Why I'm Not an Exvangelical.

Understanding what you're not is important. But you don't want to define yourself by it.

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The other day I was talking to a friend about the Smiths and we concluded that being a big Smiths fan is an unfortunate but necessary stage of most people’s musical journey. You’ve gotta go through a phase of being insufferable about the Smiths. But you can’t stay there. Thankfully, Morrissey has made it his mission to ostracize as many fans as possible, so the transition away from the Smiths and into better music is easier than it might be. 

This mirrors my thoughts about “exvangelicalism.” I’m really excited to read Sarah McCammon’s upcoming book on exvangelicals. I think it’s an important little phenomenon to understand, and Sarah’s about the best possible interlocutor you could ask for. Full disclosure: Sarah and I have run in the same circles for a few years now and she interviewed me for the book. I told her a little about my experience as a former evangelical and why I finally decided it was time to part ways with the label. Not sure how much of that made it into the final draft but, in any case, let’s all pre-order it!

In the meantime, I don’t really identify as an “exvangelical” anymore, even though it accurately describes my state as a former evangelical. I used to call myself an exvangelical. It was a phase. A necessary one, probably. But, like being a Smiths-head, it’s not a phase you want to stay in too long. 

There are a few reasons for this.