am going to comment on is McCammon's point and whether or not she makes it.
Long story short, she doesn't. McCammon is a former evangelical and is clearly trying to work through her feelings of leaving her childhood religion behind. She is a brave person and is on a path which seems to be better for her. Quite frankly, if this were just a memoir of and by McCammon, then I would feel differently about it.
The problem is that McCammon tries to keep her journalist hat on while presenting this story. Which would be fine if not for the fact this is still half memoir. McCammon relives hurtful personal memories without fully placing blame and calling out the perpetrators. For example, (avoiding spoilers) McCammon has multiple stories about her relationship with her grandfather. I was invested in this thread and I wanted McCammon to truly vent her spleen about the wrongs done to their relationship. We don't get that. Instead, we move on to other topics or the views of other exvangelicals instead of spending more time with the author and her family.
Another example of problems with scope in this book are multiple references to Donald Trump which don't always fit. It certainly makes sense to point out the current political climate and Trump specifically but not repeatedly based on the way the author handles the rest of the book. McCammon herself points out that the problems with evangelicalism came way before Trump. He becomes a needless distraction instead of getting a catharsis from McCammon.
I was truly frustrated because I think McCammon pulled her punches. I think she intended for this to be an indictment of the state of evangelicalism, but instead it feels like a kind admonishment. She lit a match but refused to burn it all down.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and St. Martin's Press.)
March 8, 2024
This book, y’all. I thought I had processed my childhood experiences with religion, but this book made me recognize that I have only scratched the surface. I was particularly moved by the discussion of religious trauma’s physical manifestations. Light bulb moment!
A quote that left me crying in my car occurs when the author is describing a conversation she had with her ex-spouse: “We’re not hurting because we broke the rules. We’re hurting because we followed them.”
Going to gift this to all my fellow wilderness wanderers. I see you.
A quote that left me crying in my car occurs when the author is describing a conversation she had with her ex-spouse: “We’re not hurting because we broke the rules. We’re hurting because we followed them.”
Going to gift this to all my fellow wilderness wanderers. I see you.
April 10, 2024
Sarah McCammon gets into the nitty-gritty of evangelical life, taking us deep inside the movement. She's not just some outsider peeking in. She grew up in this world. She walks us through her old neighborhood, pointing out all the hidden spots we’d never notice without her. It’s pretty clear she knows her stuff, and that made the deep dive into the culture and beliefs of evangelical Christianity not just informative but deeply personal as well.
As you might expect, McCammon has her moments where she’s throwing some shade. It feels like she’s still got a bit of a chip on her shoulder about her evangelical past. But then, considering what she’s lived through, you kinda feel like she’s earned the right to be a bit salty.
Even with that edge, though, she’s still got this soft spot for her old evangelical buddies. You can tell it hurts that she’s not part of that close-knit group anymore. She’s got love for them, and that comes through, making the whole thing feel real and raw.
I was struck by how incredibly insular and sheltered the world of evangelism can be. It's like stepping into a bubble where everything inside is self-reinforcing, creating a tight-knit community that is cut off from the outside world. I was amazed at how this environment can shape people's views and lives so completely, where every aspect, from the media they consume, to the schools they attend, is designed to reinforce their belief system. It’s a world where faith isn't just a part of life; it's the lens through which everything is viewed, making it a profoundly all-encompassing experience.
The evangelical teachings build a worldview that the faithful are in a holy battle. Outsiders aren’t just bystanders trying to go about their own lives. Non-christians are seen as tempters of the faithful, constantly trying to lure them to an unrighteous path. Black or white thinking. Believer or secular saboteur.
The book also dives into why so many evangelicals are getting tangled up with some pretty harsh stuff—like backing politicians who are all in on hate. It’s a bit of a head-scratcher considering their faith's teachings. But McCammon lays it out in a way that makes you see the whole picture. She talks about how evangelicals are feeling cornered, with their beliefs under fire from all sides, especially from science and modern secular views. They’re in survival mode, trying to keep their world from falling apart.
The physicist Richard Feynman said that “religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." Science is dismantling their worldview. And the harder it pushes, the more evangelicals circle the wagons and try to block the onslaught. Don’t listen to the apostates. Don’t let the voice of devils tempt you to stray.
Back in the day, being a Christian was simpler because science wasn’t there to challenge every belief. But now? We’ve got all this knowledge and science that’s poking holes in the old-time religion stories.
After getting through this book, I have a lot more understanding of the evangelical crowd. These people feel as though they are under siege, seeing their entire belief system questioned and feeling like they’re losing their grip. It must be terrifying. They are watching their whole identity get questioned, and I think that’s why they are clinging to some pretty extreme stuff.
This was a good book and I learned a lot. McCammon delivers a heartfelt, insider’s look at evangelical Christianity. It’s got drama, it’s got emotion, and it definitely gives you a lot to think about.
As you might expect, McCammon has her moments where she’s throwing some shade. It feels like she’s still got a bit of a chip on her shoulder about her evangelical past. But then, considering what she’s lived through, you kinda feel like she’s earned the right to be a bit salty.
Even with that edge, though, she’s still got this soft spot for her old evangelical buddies. You can tell it hurts that she’s not part of that close-knit group anymore. She’s got love for them, and that comes through, making the whole thing feel real and raw.
I was struck by how incredibly insular and sheltered the world of evangelism can be. It's like stepping into a bubble where everything inside is self-reinforcing, creating a tight-knit community that is cut off from the outside world. I was amazed at how this environment can shape people's views and lives so completely, where every aspect, from the media they consume, to the schools they attend, is designed to reinforce their belief system. It’s a world where faith isn't just a part of life; it's the lens through which everything is viewed, making it a profoundly all-encompassing experience.
The evangelical teachings build a worldview that the faithful are in a holy battle. Outsiders aren’t just bystanders trying to go about their own lives. Non-christians are seen as tempters of the faithful, constantly trying to lure them to an unrighteous path. Black or white thinking. Believer or secular saboteur.
The book also dives into why so many evangelicals are getting tangled up with some pretty harsh stuff—like backing politicians who are all in on hate. It’s a bit of a head-scratcher considering their faith's teachings. But McCammon lays it out in a way that makes you see the whole picture. She talks about how evangelicals are feeling cornered, with their beliefs under fire from all sides, especially from science and modern secular views. They’re in survival mode, trying to keep their world from falling apart.
The physicist Richard Feynman said that “religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." Science is dismantling their worldview. And the harder it pushes, the more evangelicals circle the wagons and try to block the onslaught. Don’t listen to the apostates. Don’t let the voice of devils tempt you to stray.
Back in the day, being a Christian was simpler because science wasn’t there to challenge every belief. But now? We’ve got all this knowledge and science that’s poking holes in the old-time religion stories.
After getting through this book, I have a lot more understanding of the evangelical crowd. These people feel as though they are under siege, seeing their entire belief system questioned and feeling like they’re losing their grip. It must be terrifying. They are watching their whole identity get questioned, and I think that’s why they are clinging to some pretty extreme stuff.
This was a good book and I learned a lot. McCammon delivers a heartfelt, insider’s look at evangelical Christianity. It’s got drama, it’s got emotion, and it definitely gives you a lot to think about.
March 22, 2024
Thank you to the author Sarah McCammon, publishers St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of THE EXVANGELICALS. All views are mine.
