Why Conservative Christianity is the Safest Place for Men Who Assault Women

TW: Mentions of Sexual Assault

There is a very strange paradox that exists in white evangelical spaces. On one hand they emphasize and re-emphasize the need for teens and young adults to maintain sexual purity until they are married. On the other hand they have built a scaffolding that regularly houses some of the most sexually depraved people that have committed unspeakable actions against their fellow human beings. Moreso these sexual predators seem to be held to a different standard, especially if they’re a celebrity.

You see repentance is not needed for famous rapists in conservative Christianity. The price of admission is incredibly cheap. Claim you’ve become a Christian, say a few evangelical coded christian phrases and voila you’re in. Suddenly there is grace for you. Suddenly you’re on God’s team and every critic is just an attack from the enemy. You’ve found shelter, your victims continue to suffer. That’s how it goes.

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UFC star Conor McGregor is the newest celebrity to claim that he’s found God. Speaking at his pre fight press conference Mcgregor was asked how important God was in his combat and preparation for his fight. His answer:

“It is everything in my life. I have mountain moving faith, and I am more than the conqueror of Jesus. I’m an heir of the royal family, an heir of the royal estate. All of God’s promises are yesterday, amen in Christ and apply to me. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me. All glory to god.”

This is not just Christian language. This is evangelical language. Anyone who’s grew up in the world immediately recognizes this kind of verbiage. It’s not Catholic or mainline speak. It’s evangelical speak. Reading through the comments of this viral clip reveals people celebrating McGregor as born again.

There’s only one problem: McGregor was found civilly liable of raping a woman in Ireland in 2024. Both of his appeals were flat out rejected. Curiously, he found God after he ran out of options. But he continues to maintain his innocence.

McGregor had to pay damages to the victim who was so bruised and beat up that the paramedic who examined the victim stated he “had not actually seen someone so bruised in a long time.” A tampon was shoved so far up the victim’s vagina that a doctor had to use forceps to remove it. Of course there’s much more evidence that lead the jury to deciding how they did but Conor? Speaking at the same press conference where he asked about the case he said “I am an innocent man, and I stand for my innocence until the day I go out.”

Hm, a man found civilly liable for raping a woman, tries to overturn the verdict and is rejected so he spouts from his platform that he’s the innocent one in all of this. Does that playbook sound familiar? For some reason, beyond my own comprehension, this strategy seems to work really well for white evangelicals. Shortly after losing his fight due to an injury Conor took to twitter to say “I am in shock what has taken place. The devil is literally staring at me right in front of my face. I am not engaging. I will be at church tomorrow. I will overcome this. I will not be deterred. I will return.” Yes, the devil is the one who caused Conor to throw a kick off balance and blow out his knee. No personable responsibility taken at all.

White Evangelicalism is a system where those on the inside are always victims while those on the outside are seen as complainers and threats to them. Trauma researchers call this DARVO — Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender. It’s a documented pattern in how abusers and their institutions operate and white Evangelicalism has mastered it.

E.J Caroll who Trump was found civilly liable for raping is just a money hungry slut, Conor McGregor’s accuser is lying and probably just wants his money. In fact, when I posted this I got many DM’s from white men calling me a liar, a piece of shit, or in one case telling me there was no evidence that McGregor raped that woman. Meanwhile, the woman McGregor was found liable for raping is called a liar on the internet while he tweets about going to church. She doesn’t get grace. She gets to relive her trauma in the comments section.

Why does this keep happening? Why does sexual assault seem very low on the evangelical priority list? Russell Brand is facing multiple charges of rape and he’s toured with Christian Nationalist worship leader Sean Feucht baptizing people. Brand was baptized publicly in 2024 and like McGregor, he did it while actively denying his accusers.

He now has a larger evangelical platform than he ever had as a secular celebrity. That’s not a coincidence. That’s the system working exactly as designed. If I was caught alone with my girlfriend by a church leader, even if we were doing nothing, that was grounds to be removed from my volunteer ministry position. But if you rape a woman and claim Christianity, you’re not only welcomed in but given a larger platform to stand on.

Here’s my answer to this riddle. White Evangelicalism is built on a hierarchy where White men are at the top. In this structure, men are called by God to lead the home, the church and the nation. Men have a sacred duty given to them by the creator to stop evil. Because of their holy calling men must be protected from the devil who will stop at nothing to prevent good men from leading. This allows men to be seen as both the strong alpha god made them to be and the fragile victim that must be protected from women’s bodies, criticism, and accountability (touch not god’s anointed).

