Exvangelical

Exvangelical is a social movement of people who have left evangelicalism, especially white evangelical churches in the United States, for atheism, agnosticism, progressive Christianity, or any other religious belief, or lack thereof.[1][2][3] The hashtag #exvangelical was coined by Blake Chastain in 2016 to make "a safe space for people to find solidarity with others who have gone through similar experiences."[1]

People in the movement are called "exvangelicals" or "exvies." Many attribute their departure to experiences of homophobia, misogyny, and racism in evangelicalism, or to a personal crisis of faith such as sexual abuse in a religious setting and/or by a religious leader or volunteer (often which was ignored, actively covered up, and in some cases the victim was subject to DARVO treatment).

The movement is disseminated largely via podcasts. Popular exvangelical podcasts include Almost Heretical, Straight White American Jesus, and Chastain's podcast Exvangelical.[4][1]

Motivations

Many exvangelicals are young people who choose to leave their religion following disagreements over issues such as science, the role and treatment of women,[5] LGBT rights, sexual abuse cover-ups,[6][7] and Christian nationalism. Specific incidents cited by exvangelicals for leaving include the Nashville Statement and evangelical support for Trump, which they perceived as hypocritical.[8]

Rejection of purity culture is the subject of exvangelical author Linda Kay Klein.[1] Joshua Harris wrote I Kissed Dating Goodbye in 1997, a book foundational to purity culture, which encouraged young people to avoid dating and instead practice courtship and abstinence. Harris repudiated his work in 2018, apologizing for its content and withdrawing it from publication.[9] The following year, Harris announced that he was no longer a Christian, describing his experience as a "deconstruction" of his faith and apologizing for his previous teachings against LGBTQ+ people.[10]

Deconstructing faith is a process or movement in which a person challenges their personal beliefs and traditions. It results in some people leaving the Christian faith, while others remain in it but in a different setting (such as leaving a conservative Evangelical church which opposes homosexuality for an LGBTQ+ affirming one), and still others may return to the faith they originally held.

The #churchtoo movement seeks to draw attention to sexual abuse in churches. Vocal critics of sexual abuse are Emily Joy and Hannah Paasch.[5][11][1][4]

The #emptythepews movement urges opposition to evangelicalism in the United States due to its support for former president Donald Trump. It was started by exvangelical Chrissy Stroop.[12]

Reception

In Christianity Today's podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, Baylor University professor Matthew Lee Anderson said the experiences of exvangelicals were "something very different than deep, difficult, self-examination in order to find the truth" and any bad experiences that drove people to leave were "sociologically, actually quite marginal experiences inside of white evangelicalism."[13]

When a Gallup poll showed that less than half of Americans belonged to any church in March 2021,[14] some commentators acknowledged criticisms raised by the exvangelical perspective. Russell Moore, director of the Public Theology Project at Christianity Today, speculated that if he were a teenager today, he may also have left the church. He found that "they have come to think the church doesn’t believe its own moral teachings" and so "the presenting issue in this secularization is not scientism and hedonism but disillusionment and cynicism."[15]

Outside the United States

Although it started in the United States, the exvangelical movement has also been noted in Brazil during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro.[16]

See also

Organizations supporting people leaving controlling religions

References
  1. "The Rise of #Exvangelical | Religion & Politics". religionandpolitics.org. April 9, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  2. Frantz, Kenneth E.; Perry, Samuel L. (August 28, 2019). "The Unignorable Plight of the Exvangelicals | RealClearReligion". www.realclearreligion.org. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  3. "What It's Like to Leave the Evangelical Community". www.vice.com. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  4. Kight, Stef W. "Exvangelicals are breaking away — and spreading the gospel". Axios. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  5. "As a Teen, Emily Joy Was Abused by a Church Youth Leader. Now She's Leading a Movement to Change Evangelical America". Mother Jones. May 25, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  6. "The sin of silence". Washington Post. May 31, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  7. "The sexual abuse scandal rocking the Southern Baptist Convention, explained". Vox. June 7, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  8. Herrmann 2021, pp. 12–13.
  9. "Joshua Harris Says 'I Kissed Dating Goodbye' Will Be Discontinued, Apologizes for 'Flaws'". www.christianpost.com. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  10. Sherwood, Harriet (July 29, 2019). "Author of Christian relationship guide says he has lost his faith". the Guardian. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  11. "Exvangelical TikTokkers Aren't a Sign of the End Times, But Here's What Evangelicals Need to Understand About 'The Falling Away'". Religion Dispatches. July 22, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  12. Barnett, C. (August 27, 2017). "#EmptyThePews Advocates Quitting Church to Protest Trump". World Religion News. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  13. Chastain, Blake (August 28, 2021). "Evangelicals: You're still not really listening to what exvangelicals are saying". Religion News Service. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  14. Jones, Jeffrey M (March 29, 2021). "U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time". Gallup.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  15. Moore, Russell. "Losing Our Religion". createsend.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  16. Barreto, Raimundo; Py, Fábio (2022). "Ex- and Post-Evangelicalism: Recent Developments in Brazil's Changing Religious Landscape". International Journal of Public Theology. 16 (2): 197–222. doi:10.1163/15697320-20220040. S2CID 251266321.

Further reading
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