𝐼 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑, “𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓!” 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡. ...𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑢𝑝𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 [𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠'] 𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚, ...𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡. Loc.2812
I'm not sure what I was expecting when I started reading THE EXVANGELICALS, but I was completely surprised, and at times appalled, at what I found in these pages. McCammon makes a lot of uncomfortable suggestions about evangelical Christianity culture, such as political maneuvering and child abuse so widespread it might as well be institutional. I was really taken up with the story when she discussed the families torn apart when a new generation decides to leave the church, usually for ideological reasons. I know someone who grew up Evangelical and she experienced a great deal of religious trauma as a child. She's still terrified she's going to go to hell at all times, even though she's now a liberal Christian. I understand her experience a great deal more because of this book. It's definitely a heart-rending read and I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about Evangelical culture and Exvangelicals.
When people leave evangelical communities,... that loss means not only lost sinners but also lost cultural currency and political power. Loc.3595
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. So much of this book is the kind of information that just makes me cover my mouth and shake my head. I thought when I asked to read this book, that it would be mostly one woman's religious experiences, but it's the story of the intellectual and political theft of the US.
2. This is a really frightening book at times. I'm reading chapter 12, which covers the systematic abuse of children that occurs in evangelical Christianity. It's a hard read, being that I'm a child DV survivor. I experienced many of the same abuses detailed in this chapter, but it had nothing to do with God in my family. The fact is, people who want to abuse their kids, will, and they will find whatever justification they need to sleep at night. They won't have to look very far either. If it's not a religioun, it's an outlying psychologist, a radio or TV personality, a next-door neighbor or friend or relative, or an internet comment section. Child abuse is widely accepted in the US, and is unfortunately very much not an "Evangelical" problem alone. That being said, that child abuse is common in Evangelical families is a problem that needs to be addressed within that community.
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. This is all sort of meandering. I'm 46% of the way through and I'm not sure McCammon has a point to make.
2. This book reads more like a memoir to me than a piece of long journalism. It's not because the material is personal that I feel this way. It's because the author never directly accuses the church of anything. Everything she says is sort of offhand and she spends a lot of time quoting other Exvangelicals writers.
Rating: 🧒🧒🧒🧒 / 5 kids training up
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: Mar 21 '24
Format: Digital arc, Kindle,
Read this book if you like:
📰 nonfiction / journalism
📓 memoir
👨👩👧👦 family stories, family drama
🧒 childhood development
💇♀️ women's reproductive rights
🇺🇸 identity politics in the US
𝐼 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑, “𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓!” 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡. ...𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑢𝑝𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 [𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠'] 𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚, ...𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡. Loc.2812
I'm not sure what I was expecting when I started reading THE EXVANGELICALS, but I was completely surprised, and at times appalled, at what I found in these pages. McCammon makes a lot of uncomfortable suggestions about evangelical Christianity culture, such as political maneuvering and child abuse so widespread it might as well be institutional. I was really taken up with the story when she discussed the families torn apart when a new generation decides to leave the church, usually for ideological reasons. I know someone who grew up Evangelical and she experienced a great deal of religious trauma as a child. She's still terrified she's going to go to hell at all times, even though she's now a liberal Christian. I understand her experience a great deal more because of this book. It's definitely a heart-rending read and I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about Evangelical culture and Exvangelicals.
When people leave evangelical communities,... that loss means not only lost sinners but also lost cultural currency and political power. Loc.3595
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. So much of this book is the kind of information that just makes me cover my mouth and shake my head. I thought when I asked to read this book, that it would be mostly one woman's religious experiences, but it's the story of the intellectual and political theft of the US.
2. This is a really frightening book at times. I'm reading chapter 12, which covers the systematic abuse of children that occurs in evangelical Christianity. It's a hard read, being that I'm a child DV survivor. I experienced many of the same abuses detailed in this chapter, but it had nothing to do with God in my family. The fact is, people who want to abuse their kids, will, and they will find whatever justification they need to sleep at night. They won't have to look very far either. If it's not a religioun, it's an outlying psychologist, a radio or TV personality, a next-door neighbor or friend or relative, or an internet comment section. Child abuse is widely accepted in the US, and is unfortunately very much not an "Evangelical" problem alone. That being said, that child abuse is common in Evangelical families is a problem that needs to be addressed within that community.
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. This is all sort of meandering. I'm 46% of the way through and I'm not sure McCammon has a point to make.
2. This book reads more like a memoir to me than a piece of long journalism. It's not because the material is personal that I feel this way. It's because the author never directly accuses the church of anything. Everything she says is sort of offhand and she spends a lot of time quoting other Exvangelicals writers.
Rating: 🧒🧒🧒🧒 / 5 kids training up
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: Mar 21 '24
Format: Digital arc, Kindle,
Read this book if you like:
📰 nonfiction / journalism
📓 memoir
👨👩👧👦 family stories, family drama
🧒 childhood development
💇♀️ women's reproductive rights
🇺🇸 identity politics in the US
February 14, 2024
I only picked this up because I got the audiobook from the publisher but it was quite an enlightening read for me, someone who has no clue even about American Christianity, much less the evangelical kind.
The author does a great job starting with her childhood and the kind of life she had growing up, the kind of religious beliefs and values she was taught, the denial of science (especially evolution) which was a cornerstone of the faith, as well as the purity culture and sexual repression. As a journalist, she also interviews fellow exvangelicals who have left the church for various reasons of their own, and it paints a picture of the different kinds of trauma all these people have suffered since childhood.
As someone growing up in India who thought only Indian politics was all mixed up in religion and America was better, the past decade has been a revelation for me and this book is a great step in trying to understand why the purity culture loving evangelicals stand so hard behind the 45th president - how everything they teach their children can be tossed aside temporarily if they feel their political goals can be achieved by supporting someone completely opposite of their faith. It’s hypocrisy at its finest and I’ve come to realize over the years that organized religion is the pinnacle of hypocrisy, everywhere in the world.
While I did learn quite a lot from this book, maybe readers who have grown up American might find all the information here something they already know and nothing new to offer. But I feel people who are in the same position as the author, having lost their bearings after separating from their church, suffering from religious trauma, or even those who are just questioning what has been taught to them since childhood - may find common ground,
community and empathy in these pages.
The author does a great job starting with her childhood and the kind of life she had growing up, the kind of religious beliefs and values she was taught, the denial of science (especially evolution) which was a cornerstone of the faith, as well as the purity culture and sexual repression. As a journalist, she also interviews fellow exvangelicals who have left the church for various reasons of their own, and it paints a picture of the different kinds of trauma all these people have suffered since childhood.
As someone growing up in India who thought only Indian politics was all mixed up in religion and America was better, the past decade has been a revelation for me and this book is a great step in trying to understand why the purity culture loving evangelicals stand so hard behind the 45th president - how everything they teach their children can be tossed aside temporarily if they feel their political goals can be achieved by supporting someone completely opposite of their faith. It’s hypocrisy at its finest and I’ve come to realize over the years that organized religion is the pinnacle of hypocrisy, everywhere in the world.
While I did learn quite a lot from this book, maybe readers who have grown up American might find all the information here something they already know and nothing new to offer. But I feel people who are in the same position as the author, having lost their bearings after separating from their church, suffering from religious trauma, or even those who are just questioning what has been taught to them since childhood - may find common ground,
community and empathy in these pages.
August 22, 2023
This book was definitely well researched as evidences by the extensive list of sources making up the last 40 or so pages, and the Author's story was well laid out. I have been reading a lot about the issues facing the evangelical church at the moment, and this book showcased a variety of them.
Having grown up evangelical, in some ways I can connect with this authors story, but my evangelical church was not nearly as conservative or political as the author's (I'm also from Canada not the US and I think the Canadian church hasn't become nearly as political as the American Church) so on the whole my experience was vastly different. I found that the author painted the entire evangelical church with the same brush and didn't account for the churches that did stand up against Trump, and that don't operate the same way as she experienced. I don't want to discount her experience, or that of the others she quoted, but I think the research was one sided in some aspects and could have done with a little more rounding out.
