I was Raised with These Common American Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christian Beliefs

Have you ever wondered what Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christians believe? These beliefs are widespread from what I have seen across the many churches I have attended, Christian events, from the Evangelicals I know personally and in Christian media. I acknowledge that these do not apply to every single person or church but they were all core beliefs in how I was raised. If I read them to the Evangelicals I know, while my wording might make them uncomfortable I don’t think they’d disagree with any.

This is my first time writing out the things I was taught so clearly. I hope to look at each belief I was taught and deconstruct how they impacted me, my world view and even my choices in life.

Theological Beliefs

• They interpret the Bible mostly literally and believe every part of the Bible is infallible. It is the ultimate authority, truth and requires complete obedience. They provide Bibles for free.

• They pick and chose which values they endorse from the Old Testament portion of the Bible. In the Old Testament when God commands or endorses war, human sacrifice, animal sacrifice, murder, rape, genocide, misogyny, infanticide, etc. this is justified as the way things HAD to be before God sent Jesus to die to pay the price for sin. They also believe  acts of violence ordained by God are acts of judgement. And God’s judgement is always just. 

• They believe Earth was created in 7 days and is around 6,000 years old. Evolution is false, there is a conspiracy to promote it in the scientific community.

• They believe everyone is a sinner in need of salvation and that being “born again” is by faith in Jesus alone. To become a Christian, anyone may say the “Sinners Prayer”, which is roughly this: “Dear Jesus, I am a sinner, please forgive me. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. Please come into my heart and life. I trust you as my Lord and Savior.”

• They believe God is able to forgive all sins, except the sin of being Gay or Queer. Many make an exception for those who identify as Queer but abstain from sex choosing to be romantically alone.

• They believe everyone deserves to burn in hell for eternity with the exception of small children, babies and some of those who have never heard of Jesus.

• They don’t believe in baptizing babies but encourage children to “choose” to be baptized in water in front of their church as a symbol of being born again. If you did not do this as a child, you can do it later in life.

• They value evangelizing or spreading their message-especially in developing countries.

• The believe those who do not become Christians will burn in a lake of fire for eternity. All other Gods/religions are false.

• They believe God listens to their prayers and can choose to answer their prayer requests. Their level of faith impacts the outcome. They teach that miracles happen if people have enough faith, such as a a blind person being granted sight.

• They believe the rapture of the church in the end times which is the catching up of all Christians, dead or alive, to meet Christ in the sky.

• They teach that Satan and his demons roam the earth influencing people negatively.

• They teach that tarot cards, palm reading, meditation, pentagrams, yoga, Harry Potter, etc. can “open you up” to demons. (While also teaching that if you are “saved”, you can’t be possessed by a demon)

• They believe their ‘God’ is the only ‘God’ who is male and eternally exists at the same time as three forms: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

• They believe in worshipping God through singing him songs praising him.

Political/Social Issue Beliefs

• They will vote for anyone they believe will further their agenda, regardless of any conflicts their behavior/statements have with the ethics of the Bible. They took this to the next level with Trump, believing he was chosen by God and infallible. They openly lauded him, actively endorsed him, remained steadfastly loyal, and refrained from any criticism, regardless of his actions and words.

• They teach that liberals are trying to stir up racism by acknowledging its existence, suggesting it’s a strategy to initiate a “race war.”  White Evangelical Christians became increasingly engaged in politics and established private Christian schools partially due to their opposition to ending segregation in the 1970s.

• Most identify as Republican.

• They fervently endorse American Nationalism, promoting a rendition of America’s history that highlights White men as heroic Christians who founded America on Christian principles. Their historical narrative omits the contributions of non-White individuals and women. They significantly minimize the horrors of chattel slavery. They teach that racism does not exist anymore because our White hero presidents ended it. Throughout my entire childhood, there was no mention of the Civil Rights era, both in my Christian schools and at church. Their version of history also leaves out the genocide of the Native Americans as well as ignores the costs of Capitalism. They justify colonializing and assorted wars against non-White populations as a necessity of keeping America safe or the more White Supremacist notions that assert we know what’s best for them or are “helping” them.

• They believe Global Warming to be an elaborate hoax upheld by most of the scientific community and government.

