Scan barcode
A review by cosmicbookworm
The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church by Sarah McCammon
4.0
I am 20 years Sarah McCammon's senior, with a different life trajectory, but our lives have intersected with the world of controlling Christianity.
Although I was not raised in the same type of evangelical background as McCammon, I found myself somewhat drawn into the evangelical Jesus movement during part of my college years in the late 1970s, staying on the fringe as much as possible. When I sought spiritual community after my college years, I was drawn into an extreme evangelical group that promoted the idea that they had all the correct answers and that the mainstream Christianity that I was raised on had somehow missed the mark. I remember being warned by my parents that I might want to beware as perhaps I was involved in a cult. That put me over the edge, and I never worshipped in my parents' church again. I now regret how I handled that part of my life.
Regrettably, individuals from my past are unlikely to open this book. I remember receiving warnings about engaging with diverse viewpoints and concepts. American evangelicalism is a place where you are not allowed to ask questions or question interpretations because to question them reveals a lack of faith. Over the past several years, I have been reassessing my deeply entrenched beliefs and have reached significantly different conclusions from those I previously held on issues such as the inerrancy and literal interpretation of scripture. My long-standing but previously concealed opinions on the value and rights of women in the church and the LGBTQ+ community have surfaced, and I can no longer suppress them.
McCammon's book evokes both comfort and disquiet within me. It brings solace by offering hope for a community that shares my beliefs. However, it also unsettles me because while I personally witnessed the controlling and troubling aspects of the church in my adult years, my children encountered them during their formative years within both the church and school settings. The evangelical environment, purportedly emphasizing love, often focuses more on policing boundaries, particularly evident in the purity culture. This climate of fear amplifies the perception that the world beyond the church's confines is inherently evil, creating confusion for young people who find their secular, non-Christian friends and acquaintances to be genuinely kind and well-adjusted. I recognize the clarity hindsight brings and can only move forward from here.
The text explores the church's endorsement of Trump and the resulting disenchantment among younger Christians. It highlights the issue of character and the hypocrisy of certain Christian leaders who previously preached about the importance of character but have now come out in support of Trump. These leaders include Dobson, Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell Jr., Pat Robertson, and Ralph Reed, among others. Their endorsement of Trump after criticizing Clinton is deplorable and understandably, this hypocrisy can drive an entire generation away from evangelical Christianity.
This book blends memoir and journalistic aspects, drawing from the author's expertise in journalism. Occasionally, it may tackle more than a single text can effectively manage by encompassing both a personal memoir and a critique of contemporary culture.
Although I was not raised in the same type of evangelical background as McCammon, I found myself somewhat drawn into the evangelical Jesus movement during part of my college years in the late 1970s, staying on the fringe as much as possible. When I sought spiritual community after my college years, I was drawn into an extreme evangelical group that promoted the idea that they had all the correct answers and that the mainstream Christianity that I was raised on had somehow missed the mark. I remember being warned by my parents that I might want to beware as perhaps I was involved in a cult. That put me over the edge, and I never worshipped in my parents' church again. I now regret how I handled that part of my life.
Regrettably, individuals from my past are unlikely to open this book. I remember receiving warnings about engaging with diverse viewpoints and concepts. American evangelicalism is a place where you are not allowed to ask questions or question interpretations because to question them reveals a lack of faith. Over the past several years, I have been reassessing my deeply entrenched beliefs and have reached significantly different conclusions from those I previously held on issues such as the inerrancy and literal interpretation of scripture. My long-standing but previously concealed opinions on the value and rights of women in the church and the LGBTQ+ community have surfaced, and I can no longer suppress them.
McCammon's book evokes both comfort and disquiet within me. It brings solace by offering hope for a community that shares my beliefs. However, it also unsettles me because while I personally witnessed the controlling and troubling aspects of the church in my adult years, my children encountered them during their formative years within both the church and school settings. The evangelical environment, purportedly emphasizing love, often focuses more on policing boundaries, particularly evident in the purity culture. This climate of fear amplifies the perception that the world beyond the church's confines is inherently evil, creating confusion for young people who find their secular, non-Christian friends and acquaintances to be genuinely kind and well-adjusted. I recognize the clarity hindsight brings and can only move forward from here.
The text explores the church's endorsement of Trump and the resulting disenchantment among younger Christians. It highlights the issue of character and the hypocrisy of certain Christian leaders who previously preached about the importance of character but have now come out in support of Trump. These leaders include Dobson, Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell Jr., Pat Robertson, and Ralph Reed, among others. Their endorsement of Trump after criticizing Clinton is deplorable and understandably, this hypocrisy can drive an entire generation away from evangelical Christianity.
This book blends memoir and journalistic aspects, drawing from the author's expertise in journalism. Occasionally, it may tackle more than a single text can effectively manage by encompassing both a personal memoir and a critique of contemporary culture.