Stand, Therefore, and Belt Your Waist with Truth
“Empathy can become dangerous when it leads people away from building a society guided by God’s truth.”
According to recent polling done by PRRI, 54% of white evangelicals agree with that statement, the highest of any demographic group. Sit with that for a moment because it is quite revealing.
How did this particular subgroup within Christianity grow to believe that empathy was an impediment to participation with God’s redemptive work in the world?
There is something deeply wrong with American evangelicalism. I believe the problem lies in the formation process that was developed in the late 20th century, which was so effective that it spread into other expressions of Christianity.
Modern evangelicalism grew in the mid-20th century as an opposing force to Communism but over time, began using the same tactics of “thought reform” to form evangelicals.
I was introduced to this language in reading Kristin Kobes DuMez’s book, Live, Laugh, Love which I shared about in a previous post. This series is going to explore how Christianity was supposed to equip people to resist these manipulative practices and choose a life of freedom.
We begin this series with “milieu control.”
Milieu control “is the control of human communication. Through this milieu control the totalist environment seeks to establish domain over not only the individual’s communication with the outside (all that he sees and hears, reads and writes, experiences, and expresses), but also—in its penetration of his inner life—over what we may speak of as his communication with himself.” (Lifton, p. 420)
Rebecca Lemov, Ph.D., refers to milieu control as “the kind of siloing where you’re only getting controlled messages from certain sources.”
Throughout the 20th century, evangelicals created a system of schools, radio stations, television networks, publishing houses, and production companies. Then, non-denominational churches rose with charismatic pastors and state of the art facilities that could offer private schools, Christian sports, and Christian social events so that people never had to leave the Christian bubble. (Read Live, Laugh, Love for the details.)
This evangelical silo meant that millions of Americans were only getting a curated version of the world. It was almost like they’re a jury that has been sequestered to prevent tainted evidence from being considered.
Inside the evangelical subculture, however, a number of the witnesses lied and provided false evidence, and it turns out there’s no defense attorney or anyone to object. There is no one to present exculpatory evidence. The system is corrupt.
It’s frustrating and exhausting. The harm is immense.
There is the spiritual and emotional abuse suffered by those caught up in it. The damage to the witness of the Church, the undermining of American democracy, and the impacts of that around the world. Overwhelming doesn’t begin to cover it.
So what can we do?
We’re going to take another look at Paul’s armor of God metaphor. I think he might have been onto something when it comes to resisting powerful manipulative tactics - it’s a battle of the mind.
“Stand, therefore, and belt your waist with truth…” (Ephesians 6:14a, NRSVue)
Did you notice that the poll question from PRRI referenced “God’s truth”?
What does that even mean? I spent way too much time and energy chasing down what evangelicals mean by that. The evangelical subculture turned God’s truth into some kind of mystery that could only be found through obedience and the correct biblical interpretation, but that’s the lie.
God’s truth is simply the truth. It’s not hidden in the Bible, it’s observable, objective truth.
Those who wish destroy the postwar liberal order want to make truth something difficult to know.
Throughout most of my lifetime, I lived in a world where there was an expectation that people acted with integrity. People in public service, and certainly clergy, were all supposed to be decent and trustworthy.
That’s not the norm anymore. Sitting congresspeople, and even the President of the United States, tell outright lies in order to further their dehumanization campaigns against others, while members of the clergy weaponize Scripture to cause harm and build their platforms.
While this reality does not seem normal to me, it was normal to Paul. He understood that the truth is a piece of armor in a world where information is controlled and everyone lies.
God’s truth is the truth that hasn’t been manipulated by Caesar or some other charlatan.
We know that truth has the power to bring justice. We have seen glimpses of a world in which truth was pursued and protected, something Paul probably couldn’t have imagined.
The truth will set us free. But, it only sets us free when we use it.
The truth is the belt that holds your sword and your breastplate during battle, while offering protection to your lower abdomen. Put on the truth and go fight evil, injustice and oppression with it.
Be curious. Ask questions. Don’t accept simple answers. Don’t allow other people (or algorithms) to control the information you receive.
This doesn’t mean that we assume others are acting with malicious intent, but that anyone can always be wrong, everyone is fallible. (Rauch) But, some people are acting with malice and it’s not always as easy as we think to spot them.
We are also called to the hard work of preserving and telling the truth. What that means might be something for each of us, depending on our area of knowledge.
My passion is to tell the truth about the Bible and challenge people to read it with a more open mind.
Some former NOAA employees built this website, to protect the data that the administration had deleted.
Maybe you can support non-profits seeking to protect truth or libraries in areas where books are banned.
Maybe there’s a deceiver in your life and your job is to be persistent with the truth.
Whatever your call is, do it with grace and integrity. Stick to the truth.
Upcoming posts:
Midweek - “Establish a Private Life” Part 14 of my series of reflections on Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny.
Next Sunday - Resist The Dispensing of Existence - with the breastplate of righteousness in place (I’m still working on that title)
Explore more:
Good Faith: Curtis Chang, host. “Unveling Church Abuse.” Mike Cosper, guest.
Fugelsang, John. Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds. Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster. 2025.
Kobes Du Mez, Kristin. Live, Laugh, Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made. New York, Ny, Liveright Publishing Corporation, a Division of W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 15 Sept. 2026.
Lemov, Rebecca. The Instability of Truth: Brainwashing, Mind Control, and Hyper-Persuasion. W.W. Norton & Co. 2025.
Rauch, Jonathan. The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth, The Brookings Institute Press. 2021.
Truce - History of the Christian Church: Chris Staron, host
When the Wolves Came: Evangelicals Resisting Extremism, Ruth Braunstein, host
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