Evangelical Erasure?: Digital Communications Technology and the Memory of Rachel Held Evans
Open Access
- Author:
- Andersen Tuttle, Karlin
- Graduate Program:
- Media Studies
- Degree:
- Master of Arts
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- June 16, 2020
- Committee Members:
- James Ford Risley, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Patrick Robert Parsons, Committee Member
Matthew Frank Jordan, Committee Member
Matthew Paul Mcallister, Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- Rachel Held Evans
evangelical Christianity
digital religion
public memory
digital memory
digital communications technology
evangelical media - Abstract:
- Rachel Held Evans was a blogger, author, and speaker who publicly chronicled her “evolution” from an evangelical Christian and political conservative to critiquing the traditions, interpretations of the Bible, and political ties that defined evangelicalism since 2007. She questioned the traditional teachings on the place of women and LGBTQ people in the church and claimed most evangelicals did not act on Jesus’ commandment to love and serve society’s outcasts. By 2019, Evans had published four books with a fifth under contract, maintained a popular blog and extensive social media presence, and wrote for national news outlets. Members of her online community celebrated Evans for questioning the theological justification used to marginalize people and ideas in the evangelical community, but many evangelical leaders condemned her for “teaching” or “preaching” heretical ideas—especially as a woman. Secular and religious outlets published glowing memorials and headlines calling Evans a “public theologian” after her unexpected death in May of 2019. Among those headlines, historian Elesha Coffman questioned the possibility of a theologically and socially progressive female voice to be remembered in the male-dominated conservative world of evangelical Christianity. This project contextualizes Evans’ work and impact with previous research on women in evangelicalism, how evangelical women are remembered in historical surveys, and the close relationship between evangelicals and digital communications technology. The project ends with a review of Evans’ community and impact as it stands in May 2020 and a breakdown of what it means to be remembered both in the official and public memory.