This is an interesting read if you want to know a little more about some of the issues facing the evangelical church in America, and why there is what seems like a mass exodus of younger people.
I give this book 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4.
I was provided an advanced copy of this book by Netgalley, all opinions are my own.
Having grown up evangelical, in some ways I can connect with this authors story, but my evangelical church was not nearly as conservative or political as the author's (I'm also from Canada not the US and I think the Canadian church hasn't become nearly as political as the American Church) so on the whole my experience was vastly different. I found that the author painted the entire evangelical church with the same brush and didn't account for the churches that did stand up against Trump, and that don't operate the same way as she experienced. I don't want to discount her experience, or that of the others she quoted, but I think the research was one sided in some aspects and could have done with a little more rounding out.
This is an interesting read if you want to know a little more about some of the issues facing the evangelical church in America, and why there is what seems like a mass exodus of younger people.
I give this book 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4.
I was provided an advanced copy of this book by Netgalley, all opinions are my own.
March 22, 2024
To compromise our understanding of the literal truth of the Bible in any way, we were told, could threaten everything. If there was no direct creation in the Garden of Eden, and no literal Adam, did that mean there was no sin? And if not, then why did Jesus come to save us? We knew we were sinners and he'd come to save us, so there must have been an Adam and there must have been a garden.
I can't review The Exvangelicals without first disclosing my personal perspective, which is that I grew up Seventh Day Adventist (its own kind of evangelicalism) in the 1980s and '90s and that although I would still consider myself a Christian, I am no longer affiliated with a church and strongly disagree with the evangelical stance on sociopolitical issues. (Thankfully, this did not cause me to lose family, which is sadly the case for many people who leave the church.) My personal religious philosophy is this, I suppose: Jesus loved and accepted everyone, so I'm going to do that too. Even the people who park like assholes and don't return their carts at the grocery store.
It took a long time for me to get here. There's part of The Exvangelicals where Sarah McCammon talks in great detail about childhood religious trauma, and it resonated with me. When you're a child in that sort of environment -- when you're constantly told that you are a sinner, you'll always be a sinner, and that God is watching everything you do; when your questions about the geographical locations of heaven and hell or how the Bible's teachings and the proof of dinosaurs can co-exist are disregarded or outright ignored -- that sticks with you, and you really can't see how it may have affected you until you're an adult and are no longer in that environment. At least, I couldn't.
The Exvangelicals is part memoir and part journalistic investigation into the white evangelical church, blending McCammon's personal experiences with the larger evangelical narrative encompassing political and social issues. The structure really worked for me, as the book read like both a cathartic experience for McCammon and a well-researched, insightful discussion of complex issues. McCammon successfully navigates several highly-charged issues with empathy and sensitivity in a thought-provoking exploration that encourages pragmatic dialogue and raises lots of questions, and admits that there are no easy answers. However, I feel like she does sometimes paint evangelicals as a whole with a pretty broad brush without acknowledging those churches or individuals that are more progressive in their mindsets.
The sad reality is that most white evangelical Christians are not going to pick this book up, because it overtly challenges the dogma of the church -- and exploring other viewpoints and perspectives is not something that most white evangelicals are comfortable with. But if you are interested in the Christian church or involved in evangelicalism yourself -- formerly, tangentially, or currently -- I highly recommend The Exvangelicals as a solid entry into a growing cannon of books that challenge organized religion. And for this book specifically, treat yourself to the audio; McCammon, a journalist for NPR, reads it very well.
April 19, 2024
Religious myths necessitate beliefs, behaviors, and identity among the practitioners. Of the three necessities, identity is the most important. For an identity to work there must be an in-group, the group that is the only group without an identity since it is the default group, all other groups are against them and most likely are of the devil and they are going to hell. The in-groupers have a ‘personnel relationship’ with an imaginary non-material entity. Catholics don’t, non-Christians can’t, white evangelicals are special since they actively do and know the Truth.
White evangelicals vote 80% MAGA. The author was born in 1980 into a household where spanking was encouraged, purity culture enforced, and homosexuality was a sinful choice not an identity. A child’s world was controllable by their parent. The cult needs to close itself to all challenges against the inerrancy of the bible and before 2000 was able to control what their children thought.
The author starts to realize that people not in her myth system seem as if they are regular human beings just participating in the human experience. Her homosexual grandfather seems human to her. Her parents believed that to protect their daughter against sin they should mostly shun the grandfather and keep his evil choices away from their children. What a messed-up way the author’s parents see the world.
The author comes of age in the year 2000. She’s lucky. Before that time, it was not easy to find like-minded individuals who also realized that the hate evangelicals participated in was just weird. Evangelicals make sin an affront against the goodness of God or Jesus not against the person who is being harmed by the evangelicals themselves. Sin is an imaginary problem with an imaginary solution and evangelicals never get that they’ve created a solution that makes no sense.
The author realizes that other religious people not in her tribe are not of the devil, homosexuals just want to be, and finally she starts to realize that “Cosmos” is a pretty good TV show, that science is cool, not to hate homosexuality as a choice and accept homosexuals for who they are, and that her inerrant bible has absurdities.
MAGA makes all who are not inside their epistemological bubble alien and foolish just as the author’s tribe of white evangelicals tried to do. A fool believes vaccines don’t work, or Trump won the last election, or climate change is a Chinese hoax. Evangelicals feel threatened by a changing world and they embrace the nonsense spouted by Trump and long for the return of their epistemological bubble and they think Trump will preserve it for them. This author’s parents lost control of their daughter’s meta-narrative and they feel that the evangelical narrative will disappear without Trump, and want to preserve their threat of eternal damnation for all who disagree with them.
White evangelicals vote 80% MAGA. The author was born in 1980 into a household where spanking was encouraged, purity culture enforced, and homosexuality was a sinful choice not an identity. A child’s world was controllable by their parent. The cult needs to close itself to all challenges against the inerrancy of the bible and before 2000 was able to control what their children thought.
The author starts to realize that people not in her myth system seem as if they are regular human beings just participating in the human experience. Her homosexual grandfather seems human to her. Her parents believed that to protect their daughter against sin they should mostly shun the grandfather and keep his evil choices away from their children. What a messed-up way the author’s parents see the world.
The author comes of age in the year 2000. She’s lucky. Before that time, it was not easy to find like-minded individuals who also realized that the hate evangelicals participated in was just weird. Evangelicals make sin an affront against the goodness of God or Jesus not against the person who is being harmed by the evangelicals themselves. Sin is an imaginary problem with an imaginary solution and evangelicals never get that they’ve created a solution that makes no sense.
The author realizes that other religious people not in her tribe are not of the devil, homosexuals just want to be, and finally she starts to realize that “Cosmos” is a pretty good TV show, that science is cool, not to hate homosexuality as a choice and accept homosexuals for who they are, and that her inerrant bible has absurdities.
MAGA makes all who are not inside their epistemological bubble alien and foolish just as the author’s tribe of white evangelicals tried to do. A fool believes vaccines don’t work, or Trump won the last election, or climate change is a Chinese hoax. Evangelicals feel threatened by a changing world and they embrace the nonsense spouted by Trump and long for the return of their epistemological bubble and they think Trump will preserve it for them. This author’s parents lost control of their daughter’s meta-narrative and they feel that the evangelical narrative will disappear without Trump, and want to preserve their threat of eternal damnation for all who disagree with them.
March 8, 2024
one of my few non-fiction reads and, even more rare, a faith-related read. only recently have I felt ready to read on this subject matter and I’m so glad it was this one. Sarah McCammon, a journalist and NPR correspondent, shares others & her own experience in leaving the white evangelical church. it felt so validating to hear SUCH similar experiences & thoughts from someone who grew up and out of these spaces. whether you feel like an exvangelical and/or someone who is deconstructing or decolonizing their faith, it can easily feel isolating when you divest from a familiar place of identity. I’m not too familiar with resources like this but this read helped me feel less alone in these thoughts & experiences.
