The Gospel According to Silicon Valley
How Big Tech turned poor evangelicals into digital soldiers of fear, rage, and divine conspiracy.
The New Holy War isn’t something with swords or sermons anymore. It’s fought with memes.
Poor white evangelicals, once shaped by local pastors and church gossip, now get their worldview from glowing rectangles. Their pulpits are Facebook feeds. Their preachers are YouTube prophets. Their faith isn’t just about Jesus — it’s about algorithms that decide what version of “truth” they’ll see next.
Social media first connected them to the world only to rewire what they believe about it. Platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok have learned to weaponize faith the same way they weaponized outrage. The more fear, anger, and prophecy they consume, the more the system feeds it back — a digital gospel tailored for maximum engagement and minimum doubt.
As a 2024 Nature study found, users are nearly twice as likely to share negative news than neutral stories — “1.91 times more likely,” to be exact — showing how fear outperforms facts online. And an Oxford analysis concluded that “algorithmic delivery and amplification of content are driven by platform design,” meaning outrage isn’t a bug but a feature.
Fear Is the New Faith
Algorithms are designed for one thing: to keep you hooked. And fear does that better than hope ever could.
A 2024 Nature study found that users are “1.91 times more likely to share links to negative news articles.” Fear spreads almost twice as fast as facts. And when fear wears a cross, it travels even faster.
Big Tech didn’t invent religious fear — it just monetized it. Every “Antichrist spotted in the White House” meme or “Satan hiding in Disney movies” video is rewarded with more reach, more clicks, more ad revenue. The algorithm learns: these users respond to moral panic. So it gives them more panic.
As one Oxford study put it, “Algorithmic delivery and amplification of content are driven by platform design … propagandists’ intent to disseminate information is also dependent on platforms’ surplus data and algorithms for dissemination and amplification.
In short: outrage is good business.
Evangelical-Algorithm Alliance
Evangelical Christianity has always loved a good apocalypse. From rapture charts to end-times movies, fear of the coming storm was part of the thrill. But now, Silicon Valley has turned that theology into a content strategy.
When an algorithm notices that you “like” posts about Jesus, guns, or the flag, it doesn’t show you neutral stories — it shows you the ones that make you mad, scared, and righteous all at once.
That’s how a simple video about “protecting Christian values” becomes a pipeline to conspiracy theories about global satanic plots or “deep state” demons. It’s not divine intervention — it’s a feedback loop.
Political scientist Lilliana Mason warned about this years ago: “When political and religious identities fuse, disagreement becomes moral warfare. People stop seeing opponents as wrong and start seeing them as evil.”
For poor white evangelicals, that’s exactly what happened. Online, politics and salvation became the same thing. Every election turned into Armageddon.
When the Algorithm Replaces the Pastor
In small towns across America, pastors used to shape community morals. Now, they compete with anonymous influencers who call themselves “prophets” and “truth tellers.”
These online figures rack up millions of views by mixing biblical verses with viral fear. Their followers are poor, lonely, and angry — and the algorithm knows it.
Sociologist Samuel Perry, who studies Christian nationalism, says that social media “supercharges religious tribalism by linking it directly to political anxiety. The more people fear losing cultural dominance, the more extreme their faith becomes.”
That’s why Facebook isn’t just a website to them. It’s spiritual armor. Every share becomes a confession. Every angry emoji is an act of devotion.
And the more devout they appear online, the deeper the algorithm digs its hooks — delivering them the digital equivalent of fire and brimstone, hour after hour.
Faith Meets Data Mining
The evangelicals think they’re defending God’s kingdom. Silicon Valley just sees data.
Media scholar Mark Andrejevic calls this “automated surveillance of belief.” Every “amen,” every reposted sermon, every angry comment about “the left” or “Hollywood corruption” becomes data — a detailed map of what triggers your faith and fear.
That data is then used to sell you things: books, supplements, guns, “patriot” merchandise, even survival kits for the end times. The line between commerce and conversion disappears.
And the platforms don’t care about theology. They care about time spent scrolling. If divine outrage keeps you online longer, it becomes part of the code.
That’s how belief itself turns into product. The holy spirit now runs on machine learning.
The Digital Divide - Poor, Rural, and Targeted
It’s no coincidence that this movement thrives among poor, rural evangelicals. They’re not just economically vulnerable — they’re digitally isolated.
According to Pew Research Center, lower-income Americans and rural residents are far more likely to rely on Facebook for news — and far less likely to verify what they see. Among U.S. adults who make under $30,000 a year, over half use Facebook as their primary news source.
That’s not access — that’s dependence.
And when that same community is told that the media, scientists, and the government are all lying to them, they’re trapped in a single, self-reinforcing ecosystem. Their entire understanding of the world flows through a single app designed to profit from paranoia.
A 2025 Pew survey found that “80% of white evangelicals say there is at least some conflict between their religious beliefs and mainstream American culture.”
If you already feel under siege, the algorithm just gives you the soundtrack.
Tribe Built on Fear
Sociologist Arlie Hochschild, author of Strangers in Their Own Land, spent years interviewing working-class conservatives in Louisiana. She found that many felt “cut in line” — that minorities, immigrants, and feminists were advancing while they stood still.
That resentment became the emotional core of their identity. Social media poured gasoline on it.
What used to be whispered frustration at the diner became viral videos about “Christian persecution.” What used to be gossip about a local scandal became a nationwide movement about “moral decay.”
Digital tribalism isn’t about facts. It’s about belonging. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt puts it simply: “Social media amplifies moral outrage because it gives lonely people a sense of belonging.”
