Thread by @ulyankee1

I have some thoughts about this thread. He brings up several valid points, but based on my experience walking away from a cultic Christian group in 2004 (the generation before exvies), yet w/connections to evangelicalism afterwards I have some critique 1/

https://twitter.com/MikeCosper/status/1331205036173643777

Many evangelicals (I use that word in a very broad sense to include Pentecostals, charismatics, and even some religious right Catholics) see *any* criticism of their beliefs and practices as undermining their faith. It's not lack of curiosity. It's fear. Even rage. 2/

It's a very fragile belief system with a less than omnipotent God. Any criticism threatens it. Any perceived transgression away from patriarchal authority threatens it. 3/

I entered evangelicalism when I moved to Nashville & then met my evang husband in mid/late 90s. MasculineXianity was very much a thing. I went to grad school during the height of literary theory/postmodernism. That was seen as a threat too. 9-11 was accelerant, not start. 4/

Some saw the Emergent movement as a threat. Others coopted it (incl Willow Creek and etc.) in the name of Church Growth. Same with postmodernism. The leader of #MyOldCult coopted deconstruction for his/their purposes. 5/

But at its core was a fragile faith that sought to take dominion over the world to insulate itself from threats. 6/

My spouse is not a Trumpist, but is a PK who has been conditioned to threats. Non-conformity to (supposed) Christian gender norms is a threat. Reading scripture any way but literally is a threat. Real, messy life is a threat. And he's one who dares to be a little bit liberal. 7/

And the real core among many prominent leaders isn't God. It's money. Power. Anything that threatens access to either is a threat. Anything that cuts access to pew sitters & idealistic followers who do their bidding is a threat. #MyOldCult secretly called us "giving units." 8/

I see the exvangelical movement less connected to the church Emergent movement and more to my generation of walkaways from high intensity groups. Their practices became increasingly mainstreamed within evangelicalism writ large in response to perceived cultural threats. 9/

#EmptyThePews posited by @C_Stroop denies a toxic movement access to $/power/followers. I left my former group over theology. I later discovered I did not need them to survive. Quite the opposite. They needed my/our $. I now live happily in doubt, not life-draining fear. 10/

I DK how to define my faith any more, or even if I have a discernable faith. Others' faith or lack thereof does not threaten me. I'm not fragile. I still fear that those who wish to impose their faith as the law of the land will succeed. But they don't have me, not any more. end/