McCammon talks about the familiar names I used to revere and the resources and voices I’ve come to gravitate towards now, like Stephanie Stalvey’s illustrated comics on purity culture & Tyler Burns & Jemar Tisby’s podcast Pass the Mic.
this isn’t a vengeful pile of reasons why people left church (it could have been but maybe that’s a discussion for another time). this well researched journey reads less like a textbook and more like the collective experience that left so many feeling unsettled in white evangelical spaces.
if you’ve felt any ounce of cringe or discomfort from evangelical christian spaces growing up or looking back, this might be worth a read to see if something resonates. I hope more stories, studies, and resources like this one continue to get published and end up in the hands of those who need it.
McCammon talks about the familiar names I used to revere and the resources and voices I’ve come to gravitate towards now, like Stephanie Stalvey’s illustrated comics on purity culture & Tyler Burns & Jemar Tisby’s podcast Pass the Mic.
this isn’t a vengeful pile of reasons why people left church (it could have been but maybe that’s a discussion for another time). this well researched journey reads less like a textbook and more like the collective experience that left so many feeling unsettled in white evangelical spaces.
if you’ve felt any ounce of cringe or discomfort from evangelical christian spaces growing up or looking back, this might be worth a read to see if something resonates. I hope more stories, studies, and resources like this one continue to get published and end up in the hands of those who need it.
August 23, 2023
Wow. Sarah McCammon... get out of my head!!
If you, like me and (apparently) like plenty of other Xennials and Millennials feel like the conservative, evangelical culture you were raised in no longer fits with your values, this book is FOR US. I felt so very seen in these pages, and I highlighted so many relatable passages. I don't want to get into all the reasons I no longer identify as evangelical (although I am happy to discuss privately if you want to DM me), but the way this book absolutely nails growing up in the church in the 80s and 90s and becoming disillusioned with evangelical Christianity in the era of Trumpism is just so validating. I've spent sleepless nights and restless days agonizing over, for lack of a better phrase, "losing my religion" and it can feel so isolating, especially when your family and friends are all involved with the church. I had no idea there was a whole subculture out there, with forums and podcasts and, I don't know, probably even T-shirts and a secret handshake. McCammon informs us that about 1/3 of Americans raised in evangelical homes leave the culture by adulthood.
McCammon shares a bit of her own "deconstruction" from her fundamentalist Christian upbringing and has exhaustively researched this growing movement, interviewing countless others. We ex-vangelicals are not a monolith, of course, and there are differing levels of departure from the culture. One of her interviewees points out that "exvangelical" primarily relates to the White evangelical church, as the Black church does not espouse many of the beliefs that the White Evangelical church does (Black churches historically have leaned far more left than the white, religious right, and gee, I wonder why). Some people she interviewed have abandoned religion entirely, while others have found denominations where they feel comfortable. Still others, like me, are really unsure where they stand. And that's OK. It's a process, unpacking and unloading an identity you carried with you for nearly 40 years, and I'm so thankful to McCammon for writing this book so I know I'm not alone!
This is an absolute MUST read for anyone struggling with overcoming religious trauma, for anyone having left or contemplating leaving an Evangelical church, or for anyone who scratches their head at how such an evil and morally repugnant man became the beacon of the religious right.
If you, like me and (apparently) like plenty of other Xennials and Millennials feel like the conservative, evangelical culture you were raised in no longer fits with your values, this book is FOR US. I felt so very seen in these pages, and I highlighted so many relatable passages. I don't want to get into all the reasons I no longer identify as evangelical (although I am happy to discuss privately if you want to DM me), but the way this book absolutely nails growing up in the church in the 80s and 90s and becoming disillusioned with evangelical Christianity in the era of Trumpism is just so validating. I've spent sleepless nights and restless days agonizing over, for lack of a better phrase, "losing my religion" and it can feel so isolating, especially when your family and friends are all involved with the church. I had no idea there was a whole subculture out there, with forums and podcasts and, I don't know, probably even T-shirts and a secret handshake. McCammon informs us that about 1/3 of Americans raised in evangelical homes leave the culture by adulthood.
For others - especially many of their children - The Gen-Xers, millennials, and Zoomers who grew up in the shadow of the Moral Majority only to come of age in a far more pluralistic and interconnected world - these years have been a time of confusion and disillusionment. People born into evangelical families during that era have reached adulthood at a time when information is more readily available than ever - making alternative points of view impossible to ignore - and younger generations of Americans are leaving religion, and particularly Christianity, at a rapid pace.
McCammon shares a bit of her own "deconstruction" from her fundamentalist Christian upbringing and has exhaustively researched this growing movement, interviewing countless others. We ex-vangelicals are not a monolith, of course, and there are differing levels of departure from the culture. One of her interviewees points out that "exvangelical" primarily relates to the White evangelical church, as the Black church does not espouse many of the beliefs that the White Evangelical church does (Black churches historically have leaned far more left than the white, religious right, and gee, I wonder why). Some people she interviewed have abandoned religion entirely, while others have found denominations where they feel comfortable. Still others, like me, are really unsure where they stand. And that's OK. It's a process, unpacking and unloading an identity you carried with you for nearly 40 years, and I'm so thankful to McCammon for writing this book so I know I'm not alone!
This is an absolute MUST read for anyone struggling with overcoming religious trauma, for anyone having left or contemplating leaving an Evangelical church, or for anyone who scratches their head at how such an evil and morally repugnant man became the beacon of the religious right.
March 8, 2024
It is no easy thing to talk about the subject of this book: the quiet voice that lingers in the minds of those who grew up in an evangelical sphere during the past generations. It’s never kind & never sounds like God, but men who wish they WERE God. It sounds a lot like shame. The amount of trauma that was & is dealt by hands that should reflect Jesus’ own scarred ones is horrendous. As someone who grew up in a very similar way to the author (though with parents who were CERTAINLY not as severe), I resonated with so much that was said here in the Exvangelicals.
There are many important topics brought up in this book to make those who are reflecting on their church & faith experience feel seen & understood. The interviews & different takes bring a wide spectrum of understanding to a multifaceted issue. I loved the emphasis on the spectrum-like nature of looking at “deconstruction”. As someone who DOES still believe in God, but who just resents certain aspects of the westernized Church, there was no aura of utter hatred for God or Christianity, just critiques & introspection. The reminder of the lack of love many groups receive from a body of people, who’s literal functioning is to be the arms & feet of a Christ who chose to love the poor, the broken, & the the outcasts of his day, fuels me with pain. The author does a wonderful job at describing the issue at hand, & also the thoughts & feelings of those who are walking with the aftermath of it. Relatable & poignant, I believe this book will be an excellent addition to the conversation that is deconstruction.
I’m grateful to have been able to listen to this. May we remember the tables that Jesus sat at: with “sinners”—with those he loved.
“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, & God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” -1 Corinthians 1:27
Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for this arc & the chance to read this book.
There are many important topics brought up in this book to make those who are reflecting on their church & faith experience feel seen & understood. The interviews & different takes bring a wide spectrum of understanding to a multifaceted issue. I loved the emphasis on the spectrum-like nature of looking at “deconstruction”. As someone who DOES still believe in God, but who just resents certain aspects of the westernized Church, there was no aura of utter hatred for God or Christianity, just critiques & introspection. The reminder of the lack of love many groups receive from a body of people, who’s literal functioning is to be the arms & feet of a Christ who chose to love the poor, the broken, & the the outcasts of his day, fuels me with pain. The author does a wonderful job at describing the issue at hand, & also the thoughts & feelings of those who are walking with the aftermath of it. Relatable & poignant, I believe this book will be an excellent addition to the conversation that is deconstruction.
