This is the third and final (for now) part of our deep dive into the myth of Christian persecution in this country, and today we are looking at the tragic story of a young man who was inexplicably willing and eager to die for his faith. After his death, he was turned into a martyr by many people in Evangelical Christian culture—people ready to hold him up as an example of how selfless, faithful, and dedicated we should all be in the name of sharing the gospel. But was John Chau a selfless saint? Was he a victim of a religion that brainwashes young people to be so “on fire for god” that their own lives here on earth become an afterthought? Or was he obstinate and foolishly naive, hell-bent on following through on what he believed to be a god-given directive? As with everything else we’ve covered, there is no easy answer here. We’ll end the episode—and the series—on a much more lighthearted note with a brief discussion of Logan Dorn, dubbed the Christian Male Karen, whose own god-given directive was apparently... harassing teens for wearing swimsuits at the beach.

As a wise man once said, religion is the opium of the masses.

Content warning: violence, death, borderline suicidal ideation

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