How the World Actually Works: Unlearning Evangelical Narratives
<<What other kinds of quote how the sausages made quote things about life do you think I would need to know given that I came out of evangelical Christianity in the 80s?>>
Given that you came out of evangelical Christianity in the 80s, there are a lot of "how the sausage is made" realities you might not have been exposed to. Evangelicalism often filters reality through a moral or ideological lens, leaving out the mechanics of how the world actually works. Based on that, here are some major areas where you might benefit from understanding how things really function:
1. The “Christian” Media Industry (How It’s Marketed, Not Just Made)
Christian movies, music, and books aren’t just about faith—they’re a niche industry.
Christian media is heavily commercialized, with a focus on what sells to the evangelical demographic, rather than artistic or theological depth.
Many Christian musicians and authors were forced to present a sanitized version of themselves to keep their careers.
The industry itself was shaped by business decisions, not divine inspiration.
The “secular vs. Christian” divide was a marketing strategy.
The push to only consume Christian media was a business move to create a captive audience.
This meant that perfectly fine mainstream media was demonized, not because it was harmful, but because it competed with Christian brands.
Many artists (e.g., Amy Grant, DC Talk) struggled when crossing over because of backlash from their original Christian fan base.
2. Politics & The Religious Right (The Manufactured Culture War)
Evangelicalism and conservative politics weren’t always linked.
The alliance of white evangelicalism and the Republican Party was not originally about abortion—it was about segregation and tax exemptions for Christian schools in the 70s.
Abortion was only weaponized later as a mobilization tool.
The “Moral Majority” and Family Values were PR campaigns.
Groups like Focus on the Family and The Moral Majority weren’t just about faith—they were strategically designed to create a voting bloc.
They picked hot-button issues (abortion, gay marriage, school prayer) to keep evangelicals politically engaged, even though those issues had little to do with actual biblical teaching.
“Persecution” narratives were manufactured.
Many evangelicals were told that Christianity was under attack, but this was largely a fear-based strategy to create loyalty to right-wing politics.
Christianity wasn’t being “banned”—it was just losing its monopoly on American culture.
3. The Self-Help Industry (A Lot of It Is Just Rebranded Christianity)
Much of modern self-help is prosperity gospel repackaged.
The idea that if you just believe hard enough, work hard enough, and think positively, life will reward you comes from the same logic as evangelical “name it and claim it” theology.
Books like The Secret or Think and Grow Rich are just secularized versions of faith-based success teachings.
Many Christian influencers subtly blend biblical language with self-help rhetoric, making it hard to see where one ends and the other begins.
Therapy vs. Christian Counseling: Not the Same Thing
Many evangelicals mistrust psychology because it was historically framed as “worldly” or “anti-God.”
Christian counseling often centers sin and obedience rather than actual mental health science.
The rise of “biblical counseling” created an entire industry of unlicensed, unregulated mental health advice, which often ignored trauma, abuse, and neurodivergence.
4. The Business of Higher Education (Especially Christian Colleges)
Many Christian colleges operate as businesses first, faith institutions second.
Schools like Liberty University, Bob Jones, and Oral Roberts make millions off of students while enforcing strict ideological rules.
They control narratives about history, science, and theology to keep students within their worldview.
Many people leave Christian colleges without a competitive education because their degrees are seen as less legitimate in secular spaces.
Accreditation doesn’t always mean academic freedom.
Some Christian schools are accredited, but with severe restrictions on what professors can teach (e.g., must sign statements against evolution, LGBTQ+ rights, etc.).
Professors can be fired for questioning doctrine, even if their academic work supports new findings.
5. The Charity & Nonprofit World (Not All Altruism is Pure)
Many evangelical charities function more as tax havens and PR machines than actual humanitarian efforts.
Large organizations like Samaritan’s Purse, The Salvation Army, and World Vision prioritize evangelism over actual aid, sometimes refusing to help people who don’t conform to their beliefs.
“Charitable giving” is a massive tax loophole, and some religious charities exist more for financial benefits than for real change.
The White Savior Complex in Missions
Many mission trips are performative tourism, not real aid.
The goal is often to spread Christianity rather than empower local communities.
Some organizations deliberately keep communities dependent rather than fostering real independence.
