This episode is about propaganda: the mechanisms by which evangelicals and conservative Christians are formed. Evangelicals are suckers for conspiracy (Ep. 3) and are easily swayed by propaganda. The propaganda machine has done masterful job inoculating conservatives from developing worldviews beyond their own enrichment.

In the first half, I invite Scott Coley to help unpack the how and why conservatives tend to accept damaging beliefs and theologies that harm vulnerable people and themselves. Connecting the dots between conservative political aspirations that seek power to preserve white supremacy and patriarchy, and the supprting belief systems in evangelicalism, opens a pathway for folks still in, leaving, or who have already left, to begin making sense of all the weird in the pursuit of freedom and liberation.

“Evangelicals favor morally problematic social arrangements and political policies because they just aren’t thinking about the moral salience of institutions. They tend to focus on individual piety. They tend to not think about institutional injustice. I’ve come to recognize that is an incomplete picture. It’s true, bad belief leads to bad practices, but it’s also true that bad practices lead to bad beliefs. This ‘feedback loop’ is called ideology.” Scott Coley

Later, DL Mayfield joins to discuss one of the most effective propaganda arms in evangelicalism: Focus on the Family. It, along with many others, are key reasons why evangelicals are harbingers of harm to the nation (and the world).

“If you grew up with Dr. Dobson or Focus on the Family parenting methods, then you are a child of a positive eugenics movement. The continuation of the white supremacist patriarchy was the entire goal and they used religion to spread their ideology.” D.L. Mayfield

Episode 4 – Show Notes

(00:00) – Introduction (03:00) – Scott Coley on The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (05:40) – Why do conservative evangelicals appear to inhabit an alternate reality? (08:40) – Ideology and legitimizing narratives that provide moral justification. (11:47) – Propaganda as mechanism to bring folks into sub-culutre.. (14:30) – On fundamentalism and creation science example. (15:30) – Motivated reasoning and hermeneutics of legitimizing narratives. (21:30) – The pull of ideology, how do you know you’re on the ‘right’ side. (26:30) – Introducing DL Mayfield and Focus on the Family. (29:26) – The Strongwilled Child phenomenom. (31:00) – Focus on the Family is propaganada. (36:00) – Are folks leaving the church over the abuse they experienced as children? (40:38) – James ‘Fucking’ Dobson and white patriarchy. (47:30) – Speaking about estrangement.

Featuring your host, Rohadi (from Rohadi.com).

Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his most recent publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins.

Special guests in Episode 4:

Scholar/Author – Scott Coley Scott Coley Scott M. Coley holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Purdue University, a Master’s degree in systematic theology from the University of Notre Dame, and a B.A. in philosophy and English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests include philosophy of religion, moral epistemology and political philosophy. His book is entitled, Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right from Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.

Author/Podcaster – D.L. Mayfield D.L. Mayfield (they/them) is a podcaster and author. After a decade of writing for Christian spaces, they now write primarily about issues of neurodivergence and healing from high-control religion. D.L. and their partner Krispin Mayfield are currently working on a multimedia publishing project entitled STRONGWILLED, which is available on Substack. You can read along here.

Bumper music by Daniel Wheat.