I’m grateful to have been able to listen to this. May we remember the tables that Jesus sat at: with “sinners”—with those he loved.
“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, & God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” -1 Corinthians 1:27
Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for this arc & the chance to read this book.
March 2, 2024
I need a support group just to discuss this book.
March 19, 2024
I thought this was going to be a memoir. I thought I’d get a better understanding of the author’s personal experience and emotional state as her views changed. She included some anecdotal segments, but this did not have much depth, as far as one human being goes.
So, what is this? It’s investigative journalism. I’ve read (or partially read) a couple other books written by journalists that were presented as memoirs and I’ve been sorely disappointed. When I pick up a memoir (or what I believe to be a memoir), I want authenticity and vulnerability. I don’t want information reported to me. After a few chapters of this, my frustration was growing, but I managed to get over it because I finally recognized that this was actually quite good, despite not being what I had anticipated.
For the record, I do like investigative journalism. I just don’t like it when it pretends to be a memoir.
Anyway, enough of that particular gripe. Let’s talk about what made this book shine.
Sarah McCammon covered a multitude of problematic areas within the evangelical church structure, but not necessarily to convince the reader that Christianity in itself is bad. She remained respectful of religion/religious beliefs. She simply reported on the harmful aspects of the evangelical church that psychologically traumatized her and many other individuals. She illustrated with specific examples (such as purity culture) and included quotes from a number of people who were negatively affected by the Christian church and/or Christian family they grew up in. Some have walked away from the faith completely. Others have found ways to separate themselves from toxic teachings while maintaining their love for Jesus and trying to build on an authentic foundation of that love.
McCammon’s book provided me with a lot to consider while helping me process some of my own experiences surrounding the church. She was, in my opinion, fairly gentle with her criticisms. I do not mean to imply that she didn’t take a firm stance. She did not, however, aim to dehumanize the people who had harmed her and others. She acknowledged they were trying based on what they genuinely believed, which certainly doesn’t exonerate them. I believe she was, at least, aiming to not fuel hatred, and whether or not she was successful will depend on individual reader perception.
I do believe the content will resonate with those who have been trying to heal from spiritual abuse, whether they consider it weaponized or simply misguided, and that this book may help guide them through that process.
I am immensely grateful to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for my copies. All opinions are my own.
So, what is this? It’s investigative journalism. I’ve read (or partially read) a couple other books written by journalists that were presented as memoirs and I’ve been sorely disappointed. When I pick up a memoir (or what I believe to be a memoir), I want authenticity and vulnerability. I don’t want information reported to me. After a few chapters of this, my frustration was growing, but I managed to get over it because I finally recognized that this was actually quite good, despite not being what I had anticipated.
For the record, I do like investigative journalism. I just don’t like it when it pretends to be a memoir.
Anyway, enough of that particular gripe. Let’s talk about what made this book shine.
Sarah McCammon covered a multitude of problematic areas within the evangelical church structure, but not necessarily to convince the reader that Christianity in itself is bad. She remained respectful of religion/religious beliefs. She simply reported on the harmful aspects of the evangelical church that psychologically traumatized her and many other individuals. She illustrated with specific examples (such as purity culture) and included quotes from a number of people who were negatively affected by the Christian church and/or Christian family they grew up in. Some have walked away from the faith completely. Others have found ways to separate themselves from toxic teachings while maintaining their love for Jesus and trying to build on an authentic foundation of that love.
McCammon’s book provided me with a lot to consider while helping me process some of my own experiences surrounding the church. She was, in my opinion, fairly gentle with her criticisms. I do not mean to imply that she didn’t take a firm stance. She did not, however, aim to dehumanize the people who had harmed her and others. She acknowledged they were trying based on what they genuinely believed, which certainly doesn’t exonerate them. I believe she was, at least, aiming to not fuel hatred, and whether or not she was successful will depend on individual reader perception.
I do believe the content will resonate with those who have been trying to heal from spiritual abuse, whether they consider it weaponized or simply misguided, and that this book may help guide them through that process.
I am immensely grateful to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for my copies. All opinions are my own.
March 6, 2024
This book was fascinating. I've always been interested in the disconnect between people and religion - specifically, people who grew up religious but later strayed from their church. As someone who was raised in religious schools (but also someone who has never been religious) it's something I've run into on more than one occasion. Friends questioning their faith because the teachings of the church just... don't line up with the actions being taken by that same church.
This was a wonderful perspective to read, and I thought the author explained things very well. It was easy to see how so many in the evangelical church fall into these contradictory ideologies. It was enlightening to read the opinions of people who have been leaving the church and to see what the "last straw" was for them.
I think this had a strangely impersonal but also personal look into the exvangelical movement. I enjoyed this analytical look into things, but I would have enjoyed a little more personality to some chapters.
Overall, a solid read. I enjoyed the narration and the content of this book!
This was a wonderful perspective to read, and I thought the author explained things very well. It was easy to see how so many in the evangelical church fall into these contradictory ideologies. It was enlightening to read the opinions of people who have been leaving the church and to see what the "last straw" was for them.
I think this had a strangely impersonal but also personal look into the exvangelical movement. I enjoyed this analytical look into things, but I would have enjoyed a little more personality to some chapters.
Overall, a solid read. I enjoyed the narration and the content of this book!
October 22, 2023
I do not consider myself an exvangelical (or an evangelical any more), but I was surprised how relatable this book was. Author Sarah McCammon combines her incisive journalistic skills with her personal stories of growing up in a Fundamentalist home that was even more extreme than mine. I loved the structure of the book, with chapters organized around evangelical beliefs, such as evangelism, end times, gender roles, purity culture, parenting, LGBTQ issues, and hell. Because she writes about politics as a journalist, her coverage of political issues and the overwhelming Evangelical support for Donald Trump and conservative causes like anti-abortion, were particularly intriguing. The chapter on religious trauma with her interviews with experts, was a concise and powerful description of why evangelicalism, specifically, can result in religious trauma. The diversity of her interviews and depth of her research, yet accessible and personal nature of her writing, are impressive. The stories of the end of her first marriage and the fracture in her relationship with her parents were particularly emotional. This book reminded me of Testimony, also by a journalist describing his fundamentalist upbringing, yet was more engaging, perhaps because I related more to a female author.
The audience that will relate the most to this book is exvangelicals, progressive Christians, and post-deconstructionists who lean left on social issues and theology. Yet I hope that those in Evangelicalism or who are curious about deconstruction will read it too. This book explains why "about one-third of Americans raised in evangelical households leave the tradition as adults". We should all pay attention.
The audience that will relate the most to this book is exvangelicals, progressive Christians, and post-deconstructionists who lean left on social issues and theology. Yet I hope that those in Evangelicalism or who are curious about deconstruction will read it too. This book explains why "about one-third of Americans raised in evangelical households leave the tradition as adults". We should all pay attention.
July 4, 2023
NPR reporter Sarah McCammon writes about her own experiences growing up in a strict evangelical household and how she became what she terms an exvangelical. She looks at the subculture of the white, evangelical church that she grew up in and the factors that are making many people opt to leave it. It's a personal story that is also well-researched to present the context surrounding it. I mean literally well-researched. I was not anticipating the hundreds and hundreds of references at the end of the book. Anyone who has grown up evangelical and has questioned what they've been taught whether they've stayed in the church or not will definitely recognize themselves in this book in some way.