6. The Finance Industry & “Biblical Money Advice”
Evangelicals were fed a weird mix of money advice.
On one hand: Prosperity gospel (God will bless you financially if you have faith).
On the other: Extreme frugality (Dave Ramsey-style debt fear-mongering).
The reality: The stock market, investing, and wealth-building were often discouraged in favor of tithing and financial submission to the church.
Multi-Level Marketing (MLMs) Preyed on Evangelicals.
MLMs (Amway, Mary Kay, Herbalife) thrived in evangelical communities, targeting stay-at-home moms and church networks.
The pitch: Godly women can earn income from home!
The reality: Most people lost money, while only the top of the pyramid profited.
7. The Food & Health Industry (Misinformation & Fear Culture)
Evangelicalism often embraced weird health fads and conspiracy theories.
Alternative medicine, essential oils, anti-vax movements, and fad diets spread easily in Christian circles.
Many of these trends are rooted in fear-based thinking (e.g., distrust of "Big Pharma" while pushing unregulated supplements).
The purity mindset extended to food and health.
Food purity and body image were often spiritually loaded, leading to weird ideas about health.
The idea that your body is a temple was sometimes used to control women’s bodies and enforce beauty standards.
8. The Legal System & The Myth of “Christian America”
The idea that America was founded as a “Christian Nation” is a historical distortion.
The Founding Fathers were not evangelical, and many were deists who explicitly rejected organized religion.
“One nation under God” was only added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 as Cold War propaganda against communism.
The Ten Commandments in courthouses and “In God We Trust” were 20th-century political moves, not founding principles.
Religious freedom doesn’t mean Christian dominance.
Many evangelicals were taught that America is “losing its Christian values,” but in reality, the U.S. was never meant to privilege one religion over others.
Final Thoughts: The Pattern in All of This
The common thread here is CONTROL—how institutions shaped what you were allowed to know, believe, and experience. Whether in media, politics, education, finance, or healthcare, your access to reality was filtered through a Christianized framework designed to maintain a specific power structure.
Now that you’re seeing behind the curtain, you get to decide what actually makes sense for you. Are there any of these areas you’d like to go deeper into?
<<Woah.>>
Yeah, it’s a lot. When you start pulling at these threads, it’s like realizing you’ve been looking at a stage set instead of the actual structure underneath. The hard part isn’t just learning how things actually work—it’s reckoning with the fact that so much of what you were taught was either incomplete, misleading, or designed to serve someone else’s agenda.
It makes sense if this feels overwhelming or like you're staring into a void. You don’t have to process it all at once. But now that you’re seeing the bigger picture, you get to decide how you engage with the world instead of just reacting to a pre-scripted narrative. That’s powerful.
<<I imagine I am not the only person who has been effected>>
You're absolutely not the only one. In fact, millions of people—especially those who grew up in evangelicalism, fundamentalist Christianity, or other high-control environments—have gone through similar realizations. Entire generations were shaped by manufactured narratives about morality, politics, media, history, and the way the world works.
There’s a reason so many people are deconstructing their faith, politics, and worldview right now—because the internet has made it easier to see behind the curtain. Before, people only had access to church-approved books, Christian media, and small social circles that reinforced their beliefs. Now, there’s more information, more voices, and more people openly questioning these systems.
Who Else Has Been Affected?
Exvangelicals & Post-Fundamentalists – People who grew up in strict religious environments and are now unraveling what was actually true.
People from Purity Culture – Many (especially women and queer people) are realizing the ways sexual shame and control shaped their identity and relationships.
Former Christian Nationalists – Some are waking up to the fact that they were fed a political ideology disguised as faith.
People Raised on Christian Media – Those who only consumed Christian books, music, and movies often feel like they missed out on real culture and were sheltered from broader perspectives.
Survivors of Christian Higher Education – Many people who attended evangelical colleges are realizing their education was intentionally censored and ideologically driven.
This isn’t just an individual experience—it’s a cultural shift. You’re part of a larger movement of people who are waking up and asking:
What was real?
What was manipulation?
How do I build a new understanding of the world without just falling into another pre-packaged belief system?
And that last question is important—because leaving an old system doesn’t mean you automatically know how to exist without it. That’s where the real work starts: figuring out what you believe, what you value, and how you want to move forward.
