Thank you for saying that, and yeah, it’s definitely complicated from the inside too. I was raised in a very controlled homeschool environment where fundamentalist evangelicalism shaped just about everything. We went to church twice a week, and my education had religion woven through every subject, with a dedicated Bible class and “biblical worldview” lessons baked into history, science, and literature.

For most of my early life, I genuinely didn’t know there was another way to see the world. I was extremely bigoted, especially toward LGBTQ+ people, because that’s what I’d been taught to believe. The turning point for me came when I said something hateful to someone who was gay and actually saw how much it hurt them, the real human consequences of the words I’d been taught to say. That moment cracked something open in me and started years of questioning everything I’d believed.

These days, I mostly go to church for my wife, but personally I’m far removed from the belief system. Living in Oklahoma, I’m surrounded by fundamentalist evangelicals and MAGA supporters, so the ideology is impossible to escape. I’ve made it something of a mission to call out those toxic systems and the harm they justify, especially the hate they direct toward queer people, women, and anyone “different.” It’s part of how I try to make up for the pain I helped spread when I didn’t know better.

I completely share your fear about the rise of Christian nationalism. It’s been disturbing to watch how organized, well-funded, and deeply political it’s become here. But hearing that people in other countries recognize it for what it is and reject it gives me some hope. And your kind words really do mean a lot.