Reminder: the authors of the bestselling books in the Christian Book Distributors catalogue are not the only representatives of Protestant Christianity in the United States. They’re representative of a certain style of celebrity evangelicalism.

It’s entirely possible to be a Christian in the US and not feel obligated to have an angst-ridden breakup with this subculture which leaves you questioning your faith, because it never would have occurred to you that this was what Christianity “was.”

That said, for those whose Christianity is entirely within this sphere: Jesus has some very strong things to say about wolves in the fold. They happen in every age and in every Christian tradition.

And it would have been be better *for them* to have a millstone hung around their neck and be cast into the sea than to have done what they did. You are not in a uniquely bad position and God is still in control.

And yes it is probably a good idea to ask whether there are structural things about that subculture that promote those abuses— I don’t know if there are. I mean seems like bishops are a good idea & massive platforms for laymen under no discipline are a bad one but what do I know.

That said... gosh what a nightmare it must have been. Moral blackmailing. Deliberately causing the kind of internal mental and spiritual confusion RZ must have caused in those women *to protect himself*— oof. And if he didn’t succeed in this confusion— not for lack of trying.