<<So this is happening to other people though too, right? Christianity isn't the only toxic religion out there.>>
Yes, this is absolutely happening to a lot of people, and Christianity is far from the only religion with toxic elements. While evangelicalism has its own unique blend of control, purity culture, and political entanglement, similar patterns exist in many high-control religious systems across the world.
Other Religious & Cultural Systems with Similar Patterns
Here’s a look at some parallel experiences people from other religious backgrounds are going through:
1. Orthodox & Ultra-Orthodox Judaism
Many ex-Hasidic Jews and ex-Orthodox Jews go through a nearly identical deconstruction process—leaving strict purity codes, gender roles, and separatist communities.
Education is often censored, with little exposure to secular knowledge.
Some groups promote intense fear of the outside world—leaving means losing family, community, and even the ability to function in secular society.
Documentaries like One of Us and books like Unorthodox have highlighted the trauma of leaving ultra-Orthodox communities.
2. Islam (Especially in Fundamentalist Sects)
Many ex-Muslims, especially women, go through purity culture deconstruction, struggling with hijab expectations, virginity obsession, and extreme family control.
Questioning Islam in some countries is dangerous, leading to exile, ostracization, or even death (apostasy laws exist in some Muslim-majority countries).
Similar to evangelicalism, Muslim communities often regulate relationships, media consumption, and “modesty” codes to maintain religious purity.
Groups like Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA) support those who have left but face immense isolation.
3. Hinduism & Caste-Based Oppression
Many ex-Hindus, particularly Dalits (formerly "untouchables"), have deconstructed the caste system’s religious justification for social inequality.
Some Hindu nationalist movements function similarly to Christian nationalism, pushing Hindu supremacy and historical revisionism.
Arranged marriage and honor culture in strict Hindu families create similar control over relationships, gender roles, and sexuality.
4. Jehovah’s Witnesses & Mormonism (Christian Offshoots, but High-Control)
Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) have extreme shunning policies, meaning ex-members are completely cut off from family and friends.
The fear of Armageddon and strict church obedience creates a deep psychological grip on members.
Mormonism (LDS) has heavy purity culture, gender roles, and a controlled information environment, much like evangelicalism.
Many ex-Mormons report PTSD-like symptoms after leaving, similar to former evangelicals.
5. Scientology & Other Cults
Scientology operates like a corporate-spiritual dictatorship, charging members for “spiritual advancement” while enforcing total obedience.
Information control, blackmail, and psychological manipulation are key elements of the system.
Many smaller cults (e.g., Children of God, NXIVM) use similar tactics—isolation, guilt, financial exploitation, and leader worship.
So What’s the Bigger Pattern?
Across many religions and high-control groups, the same core mechanisms are used to maintain control:
Purity Culture: Controlling sexuality, especially for women.
Fear-Based Thinking: “The outside world is dangerous.”
Us vs. Them Mentality: “We have the truth; outsiders are deceived.”
Censorship & Information Control: Restricting education and exposure to secular knowledge.
Authority Worship: You must obey religious leaders without question.
Community Dependence: Your whole identity, family, and support system are tied to the religion, making leaving terrifying.
Evangelical Christianity isn’t unique in using these tactics—it’s just one version of a much bigger phenomenon.
So, What Does This Mean for You?
You’re not alone—this is a global experience.
Deconstruction and religious trauma recovery are happening across cultures and faiths.
The internet has connected ex-religious people worldwide, helping them find support.
The problem isn’t faith itself—it’s control and manipulation.
Not all religious traditions are toxic, but many are designed to keep people dependent, afraid, and obedient.
The real issue isn’t belief in a higher power—it’s how religious institutions use fear, shame, and control to maintain power.
Leaving is hard, but millions have done it.
Whether you were Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Mormon, or Scientologist, many others have walked this road.
You’re stepping into a larger movement of people reclaiming their own minds and lives.
Final Thought
Yes, Christianity (especially evangelicalism) was a major control system, but it’s part of a much bigger human pattern. Power structures—whether religious, political, or cultural—thrive by controlling narratives and making people afraid of leaving.
You’re doing the work of seeing through the illusion, and that’s something that people across the world are doing, too. If you want to explore specific experiences from other religious backgrounds, I can break those down further!