• They fear communism and often label Democrats as “communists”.

• They believe “The world” (meaning people who are not Christian) are out to get them and destroy their way of life. This has shifted more and more to liberals or Democrats attacking their values.

• They support American’s ownership of guns.

• They steadfastly support of Israel no matter what as they believe Jewish people are “God’s chosen people”. They believe America’s “blessings” (wealth, protection) will continue as long as America supports Israel.

• They believe in sanctity of life, that human life is sacred. They believe this mostly applies with abortion. They also support the death penalty, assorted wars and colonization.

• They believe in the American Dream and generally support Capitalism.

• They believe in the law/constitution and only support breaking
  the law if they feel their personal rights are under attack.

• They support our prison system and see it as just consequences for breaking the law.

Sex, Sexuality, Gender Role and Relationship Beliefs

• They believe sex is meant for marriage only and that women must stay “pure’ or lose their value as wives/humans. They teach that women must be submissive to their husbands. Their husbands are the ultimate authority in their homes and should have the final say.

• They teach that men/boys can’t control themselves sexually and are “visual creatures” so women/girls must cover their bodies as not to lead men to temptation’ or ‘distract them from their walk with God.’

• They believe masculinity to be under attack, that “men can’t be men anymore”. They view feminists as the enemy and blame them for any consequences of living in a patriarchal society.

• They often place the blame on women who survived rape, abuse and domestic violence at the hands of men.

• They believe being gay is an especially bad sin, one that will condemn you to hell even if you are “saved”. They put a lot of resources into preaching against it, voting against it, trying to make their gay children straight and promoting the idea it is a choice. They do not want gay people to openly exist in society and will fight against any gay representation in media.

• They are against pornography, they tell boys and men not to watch porn.

• They do not believe women can be leaders, especially not pastors.

• They frown on divorce but accept it. They are likely to treat the divorcees poorly, the woman more so than the man.

Beliefs Regarding Children

• They believe in children’s unquestioning obedience to their parents.

• They value family.

• They’re conscientiousness of protecting their children, especially from “secular”(non-Christian)films, shows, books and music. They prefer Christian books, concerts, podcasts, magazines and movies. They prefer their children to be homeschooled or in Christian schools.

• They are obsessed with who and what is influencing their children, hence monitoring their computer usage, media and friends.

• They will sacrifice their children’s privacy in the name of protecting them including reading journals or other private things. They will not hesitate to discuss and expose personal details about their children or teens with church authorities or other adults. In some cases children or teens may be forced to apologize in front of the church.

• They teach children values from the Bible such as kindness, generosity, truthfulness, forgiveness, caring for those in need and grace.

• As they believe they know what is best for their children, they do not give them the space or freedom to form any of their own beliefs without consequences.

• They encourage or require them to have only Christian friends.

• Many believe in physical punishment such as spanking but it has become far less popular.

Beliefs About Charity

• They often provide aid to their local communities, such as a food pantry. More encouraged is sending aid to developing countries through Christian organizations who are both starting churches, preaching and providing material aid. They often hold racist ideas about the non-White people they are ‘helping’ and use missionary photos, videos and speaking engagements in churches to portray them as impoverished, downtrodden, incapable and uncivilized. This goes hand in hand with their White Saviorism (A White person or group going to ‘help’ non-White people without taking the time to understand their history, culture, political affairs or actual needs.) This is often a self-serving feel good exercise. The focus is on spreading the gospel and short sighted quick fix aid. Sadly they rarely support existing local community groups working on sustainable long term initiatives.

• They also have been known to widely support missionary organizations which turned out to be massive scams.

• They believe in “Tithing” – or giving at least a tenth of one’s income to the church.

Other Beliefs

• They loath any use of “Xmas” and Happy Holidays as it “takes the Christ out of Christmas”.

• They believe good things happen to good Christians and bad things happen to non-Christians and bad Christians, for example: they view poverty as a moral failing.

• They do not believe in therapy outside of the church. They often do not acknowledge mental health issues and frown at medication as treatment. Alternatively they prefer people to seek help by speaking with untrained people within their church. Or they’ll advocate that you can “pray away” your mental health issues if your faith is strong enough.

Please add any I might have forgotten below or say hi and let me know if you can also relate!