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Evangelical Erasure?: Digital Communications Technology And The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School EVANGELICAL ERASURE?: DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY AND THE MEMORY OF RACHEL HELD EVANS A Thesis in Media Studies by Karlin Juleen Andersen © 2020 Karlin Juleen Andersen Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts August 2020 ii The thesis of Karlin Juleen Andersen was reviewed and approved by the following: Ford Risley Professor of Journalism Associate Dean for Undergraduate and Graduate Education Thesis Adviser Patrick Parsons Professor of Telecommunications Matthew Jordan Associate Professor of Media Studies Matthew McAllister Professor of Film-Video and Media Studies Chair of Graduate Programs iii Abstract Rachel Held Evans was a blogger, author, and speaker who publicly chronicled her “evolution” from an evangelical Christian and political conservative to critiquing the traditions, interpretations of the Bible, and political ties that defined evangelicalism since 2007. She questioned the traditional teachings on the place of women and LGBTQ people in the church and claimed most evangelicals did not act on Jesus’ commandment to love and serve society’s outcasts. By 2019, Evans had published four books with a fifth under contract, maintained a popular blog and extensive social media presence, and wrote for national news outlets. Members of her online community celebrated Evans for questioning the theological justification used to marginalize people and ideas in the evangelical community, but many evangelical leaders condemned her for “teaching” or “preaching” heretical ideas—especially as a woman. Secular and religious outlets published glowing memorials and headlines calling Evans a “public theologian” after her unexpected death in May of 2019. Among those headlines, historian Elesha Coffman questioned the possibility of a theologically and socially progressive female voice to be remembered in the male-dominated conservative world of evangelical Christianity. This project contextualizes Evans’ work and impact with previous research on women in evangelicalism, how evangelical women are remembered in historical surveys, and the close relationship between evangelicals and digital communications technology. The project ends with a review of Evans’ community and impact as it stands in May 2020 and a breakdown of what it means to be remembered both in the official and public memory. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... v Chapter One .................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Research Methods ....................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter Two.................................................................................................................................... 7 Going on the radio . and leaving the boxing gloves behind .................................................... 7 From Crusades to Televangelism.............................................................................................. 12 God and the Twitterfaceogosphere ........................................................................................... 21 Church Stories ........................................................................................................................... 41 Chapter Three................................................................................................................................ 53 Doubt Filled Believer ................................................................................................................ 53 Monkey Town ........................................................................................................................... 55 When Believers Ask ................................................................................................................. 60 You’re Not Crazy and You’re Not Alone ................................................................................. 63 Small Town, Big Tent ............................................................................................................... 77 Living Biblically ....................................................................................................................... 82 Why Millennials are Leaving the Church ................................................................................. 90 Chapter Four ................................................................................................................................. 98 Life After Evangelicalism ......................................................................................................... 98 #PrayforRHE........................................................................................................................... 101 #BecauseofRHE ...................................................................................................................... 107 Holding Vigil .......................................................................................................................... 110 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 118 v Acknowledgements Thank you to my adviser and committee for supporting this project and your guidance throughout the process—your suggestions, edits, and notes only improved the final product. Thank you to my friend and editor for fixing my typos. Thank you to my professors and colleagues in Carnegie who let me unpack small parts of this project in seminar papers and offered their support. Thank you to my friends in State College who have become my East Coast family. Thank you to my partner for always being a springboard for my ideas, asking tough questions, believing in me, and making the best cup of tea. Finally, thank you to my mom and brother for being my number one cheering squad. vi “Whenever I want to scare myself, I consider what would happen to the world if Rachel Held Evans stopped writing.” —Glennon Doyle, foreword of Searching for Sunday 1 Chapter One Introduction In explaining this project, I encountered one of two responses: confusion tinged with intrigue, “I’ve never heard of Rachel, but sounds like an interesting project.”—or, “I love her writing. She changed how I think about faith. I’ve given everyone I know a copy of Searching for Sunday.” Rachel Held Evans was a blogger, author, and speaker who publicly chronicled her “evolution” from an evangelical Christian and political conservative to critiquing the traditions, interpretations of the Bible, and political ties that defined evangelicalism. 1 Starting in 2007, her publications provided a respectful and well-researched examination of the theological and historical contexts that formed modern evangelicalism and her call for a “radically inclusive Christianity.”2 Over twelve years, she facilitated an honest and humor-filled discussion of the many unanswered questions, problems, and discomfort the faith of her childhood created for her and other ex-evangelicals across her blog and social media accounts. 3 Her ability to deconstruct the theological and cultural lessons of evangelicalism that she disliked while maintaining her personal relationship to Christianity inspired others, mostly millennial-aged, to reassess and 1 Scholars have struggled to contain evangelical Christianity to a single definition. The group spans multiple denominations and is often combined with or confused with fundamental Christianity. Historian Francis Fitzgerald defines evangelicals as Protestants who believe in “Biblicism, or reliance on the Bible as the ultimate religious authority; crucicentrism, or a focus on Christ’s redemption of mankind on the cross; conversionism, or the emphasis on a ‘new birth’ as a life-changing experience; and activism, or a concern with sharing the faith with others.” I use the label “evangelical” over other, related terms including Fundamentalism which includes more religiously militant groups focused on winning a “spiritual war” through conversion. Francis Fitzgerald, The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2017), 637. 2 Eliza Griswold, “The Radically Inclusive Christianity of Rachel Held Evans,” The New Yorker, May 6, 2019, https://www.newyorker.com/news/postscript/the-radically-inclusive-christianity-of-rachel-held-evans. 3 In the past five years the term “exvangelical,” or ex-evangelical, has become shorthand for individuals who grew up in evangelical churches but removed themselves in adulthood while still maintaining a presence in Christianity. 2 return to Christianity with a new perspective or ability to process the emotional and spiritual wounds they felt evangelicalism had caused. While her publications gained Evans a wide online following, she was criticized by evangelical leaders for her divergent views. She questioned the traditional teachings on the place of women and LGBTQ people in the church and claimed most evangelicals did not act on Jesus’ commandment to love and serve society’s outcasts. Members of her online community celebrated Evans for questioning the theological justification used to marginalize
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