Welcome to another episode of the Willoughby Hills podcast!
On today’s episode, I speak with Sarah McCammon NPR national political correspondent and co-host of The NPR Politics Podcast.
McCammon was raised in the white Evangelical church in Kansas City, attending Christian schools, reading Christian textbooks, listening to Christian music, and being kept away from anybody who might cause her to question her faith. This included her grandfather, who was gay.
McCammon began to question her upbringing in a process that she describes as “deconstructing,” ultimately leading to her leaving the church. Her new book The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church chronicles not only her personal faith journey, but also that of similar former Evangelicals who have since parted ways with the church.
The book explores issues both societal and personal, including love, sex, abortion, gay rights, race, media, and more and includes a diverse range of perspectives.
During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, McCammon reported on the Trump campaign, often using her own experience in the church to explain Trump’s support from white Evangelicals. As part of today’s conversation, we chat about why white Evangelicals initially supported Trump and why that support continues to this day.
Sarah’s book is a great read and this conversation is an important one about questioning our own assumptions and discovering our own truths in this world.
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123. Reporter Sarah McCammon on Leaving the White Evangelical Church