Scandalous Fruit
Reaping the consequences of the scandal of the evangelical mind
Over the past week, the site formerly known as Twitter has been abuzz with discussion over a new book by Meg Basham, Shepherds for Sale. The book purports to show how “Big Eva”—institutional evangelicalism—sold out to the Left for progressive $ and mainstream respect.
Basham is a writer at the Daily Wire, friend of Doug Wilson, John MacArthur, and many in the conservative wing of the SBC, and no friend of mine. Basham’s frequent attacks on people like Beth Moore, Phil Vischer, Russell Moore, Rachael Denhollander, and myself have earned her a large following. As I explain below, in reactionary movements, “in-group moderates” are the real threat—in this case, devout Christians with a public voice who do not carry water for the MAGA/Christian nationalist cause. Because I’ve had more than my share of interactions with Basham in the past, I knew her tactics: selective quoting, misrepresenting subjects, and pushing her agenda regardless of facts at hand.
Thus I wasn’t surprised when her book quickly became the subject of controversy, not primarily because of her analysis, but more fundamentally due to faulty evidence she offers in defense of her claims.
Even before the book released, people who had gotten their hands on advance copies started pointing out errors. Ben Marsh, one of these early readers, put it this way:
every review of Basham's new book will point out errors - some of them significant - and then you will realized each review is pointing out a different set of errors that's how richly woven the book is with errors. They are like pokemon spread throughout the book
Within hours of its release, critiques multiplied. Several of those quoted (and maligned) in the book began to point out inaccuracies.
Wesley Hill was among the first to point out errors in sections about his background and education. Gavin Ortlund went on YouTube to show how he was misquoted and misrepresented.
People who could hardly be categorized as part of “the Left” weighed in on numerous inaccuracies. Samuel James offers one such review, and Warren Cole Smith, hardly a leftist, offered his own. (Indeed, Smith, a former VP of World News Group, pointed to his “confrontational” interviews with me and Francis Collins to shore up his conservative bona fides.)
Marsh started to keep a “master reference list” of errors, and then after a few days gave up. There seemed no end to the untruths, misrepresentations, and faulty claims.
These errors go beyond nitpicking; for a sense of the serious nature of these errors, see John Reasnor’s detailed thread on “four different and significant” factual errors in Basham’s discussion of crimes committed by illegal immigrants, or Marsh’s on huge errors in World Relief’s funding.
The response from Basham and her supporters? Digging in their heels and launching counter-attacks. I lost track of the number of times I’ve seen “a hit dog howls” posted in response to critiques rather than engagement with the evidence at hand.
While many observers seemed shocked at what appeared to be a complete disregard for truth, some of us weren’t surprised. I experienced much of the same in critiques of Jesus and John Wayne from right-wing evangelicals. What surprised me (but shouldn’t have) was the paucity of substantive critique from that camp but the deluge of misrepresentation and straight-up lies about me and my book. As I’ve shared before, there was a period of around a year where I didn’t leave home without a copy of the book so that I could provide real-time fact-checking with screenshots and footnotes.
Which is to say, I’ve been thinking about truth and integrity in conservative evangelical spaces long before Basham’s book came out. Over the weekend, I decided to put some of my thoughts in a thread on X. It’s already garnered around 150k views and is clearly speaking to many people’s experience, so I thought I’d share it here as well.
There is much more to be done to uncover the history that has brought us to this place. But here’s a sense of the basic contours:
For decades, conservative evangelical power brokers defined "truth" in terms of what advanced their idea of Truth--which neatly aligned w/ their own agenda.
They founded institutions, organizations, publishers, & media platforms to advance, defend, and perpetuate this Truth.They platformed writers who amplified pre-determined narratives. They shunned, de-platformed, and cast out those who questioned these Truths. They educated kids to debate, feeding them pre-established talking points. They replaced disciplinary expertise with in-house apologetics.
They denounced "postmodernism," "situational ethics," and relativism of all types while advancing "presuppositionalism" and its derivatives and contrasting the "Christian worldview" with "secular" error. Since all Truth was God's Truth, only Christians* had access to that Truth. To all Truth.
*(Not all Christians, of course. Just Christians who alligned with their views on everything they deemed significant.)
They elevated "inerrancy" & kept tight control over which verses got "inerrant" treatment, which got explained away, & who got to decide. They concocted a "biblical" brand to end inquiry before it began. They built entire industries propagating Truth, vigilantly manning the gates.
All was (mostly) well and good as long as these tactics were wielded against outsiders: "secular humanists," liberals, feminists, Democrats, the "gay agenda," "the Left," "the woke," etc.
When you have Truth on your side, the ends will always justify the means. Any means.Many well-meaning, truth-seeking Christians grew up in this system. Many perpetuated it. Many still do. Many well-meaning, truth-seeking Christians ran up against it. Often inadvertently. Many were stunned to find themselves demonized, shunned, cast aside. For telling the truth.
Now we're watching these tactics turned against conservative evangelicals themselves. No, those leading the charge aren't taking on "the Left." It's a page out of the classic authoritarian playbook: attack "in-group moderates" (fellow conservative Christians), neutralize them, shift the center, seize power.
The problem is, after decades of embracing propaganda at the expense of rigorous truth-telling, careful reasoning, and good faith engagement, conservative evangelicals now under attack are ill-prepared to fight back.
This is the fruit of the scandal of the evangelical mind.Conservative evangelicals now targeted are by no means the first to feel the brunt of this system. Many, many others bear wounds.
What we're watching is a battle for the hearts & minds of evangelicals. But truth & integrity probably won't win it.
I came of age politically in this environment and was a part of it until their "truth" didn't mesh with the evidence of my own senses, and I began to ask questions until they declared "he's not one of us" (spoken in a private meeting by someone looking to have me fired by my former employer). Fortunately, I escaped on my own terms, and I have yet to take the abuse that you and many other friends of mine have endured at their hands. Their actions simply confirm the righteousness of my decision to renounce their worldview, and how distant it is from the character and teaching of Jesus Christ.
“The problem is, after decades of embracing propaganda at the expense of rigorous truth-telling, careful reasoning, and good faith engagement, conservative evangelicals now under attack are ill-prepared to fight back. This is the fruit of the scandal of the evangelical mind.”
This is me. I’m ill prepared. I grew up being politically indoctrinated in church. I was never taught to reason. Now, even though I have my personal reasons for not considering myself a republican (or democrat) anymore, I don’t know if I can articulate it well. My brain defaults to wanting to be told what to think. This is true both politically and theologically (even after seminary). It frustrates me so much now. I’m glad I’m out though.