A conversation with the creator of the #exvangelical hashtag

Blake Chastain on his new book, 'Exvangelical and Beyond'

If you haven’t met Blake Chastain, you should.

He’s been writing and podcasting about what it means to be a post-evangelical for many years, and he’s credited with coining the hashtag #exvangelical. Blake was gracious enough to speak with me for as I was writing my own book, published earlier this year, The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church, which describes the experiences of people like Chastain and myself who’ve made complicated journeys beyond our evangelical backgrounds.

We recently connected again - via email - to mark the publication of Blake’s book, Exvangelical and Beyond: How American Christianity Went Radical and the Movement That’s Fighting Back.

What follows is our lightly-edited conversation.

Sarah McCammon: You describe yourself as having been a “rank and file” evangelical. At what point did you realize that you were not only part of a religious community, but also a significant political and social movement - and how did that affect your spirituality?

Blake Chastain: I started to realize the extent to which evangelical culture is defined by political and social stances in college–and in particular its allegiance to the GOP—during the run-up to the War in Iraq. It was the cognitive dissonance I felt between the political fervor in support of invading Iraq and what I was learning about the history of Christianity, which includes several legitimate forms of Christian pacifism (not to mention that one of the titles for Jesus is “the Prince of Peace”). I went through other phases where I questioned the inherent conservatism of white evangelicalism around other “culture war” topics, such as sexuality, but that was the first faith crisis that felt like a wedge between me and my faith community. The direct consequence was a faith crisis so severe that I decided to not pursue ministry, and which changed the trajectory of my life.

SM: You mention that many of your evangelical friends left their churches around the time of Trump's rise. How much do you think Trumpism contributed to the decline of evangelicalism, and how much do you think it's driven by other factors?

BC: The widespread white evangelical support for Trump effectively exposed the most important value of white evangelicalism: power. For some people, those values were already apparent. For others (including myself), the degree to which white evangelicals set aside all other social and moral concern for the will to political power (which was a means to an end, supposedly to overturn Roe v. Wade, which was successful) was a surprise. I think Trumpism accelerated the decline of white evangelicalism, but other factors have been at work for a long time, such as the rampant instances of racism and abuse that are common in evangelical institutions. 

SM: Given the significant role evangelicals have played in shaping American culture and politics, what role do you think exvangelical voices might play in shaping the future of both? Do you see exvangelicalism as a movement that exists primarily online, or is it becoming something with a life beyond the digital space? On a related note, how do exvangelicals fit into the larger trend of 'religious nones'? 

BC: I contest that “exvangelical” has an “-ism” that is in any way equal to evangelicalism. It is not an apples to apples comparison. Exvangelicals have not aligned with a single political party, or transformed any party from within, or have significant sway within the Beltway. Exvangelicals do not have deep-pocketed institutions stretching back for a century. There is no Bebbington Quadrilateral for exvangelicals, and there is no singular theological perspective–you can be exvangelical and Christian, exvangelical and Wiccan, exvangelical and secular, and so on. Comparing evangelicals and exvangelicals as if they are equals by any measure–political, financial, or social–is a false equivalence of a very high order. Evangelicals have the dominant position within society, regardless of their perceived persecution.

I do believe that many–but not all–exvangelicals can count themselves among “the nones,” but simply because someone leaves evangelicalism does not mean that they abandon the entire concept of faith or spirituality altogether. The ‘exvangelical dispersal’ includes those who find their way to other forms of Christianity and have for decades–Evangelicals On the Canterbury Trail, which describes people leaving evangelicalism for Anglican traditions, was originally published in 1985!--and will continue to do so. They will also find their way to other forms of faith altogether, and find meaning in purely secular practices. There is no “one size fits all” spirituality–in fact, I see that as one of the greatest mistakes of evangelicalism in assuming as much.

That being said, I think a major blind spot for a number of faith advocates is overlooking formerly religious people, whether they are ex-evangelical, ex-Mormon, ex-Catholic, and so on. People who are formerly religious are often those who are intmately familiar with the danger that religious nationalists pose to pluralistic society and to democracy, who in our American context wish to impose their Christian nationalist vision upon the entire populace through governance. Formerly religious people can be their allies in opposition to these political forces, if you seek to include them.

SM: You describe your current agnosticism as an “open invitation to potential future faiths.” Could you say more about what that means for you? 

BC: I am at a point in my life where questions of Christian theology do not concern me. They do not animate my soul and they do not pique my curiosity. I am still in the process of healing from private griefs, and am not ready to engage with those parts of life. But that does not mean that I foreswear any other form of faith that may arise unexpectedly. Life is not predictable. And I do not begrudge anyone whose faith edifies them and respects the autonomy of others. So I remain open to the possibility that faith may return, while also being content in the present moment and what it offers me.