March 14, 2024
I've been listening to a lot of the Holy Post's podcasts and YouTube channel which is where I first heard the idea of deconstruction and Exvangelicals. I wasn't raised with a fundamental church background, but attended a couple throughout my college days well into my late 30's and was influenced by it and understood what McCammon was talking about. Like many people in the book, 2020 was a turning point and I just felt super confused, alone, disillusioned, and knew I couldn't do it anymore. I wish I had this book 4 years ago to know it wasn't just me! All that to say, I'm probably the perfect audience this book was meant for so when it came up as an audio book on Netgalley, I was very excited to read it. I devoured this book in 3 days which says a lot since I'm not a big non-fiction reader.
What I really liked about McCammon's book is how well written it was and how she really brought in a lot of perspectives. A lot of Christian books I've read are heavily opinion oriented just from one person's perspective. You can really tell with the writing style that McCammon is a serious journalist from NPR and not just another person with a bone to pick. She does tell her story and definitely has opinions, but she tempers it with research, poll results, and interviews from others in the same position. Her overall bent is that the far right Evangelical movement is harmful, but I felt she tried to be very logical and even with that view. I was able to look up a lot of the people and references she talks about and most are not so logical about that view. I liked that the book explores many facets including politics, purity culture, LGBTQ+, Women's Roles, and corporal punishment. I think the hurt people feel is very real and as a counselor, I do like that she spent a chapter advocating for finding professional help from therapists even while acknowledging how hard that can be.
The only thing I didn't really agree with is McCammon's conclusion seems to be that there is no place in Christianity, or Evangelical Christianity at least, for people who are not the stereotypical white Evangelical. While I've certainly felt that pressure in the churches I've attended, I still hold out hope that there is a place for the rest of us- maybe not in my small Wyoming town, but certainly in the Christian world at large. She instead recommends finding community in other places like the internet or different interest group which isn't bad advice, I guess, but I'm just not ready to give up hope yet.
Overall, 5 stars! I really felt like I understood a lot more and that I wasn't alone because of reading this book and highly recommend it to anyone who is going through a similar journey or just wants to learn more about what it is.
What I really liked about McCammon's book is how well written it was and how she really brought in a lot of perspectives. A lot of Christian books I've read are heavily opinion oriented just from one person's perspective. You can really tell with the writing style that McCammon is a serious journalist from NPR and not just another person with a bone to pick. She does tell her story and definitely has opinions, but she tempers it with research, poll results, and interviews from others in the same position. Her overall bent is that the far right Evangelical movement is harmful, but I felt she tried to be very logical and even with that view. I was able to look up a lot of the people and references she talks about and most are not so logical about that view. I liked that the book explores many facets including politics, purity culture, LGBTQ+, Women's Roles, and corporal punishment. I think the hurt people feel is very real and as a counselor, I do like that she spent a chapter advocating for finding professional help from therapists even while acknowledging how hard that can be.
The only thing I didn't really agree with is McCammon's conclusion seems to be that there is no place in Christianity, or Evangelical Christianity at least, for people who are not the stereotypical white Evangelical. While I've certainly felt that pressure in the churches I've attended, I still hold out hope that there is a place for the rest of us- maybe not in my small Wyoming town, but certainly in the Christian world at large. She instead recommends finding community in other places like the internet or different interest group which isn't bad advice, I guess, but I'm just not ready to give up hope yet.
Overall, 5 stars! I really felt like I understood a lot more and that I wasn't alone because of reading this book and highly recommend it to anyone who is going through a similar journey or just wants to learn more about what it is.
October 13, 2023
My own journey through organized religion has been a bit of a kaleidoscopic tapestry. From being raised within the cultlike Jehovah's Witnesses to spending several years within the charismatic Vineyard Christian Fellowship to becoming ordained in an independent New Thought church and then licensed in ministry within the Anabaptist tradition, I've spent much of my life searching for a place that feels like home.
These days, I unexpectedly have aligned myself with a large Presbyterian church of the PC-USA variety, the latest stop (and I hope my last stop) in my lifetime of seeking a place where I can live, love, and hopefully never leave.
"The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church" by Sarah McCammon is her own intimate glimpse into the world of American evangelicalism. The Exvangelicals chronicles definitively the growing movement of those leaving this major religious subculture by capturing what often drew many into the movement and also what has been over the years the fracture points - from purity culture to isolationism to politics to, yes, Trump.
McCammon brings her journalistic skills into The Exvangelicals, simultaneously creating an work that is largely biography/memoir yet also immersive history and investigative in nature.
For those who identify with words like "deconstruction" and "post-evangelical," The Exvangelicals will feel like a breath of fresh air and McCammon will feel like a sister. For those who identify more completely with MAGA, Trump, and the hard political right, The Exvangelicals will likely have nothing to offer other than, perhaps, questions, challenges, and seeds for reflection.
There will be, of course, those within the evangelical movement who won't necessarily resonate with The Exvangelicals. Their experiences will have been different and McCammon's obvious and continued deconstruction will feel harsh and maybe even judgmental. I will confess that even I felt like, at times, "The Exvangelicals" paints with a broader stroke than necessary and there were glimpses into McCammon's work to move away from her childhood teachings.
However, for a growing number of adults who no longer identify with the white evangelical church this remarkably researched effort may very well become the first vital journey through the evangelical movement and what it means to deconstruct whether one continues to identify as "Christian" or chooses some other term. Destined to be controversial yet absolutely essential, "The Exvangelicals" is beautifully researched, achingly transparent, heartfelt, vulnerable, and so much more.
These days, I unexpectedly have aligned myself with a large Presbyterian church of the PC-USA variety, the latest stop (and I hope my last stop) in my lifetime of seeking a place where I can live, love, and hopefully never leave.
"The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church" by Sarah McCammon is her own intimate glimpse into the world of American evangelicalism. The Exvangelicals chronicles definitively the growing movement of those leaving this major religious subculture by capturing what often drew many into the movement and also what has been over the years the fracture points - from purity culture to isolationism to politics to, yes, Trump.
McCammon brings her journalistic skills into The Exvangelicals, simultaneously creating an work that is largely biography/memoir yet also immersive history and investigative in nature.
For those who identify with words like "deconstruction" and "post-evangelical," The Exvangelicals will feel like a breath of fresh air and McCammon will feel like a sister. For those who identify more completely with MAGA, Trump, and the hard political right, The Exvangelicals will likely have nothing to offer other than, perhaps, questions, challenges, and seeds for reflection.
There will be, of course, those within the evangelical movement who won't necessarily resonate with The Exvangelicals. Their experiences will have been different and McCammon's obvious and continued deconstruction will feel harsh and maybe even judgmental. I will confess that even I felt like, at times, "The Exvangelicals" paints with a broader stroke than necessary and there were glimpses into McCammon's work to move away from her childhood teachings.
However, for a growing number of adults who no longer identify with the white evangelical church this remarkably researched effort may very well become the first vital journey through the evangelical movement and what it means to deconstruct whether one continues to identify as "Christian" or chooses some other term. Destined to be controversial yet absolutely essential, "The Exvangelicals" is beautifully researched, achingly transparent, heartfelt, vulnerable, and so much more.
April 5, 2024
Faith is such a personal journey, and one can have many turns in the road as they travel. This journey intrigued me because of the increasing talk of how politicized this particular faith journey appears to have become (those who identify as "evangelical"), and how that is costing us family and friends and threatening to upend what we believe in as a country.
This account gives good background on the nature, scope and depth of the teachings within the evangelical faith. It makes it clear this is not just a set of values or beliefs, but a way of life with a lot of rules attached. McCammon speaks of the expectations attached to every member to live a certain way, believe a certain way, and to push that agenda where they go. There's no room for questioning or dissent in such closely held certainties. She also recounts how that dogma spills over into political issues, and how an eye on the end goal can create blinders as to the means. She gives a number of examples of outright hypocrisy where the teaching condemns one individual while minimizing or looking past the same behavior in another, if that other is focused on the accepted goal.
