For decades the Christian Right has worked to “Christianize” the federal government, arm Israel, eliminate reproductive and civil rights, and they seem to be succeeding. On today’s show, Sara Gabler speaks with journalist Josiah Hesse about what it’s like to grow up inside an Evangelical world and then leave it. Hesse writes about his experience in his new book, On Fire for God: Fear, Shame, Poverty, and the Making of the Christian Right – a Personal History.

They discuss how Hesse’s training as a journalist informed his writing of the memoir, including how he approached interviewing friends and family members with curiosity. He says that he’s proud that the book has been marketed as “one part Educated, one part rebuttal to Hillbilly Elegy” because he wanted to convey the emotional world of growing up inside an extremist religious group as Tara Westover did but also counteract the blaming of people in poverty that J.D. Vance’s book participated in.

Hesse describes the overwhelming sense of fear and shame that he learned from his religious upbringing and how it has taken even longer to unlearn. Evangelicals have built an entire culture industry to make sure that their flocks don’t have to leave the fold–from schools to Christian radio and rock music, and more. He shares his pathway out of this world and how the ideology of rugged individualism keeps people trapped.

Josiah Hesse, author of On Fire for God, Runner’s High and the Carnality series, is a freelance journalist out of Denver, Colorado, covering everything from politics, science, and crime, to art, pop culture, and evangelical culture and theology. A regular contributor to The Guardian and Vice, his work has appeared in Esquire, Newsweek, Men’s Health, and Politico, among other publications.

Featured image of the cover of On Fire for God.

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