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1. @splinter_news and @sarahposner get it. To understand and combat Christian Right Trump support, talk to us ex-Evangelicals. #EmptyThePews
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2. I'm going to be blunt here. Americans don't need 573 think pieces in the vein of "Hypocritical Evangelicals, y u vote Trump?"
3. What we need is to allow the ex-Evangelical community and movement to have the kind of visibility and voice that shapes the public sphere
4. If more journalists would just listen to ex-Evangelicals, more editors would approach us for op-eds, you'd know it's not a hard question.
5. Those of us who grew up in Evangelical subculture know it's always been a world of #ChristianAltFacts where the ends justify the means.
6. So OF COURSE the vast majority of white Evangelicals would say morals matter in a president during the Clinton era, but not the Trump era
7. The reason is that what Evangelicals, as radical authoritarians, ultimately value above all is power and control. It makes them feel safe
8. They will not say this outright, but for those of us who grew up in the Christian Right, Biblical worldview "logic" is easy to follow.
9. Our mainstream media are reluctant to conclude that a religious group constituting close to a quarter of the population is dangerous.
10. Unfortunately, however, they are dangerous, as ex-Evangelicals and survivors of other forms of toxic Christianity have been telling you.
11. There are a lot of excellent ex-Evangelical memoirs, blogs, and podcasts out there (some resources here: chrisstroop.com/further-readin…).
12. Until ex-Evangelicals achieve visibility as a movement, such projects are "preaching to the choir" and "voices crying in the wilderness"
13. Why would the MSM ignore the population best able to answer the literally ubiquitous question of why Evangelicals support Trump?
14. Just as the media have wrestled with normalizing Trumpism and arguably failed, they are reluctant to criticize a large religious group.
15. Particularly a group of Christians, because, let's face it, Christian privilege remains a powerful reality. As does "civility" politics.
16. Survivors of abuse at the hands of privileged groups still struggle to find a hearing, and many ex-Evangelicals have religious trauma.
17. But no one understands better than us why civility politics fails to stem the tide of ascendant Evangelical anti-democratic radicalism.
18. Right-wing Evangelicals--the vast majority of white Evangelicals, 81% of whom voted for Trump--have made clear their plans for decades.
19. As not only an ex-Evangelical but also a scholar of ideology, let me say: believe authoritarians when they tell you what their plans are
20. What do we do instead? What we've done ever since the Cold War allowed Evangelicals back into the mainstream--treat them with respect.
21. But people who want to take your rights away do not deserve your respect. They're now taking those rights away. We told you so.
22. Thank Evangelicals for denying trans and women's rights. @washingtonpost says it's about "religious liberty": chrisstroop.com/2017/10/06/tra…
23. Might I suggest, dear @washingtonpost, that taking a radical fundamentalist framing of "religious liberty" at face value is unhelpful?
24. Here's something the Trump administration's recent actions make abundantly clear. Evangelicals reject pluralism:
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25. "Religious liberty" for them means they take your human rights away, but God forbid @washingtonpost be impolite to them? #EmptyThePews
26. In the US, we still have a lot of work to do to overcome the sense that any "real" religion is basically benign:
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27. In fact, toxic religion is just as "really religious" as progressive religion. And a large group can be toxic: chrisstroop.com/2017/05/03/abo…
28. Conservative Evangelicals have a massive institutional and lobbying infrastructure and deep pockets. And there are a lot of them.
29. Both those factors play into MSM reluctance to view them as a toxic or illegitimate religious group. But they're basically a huge cult.
30. Conservative white Evangelicals represent the single greatest threat to democracy and human rights in the United States. #EmptyThePews
31. They are a radical minority that has stolen disproportionate power and is moving to dismantle others' rights. Like they said they would.
32. If you want to shift the national dialogue on Evangelicalism, please listen to, and do what you can to amplify, ex-Evangelical voices.
33. Here's part of my story, with analysis of how Evangelical authoritarianism and #ChristianAlFacts broke America: chrisstroop.com/2017/03/06/edu…
34. The vast majority of white Evangelicals are fundamentalists, and fundamentalism is incompatible w/ pluralism. Start treating it that way
35. For more, check out the hashtags #YouDontKnowEvangelicals, #ChristianAltFacts, #SpiritualAbuseIs, #LeftTheFold, and #EmptyThePews.
36. I'm doing all I can to raise awareness of the theocratic threat the Christian Right represents, and to build ex-Evangelical community.
37. If you can afford to support my writing and advocacy, I am very thankful for Patreon pledges of any size: patreon.com/cstroop
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