Leaving such a culture is not easy, and comes with a sense of loss, as one loses not just a faith tradition, but friends and family and a sense of belonging to something bigger than oneself. This cannot be done lightly, and I admire those who follow their hearts when what they are being taught conflicts with their own sense of what's "right". I've never belonged to a faith organization like this, but I've known some who have, and I've watched in recent years some of them find the exit, for the same reasons McCammon left. I don't know how many are out there, but it gives me hope that this will create a new tide and move us in a different direction than the one I see threatening so many aspects of our larger culture.
This account gives good background on the nature, scope and depth of the teachings within the evangelical faith. It makes it clear this is not just a set of values or beliefs, but a way of life with a lot of rules attached. McCammon speaks of the expectations attached to every member to live a certain way, believe a certain way, and to push that agenda where they go. There's no room for questioning or dissent in such closely held certainties. She also recounts how that dogma spills over into political issues, and how an eye on the end goal can create blinders as to the means. She gives a number of examples of outright hypocrisy where the teaching condemns one individual while minimizing or looking past the same behavior in another, if that other is focused on the accepted goal.
Leaving such a culture is not easy, and comes with a sense of loss, as one loses not just a faith tradition, but friends and family and a sense of belonging to something bigger than oneself. This cannot be done lightly, and I admire those who follow their hearts when what they are being taught conflicts with their own sense of what's "right". I've never belonged to a faith organization like this, but I've known some who have, and I've watched in recent years some of them find the exit, for the same reasons McCammon left. I don't know how many are out there, but it gives me hope that this will create a new tide and move us in a different direction than the one I see threatening so many aspects of our larger culture.
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October 16, 2023A book with many audiences--for those on the outside who are curious about the "exvangelical" movement, for evangelicals looking to understand why their friends/loved ones have become disillusioned with the church, and for exvangelicals who want to understand their experience in a wider context. Leaving a spiritual community can be incredibly isolating and lonely, but this book is good company on the journey to (what I have found to be) a more fulfilling life on the other side. McCammon does a nice job of interweaving her personal, insider perspective on the movement with the voices and experiences of others from around the country who left for a variety of interrelated reasons.
Thanks to the publisher for a free review copy via Edelweiss!
Thanks to the publisher for a free review copy via Edelweiss!
April 3, 2024
I felt so validated reading this book. The songs, the scriptures — all of it captured my 80s upbringing in the Assemblies of God in rural Texas. There was fear. There was love. There was unspeakable abuse. Community. Indoctrination.
I lived, but several of my LGBTQ friends died, either by suicide or AIDS. Their names are never spoken.
But I remember them.
Extracting myself took years. It amazes me that this is still going on all these years later. I’m grateful this book captures the realities of how many of us were raised. I feel less weird walking around in the world. Here’s to healing.
I lived, but several of my LGBTQ friends died, either by suicide or AIDS. Their names are never spoken.
But I remember them.
Extracting myself took years. It amazes me that this is still going on all these years later. I’m grateful this book captures the realities of how many of us were raised. I feel less weird walking around in the world. Here’s to healing.
March 14, 2024
I found this to be a thought provoking book. As a member of a traditional evangelical church, ( not of the born again or Pentecostal variety) I was certainly interested in this topic.
There were many things of which I relate described by the author and some of the exvangelicals she interviewed. The major thing that struck me was the movement of the evangelical church towards a marked political focus. This was not a thing that I experienced in my younger years in the church. Our church held fast to a separation of church and state, which I feel is a very good thing both for government and the church. I have experienced a significant change within the church in the more recent era beginning with The Tea Party movement years and further exacerbated by the Trump era. This has been hard for me, and I appreciated much of what Sarah and some of the others who were quoted shared about their struggles. I have as well much concern about this move to insert religion into politics.
As a Christian, I did have some issues with some of the more extreme reactions to evangelicalism. I can certainly see how people have been terribly hurt by the church and family, but I think sometimes people chose a radical reversal as a response. This saddens me see as it may be embracing a response as a reaction rather than a belief. The world is sometimes a hurtful place and that includes religion and churches. I can't lump God into this category even as I question religion's theology. Some of that may come from age or acceptance of the flaws of all religions, and some from the benefits and blessings I have received through faith and a community that supports me in general. I found that there were others who as well chose to retain faith even in the removal of their presence from evangelicalism. I think this is very individual and a part of finding our way within our accepted boundaries. For me, I need God even if I sometimes question the church. I felt Sarah did a good job of sharing from all walks without forcing the reader to accept any one truth for themself.
This was clearly a personal story but as well a piece of journalism relating to the topic through the inclusion of many voices. As such, it was a good book to read about the topic and will certainly provide a look into the increasing challenges facing the evangelical church. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.
There were many things of which I relate described by the author and some of the exvangelicals she interviewed. The major thing that struck me was the movement of the evangelical church towards a marked political focus. This was not a thing that I experienced in my younger years in the church. Our church held fast to a separation of church and state, which I feel is a very good thing both for government and the church. I have experienced a significant change within the church in the more recent era beginning with The Tea Party movement years and further exacerbated by the Trump era. This has been hard for me, and I appreciated much of what Sarah and some of the others who were quoted shared about their struggles. I have as well much concern about this move to insert religion into politics.
As a Christian, I did have some issues with some of the more extreme reactions to evangelicalism. I can certainly see how people have been terribly hurt by the church and family, but I think sometimes people chose a radical reversal as a response. This saddens me see as it may be embracing a response as a reaction rather than a belief. The world is sometimes a hurtful place and that includes religion and churches. I can't lump God into this category even as I question religion's theology. Some of that may come from age or acceptance of the flaws of all religions, and some from the benefits and blessings I have received through faith and a community that supports me in general. I found that there were others who as well chose to retain faith even in the removal of their presence from evangelicalism. I think this is very individual and a part of finding our way within our accepted boundaries. For me, I need God even if I sometimes question the church. I felt Sarah did a good job of sharing from all walks without forcing the reader to accept any one truth for themself.
This was clearly a personal story but as well a piece of journalism relating to the topic through the inclusion of many voices. As such, it was a good book to read about the topic and will certainly provide a look into the increasing challenges facing the evangelical church. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.
March 25, 2024
Macmillan Audio ALC
This memoir looked at the evangelical church, and pointed out it shortcomings. I appreciated how candid the author was about her experience growing up in the church and all of the different hangups she had because of that upbringing. I found a lot of it to be relatable and it’s just a perfect book to read for where I am at disentangling all of my different beliefs. I also liked how the author personalized the story for those that are trying to figure things out. I’ve seen other books lately that has come out and just not give any nuance or grace to the deconstruction movements. I was very impressed with this and I can see myself coming back to this again one day. I would also highly recommend pairing it with Jesus and John Wayne wings.
This memoir looked at the evangelical church, and pointed out it shortcomings. I appreciated how candid the author was about her experience growing up in the church and all of the different hangups she had because of that upbringing. I found a lot of it to be relatable and it’s just a perfect book to read for where I am at disentangling all of my different beliefs. I also liked how the author personalized the story for those that are trying to figure things out. I’ve seen other books lately that has come out and just not give any nuance or grace to the deconstruction movements. I was very impressed with this and I can see myself coming back to this again one day. I would also highly recommend pairing it with Jesus and John Wayne wings.
April 14, 2024
5/5. Phenomenal.
