At the peak of the movement, about 30% of Americans were evangelical Christians. About a fourth of all Americans where white evangelicals–a term we hear a lot these days when discussing Trump’s base. National Political Correspondent Sarah McCammon says that people often talk about this demographic as if it is a fringe movement rather than a huge swath of Americans.

Today, we’re talking about the growing number former evangelicals who have untangled–or deconstructed–their belief system and parted from the church as it has become politicized. Many have found solace in online communities and some call themselves “exvangelicals.” In McCammon’s new book The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church, she mixes journalism and memoir to tell a story about these adults who were once a part of the subculture, but left as they came of age in a far more interconnected world.

A Public Affair host Sara Gabler is one of these millennials who was raised with an evangelical belief system and has since deconstructed. McCammon joins Gabler to talk about The Exvangelicals. They discuss purity culture, conservative childhoods, and the vast experiences of deconstruction.

Sarah McCammon is a National Political Correspondent for NPR and co-host of the NPR Politics Podcast. Her work focuses on political, social and cultural divides in America, including abortion policy and the intersections of politics and religion. She’s also a frequent guest host for NPR news programs.

Photo by Edwin Andrade on Unsplash

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