Although I prefer to write about broader topics, it seems like I keep getting drawn back to issues I was dealing with when I wrote the first edition of my book Fed Up with Fundamentalism (2007). I have shifted to using the term conservative evangelical rather than fundamentalist, but the terms are basically identical—and problematic.
What is a
Cult? According to
Claude, scholars “have defined a cult as a religious group exhibiting some or
all of the following characteristics: a charismatic leader who exercises total
control; an apocalyptic vision; isolation from society; an emphasis on
transcendent spiritual experience; and rigid rules governing members’ behavior.”
Central to this
definition is the element of coercion: the assumption that some form of
coercive persuasion or mind control is used to recruit and retain members by
suppressing their ability to reason, think critically, and make choices in
their own best interest. It is that understanding of cult that I am considering
in this article.
“White
evangelicals: An American cult” is
a piece I recently came across.* Edmond Davis, the author, states that
White evangelical support for Donald Trump “has evolved into something disturbingly
cult-like, forming a theology not rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ but in
the gospel of white grievance, dominionism and nostalgia for an imagined,
morally superior past.”
I encourage you
to read that perceptive essay (available here), which lists many “major drivers”
behind the formation of the White evangelical cult. For those of you who are
interested in this subject, I also recommend reading the July 2022 article “Escaping
the Evangelical Cult” by Keith Giles (see here).
Despite my
original intention to write much more about those two provocative pieces, for
the rest of this article I am switching to sharing a meaningful discussion I
had with Claude about the matter at hand.
Conservative
evangelical Christianity is more a cultic system than a cult, as the latter is generally
understood. That difference, which Clyde pointed out, is quite helpful. While
Davis’s article, referenced above, uses the word cult, his primary meaning
is that of a cultic system. There certainly isn’t just one “cult
leader.”
Jim Jones and
Peoples Temple (Jonestown, 1978) and David Koresh and the Branch Davidians
(Waco, 1993) are two of the widely known cults of the past. And although not
known broadly, the earlier Alamo Christian Foundation, begun by Tony Alamo in
1969, was a similar type of cult.
Alamo (1934~2017), who was born in Missouri, presented himself as a
born-again evangelical street preacher, amassing followers through communal
living, frugality, and total obedience—all while exploiting members
financially. He died while serving a 175-year prison sentence for raping young
girls, whom he called his “child brides.”
Certainly,
conservative Christianity can’t be considered a cult in the same way those
infamous cults were. So, let’s look at some of the ways evangelicalism can legitimately
be called a “cultic system.”
Conservative
evangelical Christianity promotes a “silo” mentality. According to Claude, even for
conservatives who would never consider joining a dangerous cult such as those
mentioned above, “conservative evangelical culture tends to function as an epistemic
silo—a closed information environment that systematically limits the range of
experiences, friendships, and ideas available to its members.” It that sense,
it is a type of “cultic system.”
A
lifetime inside that “silo” typically means that one’s friends are overwhelmingly
people who share the same theological assumptions, political commitments, and
cultural reference points. Friendships with those who are “different” are often
subtly discouraged, and when such do occur, they are often framed as “mission”
rather than mutual relationship.
For many
conservatives, Christian radio, evangelical publishing, a curated set of
approved authors and speakers are normative. The “gatekeeping” is real; for
example, certain books simply don't appear on the church bookstall, and certain
questions don’t get raised from the pulpit.
Christian
schooling for most and homeschooling for some is specifically designed to
present an alternative epistemic universe, one in which, for example, young-earth
creationism, American exceptionalism, and traditional gender roles are not
debatable positions but settled facts.
I know about that
sort of silo mentality, because that was my basic position when I was in high
school, and I first went to a Baptist college, not realizing then that I was
part of a “cultic system.” It took many years before I began becoming a progressive
Christian, which I now seek to be.**
_____
* That article was posted by Global
Baptist News on May 14. Edmond W. Davis, a retired college history professor,
was the author. He taught at Arkansas Baptist College, a private,
Baptist-affiliated institution recognized as a historically Black
college/university (HBCU). The article identifies him as a HBCU leader.
** If you want to read,
or re-read, my blog post about being a progressive Christian, here is the link
to that May 11 article: https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2026/05/why-i-am-progressive-christian.html
Note: Research assistance provided by Claude (Anthropic) A.I.