Outrage feels like purpose. It fills the hole that vanished jobs, broken communities, and dying churches left behind.
Politics of Apocalypse
Then came the politicians.
Donald Trump didn’t invent evangelical rage — he just monetized it better than anyone else. Every tweet, every insult, every photo-op with a Bible was algorithmic gold.
When Trump said he was being persecuted, evangelical Facebook lit up with biblical parallels. Every scandal became a prophecy. Every critic became an enemy of God.
A 2025 Pew survey reported that “57% of white evangelicals say they trust what Donald Trump says more than what previous presidents said.” For a group that once swore allegiance to scripture alone, that’s a staggering confession of faith in a man, not a messiah.
Political scientist Eitan Hersh calls this “political hobbyism turned faith.” People spend hours online defending their beliefs, not to change the world but to feed their sense of moral identity. It’s religion without reflection — constant outrage as self-expression.
How Big Tech Learned to Preach
You can’t blame the algorithm for being evil. It’s just efficient. It learned that certain words — “God,” “freedom,” “family,” “gun,” “America,” “patriot,” “liberal,” “Satan” — keep users hooked.
It’s pure machine learning. The more you click, the more it learns what kind of digital church you belong to.
And because, as an arXiv study found, “in six out of seven countries, the mainstream political right enjoys higher algorithmic amplification than the left,” these users are swimming in a flood of one-sided content — outrage dressed as revelation.
They think they’re waking up. In truth, they’re just being programmed.
When Truth Stops Paying
Truth is boring. Facts are opinions. Fear pays.
Big Tech isn’t trying to destroy democracy or faith. It’s just following incentives. Outrage keeps people scrolling. Fear keeps people engaged.
It’s not a grand conspiracy; it’s an efficient market. As one 2025 Pew report put it, “64% of Americans say social media has been a bad thing for democracy.”
But as long as fear sells, nothing will change. Companies make money; politicians gain power; believers stay scared. Everyone wins — except the truth.
Evangelical Identity Crisis
Underneath all this manipulation is a tragedy. Poor evangelicals are some of the most generous, community-minded people in America. They volunteer, they help neighbors, they give to charity. But online, they’ve become avatars of rage.
They don’t even realize their beliefs are being mined, weaponized, and resold to them.
Sociologist Talia Stroud explains it clearly: “Selective exposure to like-minded content builds epistemic bubbles — sealed worlds where falsehoods can’t be corrected.”
That’s the real miracle of the algorithm. It makes doubt disappear.
Business of God
It’s not just politics anymore. The entire “Christian marketplace” now runs on algorithmic visibility.
The more divisive a pastor’s sermon, the more viral it goes. The more apocalyptic a podcast title, the faster it spreads. The more enemies you name, the more donations roll in.
Faith has always had its hucksters, but never before did their reach stretch this far.
As one Cambridge University Press paper notes, “Business enterprises themselves shall respect human rights … including ongoing due diligence to account for how they address their impact on human rights.” But Big Tech never applied that rule to belief. It treats faith as engagement fuel — nothing more.
Fear as Freedom
To the believers trapped in these echo chambers, their online world feels like liberation. Nobody’s silencing them. Nobody’s mocking them. Every post is an affirmation that they are right and righteous.
But that freedom is an illusion — curated, monetized, and tracked.
The system they think they’ve conquered is the one that owns their minds. It’s a machine that sells fear back to the very people it impoverishes.
They’ve traded prophets for push notifications.
Last Thoughts
So, how can we fix this?
I’m not going to play the armchair expert whose numbers exploded in a connected world. What I know for sure is this: there’s no easy fix. Societies are complex. Human beings are unpredictable — and as a mass, maybe even foolish. What looks like a great idea in one context can have the opposite effect once a single overlooked factor comes into play. What works for one society can explode in another.
That’s why we have researchers, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, and data scientists. Their work should be part of decision-making — not an afterthought.
You can’t just “turn off the algorithm.” It’s wired into the structure of every platform — and the psychology of every user.
But education helps. Not just any education, but the kind that teaches people to think critically, to value truth over tribe, and to question what they see before they share it. Digital literacy can teach people how manipulation works — how engagement isn’t truth, how emotion is a tool, and how algorithms are not angels.
Faith leaders can help too — if they remember that humility, not outrage, was supposed to be the core of their message.
It starts with admitting there’s a problem — and realizing that doing nothing is no longer an option.
Your turn: Now drop a comment, follow for more unholy truths, and tell the world what you think.
Sources and Further Reading
Pew Research Center (2025). Growing share of U.S. adults say religion is gaining influence in American life.
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/10/20/growing-share-of-us-adults-say-religion-is-gaining-influence-in-american-life/Pew Research Center (2025). White evangelicals continue to stand out in their support for Trump.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/04/28/white-evangelicals-continue-to-stand-out-in-their-support-for-trump/Pew Research Center (2024). Social media and democracy survey.
https://www.pew.org/en/trust/archive/spring-2024/majorities-in-most-countries-surveyed-say-social-media-is-good-for-democracy-but-not-in-the-usNature (2024). Negativity bias in social media sharing.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-71263-zOxford Academic (2024). Algorithmic amplification and propaganda dynamics.
https://academic.oup.com/anncom/article/49/1/45/8078344arXiv (2024). Political bias in algorithmic amplification.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.11010Arlie Hochschild, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (2016).
Lilliana Mason, Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity (2018).
Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion (2012).
Samuel Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy (2022).
Talia Stroud, Niche News: The Politics of News Choice (2011).
Mark Andrejevic, Automated Surveillance and Belief (2020).