This particular version of Christianity embraces a highly American and westernized version of masculinity. Men conquer, dominate and colonize. Women submit, follow and obey. Don’t blame them. They’re just telling you what God’s word “clearly” says. It’s not their fault they were born in white male bodies and that the God of the universe chose them to be in charge.

White Evangelicalism prioritizes results over anything else. Because it’s an ideology steeped in capitalism its metrics for success are based on growth.

More converts

More money

More power

More notoriety

If a pastor faithfully serves a little church of 50 people and it never grows, it’s seen as a failure by evangelical standards. Where was your strategy for growth? Why didn’t you save more souls for the kingdom? We’re in a battle and we need to win and we don’t win with tiny little churches run by pastors who don’t recognize we’re in a battle to save the west.

The result is a Christianity that promotes men who are bullies, narcissists, abusers and predators because those are the men that will get shit done. Those are the men that aren’t afraid to break a few eggs to make the Christian Nationalists omelette. But this isn’t Christian masculinity. This is toxic masculinity.

Christians believe that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. Christ shows us what God is like. Considering Christ was also male, it’s not a stretch to see Christ as an example of what masculinity is designed to look like. But there’s a problem for the alpha bro. Jesus looks nothing like them. We don’t read about a Jesus who worked out, ran marathons, was building wealth or who declared that his followers should make Rome great again. Jesus wasn’t vengeful, taught that the first are last and told his disciples to love their enemy. He didn’t blame women for a man’s lust problem. In fact he told men to gouge out their eyes.

Did I mention he was single, childless and poor? Jesus didn’t punch down. He punched up. Jesus didn’t look at wealth as a measure of success. In fact he explicitly said it’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. That doesn’t sound very pro-capitalist of him.

After he ate dinner with the tax collector Zacheus, he repented paid back what he stole and then some. You know what Zacheus didn’t do? Declare he was innocent and his victims were lying.

And consider John 8, the story of the woman caught in adultery. The powerful men drag her to Jesus demanding accountability. Jesus turns to the accusers (the men) and tells them to examine themselves first. He ask them how big their platforms are or consider protecting the religious hierarchy. He protects the vulnerable. That’s the Jesus white evangelicalism has crucified and won’t resurrect.

In God’s kingdom powerful men who abuse others repent, seek amends and accept the consequences for their actions. This is incompatible with the brovangelical culture currently dominating America and frankly is a damning indictment of the theological bankruptcy of the white evangelical experiment. In this theology rapists are protected because the woman was asking for it. In this theology bullies are rewarded and meekness is seen as weakness.

In this theology the president on his third marriage with a history of infidelity is God’s anointed but Barack Obama, the husband of one wife, is the antichrist who hates God. Why? Because Trump is giving them power and control. Obama tried to keep their power and privilege in check.

I’m not surprised that Conor Mcgregor suddenly converted to Christianity after being found liable for rape. It’s a safe space for men like him. He will be seen as a martyr of the hostile secular world that hates masculinity. The truth of what he did is completely irrelevant here. What matters is that Mcgregor says the right words. As long as he will do that expect his platform to grow inside of white christianity.

Can you blame so many of us for leaving? The double standard is as obvious as the sun on a summer’s day. You can’t miss it if you tried to. Imagine being told your whole life that God’s standard for sexuality is absolute abstinence until you enter a life long marriage only to watch pastors, politicians and celebrities live lives completely antithetical to that and instead of standing on their principles your church leaders acquiesce. All of the sudden the rhetoric shifts. “Anyone can be forgiven.” “No one is perfect.” “Don’t be so judgmental.” And when you push back you are seen as rebellious and not submitting to church leadership.

I have said and will continue to say that White Evangelicalism needs to be dismantled. It continues to produce rotten fruit because the tree itself is rotten. From the election of Trump (TWICE) to the men they promote and platform to the policies they endorse..they only bring chaos and destruction to [your original ending here].

Mark my words, Conor McGregor will be on a stage somewhere soon, mic in hand, talking about his faith and be cheered for it while the woman he was found liable for raping will be discarded as another obstacle to greatness.

I’d love to know your thoughts on this piece. Do you have questions, comments, concerns? Leave them below — I read them all. If this work resonates with you, please consider becoming a monthly supporter. My goal is never to have anything I do behind a paywall. Period. Your support makes that possible. - Tim

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