This book was brilliant. I’ve always been interested in religion, especially when it intersects with politics. Even if you (like me) were never raised Evangelical, there’s a lot here that will resonate with you: whether it’s the deconstruction aspects, the faith itself, the psychology aspects, or the politics. I also greatly commend this author: this is a deeply personal book-almost like a memoir-and it takes a lot of courage to address something so fundamental to the core of who you are. Beautifully written and honest. It inspired me to think about my own faith journey, which I will share:
I grew up knowing people in Evangelical denominations during my fundamental growth years-middle school really. I knew people who couldn’t read “Harry Potter” because of witchcraft; people who thought mothers couldn’t be good mothers if they had jobs; people who thought yoga was a sin; people who believed people who weren’t straight or practiced other religions were destined for Hell; etc.. I’m fortunate in that the religion I grew up in - mainline, ELCA Lutheranism - didn’t teach me these things. My congregation, in particular, was quite progressive: openly gay youth leaders and/or pastors, female pastors, etc., along with the general belief that as long as you believe, you’re good: it’s okay to question things or make mistakes. Plus, I had a great church community growing up. And for that, I’m very lucky-I don’t have religious trauma like so many people I know do, and it is something I’m thankful for.
But growing up, seeing those around me that were more conservative (and, in my view, more devout and sure in their beliefs than I was), I started having some of the same doubts that the people in this book have, just in the opposite way: am I wrong? Is my religion not serious enough? X person seems a lot more certain about God things than I do-does this mean I’m a bad person? And for a while, that did stick with me….until in high school, my youth group went to a general Christian week-long service camp. And at the evening services, we noticed they were preaching something a lot more fear-based and fire and brimstone than we believed. So…we walked out of those services and didn’t go back for the rest of the camp. That action (and the openness with which my congregation accepted questions) really helped affirmed my beliefs; I didn’t think I was wrong anymore because this is what my youth group members, adults at church, etc. believed too. I grew even more confident over time as I saw how awful these “Christians” treated other people. And I started to think: “honestly, if their interpretation of Christianity or Heaven is right, I don’t want any part of it.” Because this isn’t what I believe, and it’s not what I ever want to believe.
Despite that, the extremely vocal and influential evangelical movement in this country - and particularly, its association with Trump, which is touched on wonderfully in this book - has made me less “eager,” I suppose, to participate in church life the way I used to growing up (I jokingly call myself a “LINO,” or “Lutheran In Name Only,” though I still believe). Even though I do still generally believe, as a liberal, I hesitate to identify as a Lutheran because I don’t want people to automatically associate me with evangelicals. (Though it’s not all them: the more you learn about science, etc., the harder things get to hold on to, but I digress.)
I appreciate that this book addresses all those feelings and more, just from the perspective of Evangelicals. I liked how the author grapples with her own growth and interviews those who have gone through something similar, while also reconciling faith with how the people she grew up with viewed Clinton vs. Trump, viewed abortion, LGBTQ+ issues, and more. It was also eye-opening to see the rise of televangelism and rationale for paying so much money to churches for salvation from the eyes of someone who grew up during that. (I had “Jesus He Knows Me” playing on repeat in my head, and a lot of it reminded me of pre-Reformation indulgence letters). I liked the very clear juxtaposition of psychology, politics, data, fact, etc. and what that was like to experience as someone who was being confronted with them for the first time as a challenge to their faith-a challenge, it would turn out, that a lot of people were open to.
I particularly liked the politics of this. One of my big questions over the past couple years has been how the most seemingly-devout Christians have accepted a person like Donald Trump into the fold, even going so far as to idolize him as a Christ-like figure. The facts presented about white Christian nationalism and how it intersects with American patriotism, how people in more conservative Christian faiths are starting to choose politics based on whether or not it affirms their religious beliefs, and how more cult-like and closed off the Evangelical community is becoming was fascinating. The GOP is playing directly into these people’s hands because it’s about power, not faith-and it always has been.
This was truly a fantastic read-maybe my favorite nonfiction book of the year. Highly, HIGHLY recommend.
This book was brilliant. I’ve always been interested in religion, especially when it intersects with politics. Even if you (like me) were never raised Evangelical, there’s a lot here that will resonate with you: whether it’s the deconstruction aspects, the faith itself, the psychology aspects, or the politics. I also greatly commend this author: this is a deeply personal book-almost like a memoir-and it takes a lot of courage to address something so fundamental to the core of who you are. Beautifully written and honest. It inspired me to think about my own faith journey, which I will share:
I grew up knowing people in Evangelical denominations during my fundamental growth years-middle school really. I knew people who couldn’t read “Harry Potter” because of witchcraft; people who thought mothers couldn’t be good mothers if they had jobs; people who thought yoga was a sin; people who believed people who weren’t straight or practiced other religions were destined for Hell; etc.. I’m fortunate in that the religion I grew up in - mainline, ELCA Lutheranism - didn’t teach me these things. My congregation, in particular, was quite progressive: openly gay youth leaders and/or pastors, female pastors, etc., along with the general belief that as long as you believe, you’re good: it’s okay to question things or make mistakes. Plus, I had a great church community growing up. And for that, I’m very lucky-I don’t have religious trauma like so many people I know do, and it is something I’m thankful for.
But growing up, seeing those around me that were more conservative (and, in my view, more devout and sure in their beliefs than I was), I started having some of the same doubts that the people in this book have, just in the opposite way: am I wrong? Is my religion not serious enough? X person seems a lot more certain about God things than I do-does this mean I’m a bad person? And for a while, that did stick with me….until in high school, my youth group went to a general Christian week-long service camp. And at the evening services, we noticed they were preaching something a lot more fear-based and fire and brimstone than we believed. So…we walked out of those services and didn’t go back for the rest of the camp. That action (and the openness with which my congregation accepted questions) really helped affirmed my beliefs; I didn’t think I was wrong anymore because this is what my youth group members, adults at church, etc. believed too. I grew even more confident over time as I saw how awful these “Christians” treated other people. And I started to think: “honestly, if their interpretation of Christianity or Heaven is right, I don’t want any part of it.” Because this isn’t what I believe, and it’s not what I ever want to believe.
Despite that, the extremely vocal and influential evangelical movement in this country - and particularly, its association with Trump, which is touched on wonderfully in this book - has made me less “eager,” I suppose, to participate in church life the way I used to growing up (I jokingly call myself a “LINO,” or “Lutheran In Name Only,” though I still believe). Even though I do still generally believe, as a liberal, I hesitate to identify as a Lutheran because I don’t want people to automatically associate me with evangelicals. (Though it’s not all them: the more you learn about science, etc., the harder things get to hold on to, but I digress.)
I appreciate that this book addresses all those feelings and more, just from the perspective of Evangelicals. I liked how the author grapples with her own growth and interviews those who have gone through something similar, while also reconciling faith with how the people she grew up with viewed Clinton vs. Trump, viewed abortion, LGBTQ+ issues, and more. It was also eye-opening to see the rise of televangelism and rationale for paying so much money to churches for salvation from the eyes of someone who grew up during that. (I had “Jesus He Knows Me” playing on repeat in my head, and a lot of it reminded me of pre-Reformation indulgence letters). I liked the very clear juxtaposition of psychology, politics, data, fact, etc. and what that was like to experience as someone who was being confronted with them for the first time as a challenge to their faith-a challenge, it would turn out, that a lot of people were open to.
I particularly liked the politics of this. One of my big questions over the past couple years has been how the most seemingly-devout Christians have accepted a person like Donald Trump into the fold, even going so far as to idolize him as a Christ-like figure. The facts presented about white Christian nationalism and how it intersects with American patriotism, how people in more conservative Christian faiths are starting to choose politics based on whether or not it affirms their religious beliefs, and how more cult-like and closed off the Evangelical community is becoming was fascinating. The GOP is playing directly into these people’s hands because it’s about power, not faith-and it always has been.
This was truly a fantastic read-maybe my favorite nonfiction book of the year. Highly, HIGHLY recommend.
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