How Poor Evangelicals Keep Buying Into Algorithmic Fear
How outrage machines turned economic anxiety into political obedience
I was away for a few days. Not because I took time off, but because I decided to skip a piece I wrote about why Israel should not be treated as immune from criticism, and how populist Israeli politicians exploit the Holocaust for short-term political gain. It’s a subject people are quick to misunderstand, and even quicker to weaponize outrage over, so I’m leaving that one where it is for now.
Today I’m talking about something else. Poor evangelicals.
Not the televangelists. Not the megachurch pastors with private jets. Not the grifters selling apocalypse buckets and survival food. I’m talking about people with limited financial means. People living paycheck to paycheck. People who work hard, struggle constantly, and somehow ended up fighting culture wars instead of demanding better lives.
People who think the problem is immigrants, not that the bottom half of the U.S. owns only about 2.4% of the nation’s wealth.
They’re Broke But Think They’re Protecting a Kingdom
Let’s start here: most evangelicals in America aren’t rich. They’re struggling. Living paycheck to paycheck. They’re the folks in trailer parks, small rural towns, rusted-out suburbs. And yet — somehow — they believe they’re the chosen warriors defending a nation blessed by God.
Meanwhile, the bottom half of America owns just 2.4% of the country’s wealth. Two-point-four. That’s not a typo. They own nothing. But they still think the threat to their future is a refugee from Honduras or a gay teacher in Minnesota. Can you imagine if you taxed 1%
How do you convince people with no health care, no savings, no political power, and a $200 emergency away from disaster… that they’re the last line of defense in a holy war?
Simple. You feed them algorithmic fear.
Algorithms are designed to maximize engagement. Outrage and fear outperform facts and nuance every single time— Renée DiResta, researcher on misinformation at Stanford
The Algorithm Doesn’t Care About Your Soul
Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter — they don’t care if what you watch is true. They care if you keep watching. If angry clicks make money, then angry clicks are what you’ll get. So the system works like this:
You’re lonely, broke, or confused.
You click on one video about “protecting family values.”
The algorithm offers 10 more.
Before you know it, you’re knee-deep in “groomer” conspiracies, vaccine fear, and apocalyptic cult junk.
And the target audience for all this? Poor, older white Christians with time on their hands, cable TV habits, and a deep fear of cultural loss.
That’s not a stereotype — that’s the user profile data Meta and Google build entire ad markets on.
Our digital ecosystems are designed not for truth but for attention. And fear is sticky— Tristan Harris, former Google design ethicist
Why Fear Works So Well on Evangelicals
It’s not because they’re dumb. It’s because fear fits their theology like a glove. Their whole worldview is built on:
The world is ending soon.
Satan is real and active.
Most people are going to hell.
Only a chosen few will be saved.
Now add on top of that:
Schools are teaching your kids to hate Jesus.
Democrats want to ban the Bible.
Immigrants are invading your towns.
COVID was a test to force you into the Antichrist’s system.
And boom — suddenly every news story fits the prophecy. Every crisis confirms their fears. Every political opponent becomes a satanic threat.
The algorithm didn’t invent the fear. It just weaponized it.
Apocalyptic thinking makes people vulnerable to manipulation because everything becomes life or death— Katherine Stewart, author of The Power Worshippers
When the Rich Tell the Poor Who to Hate
Let’s talk about who benefits.
It’s not the single mom in Alabama with two jobs and a GoFundMe for her kid’s insulin. It’s not the out-of-work coal miner who blames drag queens for the loss of his pension.
It’s the billionaires. The media moguls. The pastors with private jets. The think tanks in D.C. writing up white papers on “traditional values” from air-conditioned offices.
They throw red meat into the algorithm. Stuff like:
“Woke culture is destroying America.”
“Christianity is under attack.”
“White people are being replaced.”
“Patriots need to take a stand.”
And then they sit back and watch poor evangelicals fight each other, alienate their own families, and vote for tax cuts they’ll never benefit from.
That’s not fear. That’s theater. And the poor are the actors who pay to be in it.
Fear-based politics is always a tool of the powerful to keep the powerless distracted and divided— Naomi Klein
They Think It’s a War
Poor evangelicals don’t see policy debates. They see spiritual war. Culture war. End-times war.
They’ve been told that if a trans kid uses a school bathroom, Jesus cries.
That if they lose their right to force prayers in schools, demons win.
That if America isn’t ruled by Bible law, then it’s ruled by Satan.
So when a politician says “We’re going to fight for your values,” it’s not political to them — it’s holy. They hear it like a sermon. And when the same politician guts welfare, cuts their health care, and gives handouts to oil companies?
They don’t even notice. Because they’re too busy fighting demons that live in YouTube thumbnails.
The culture war is a distraction that lets economic exploitation continue unchecked— Chris Hedges, journalist and former seminarian
They’re the Foot Soldiers
Poor evangelicals:
Get crushed by medical debt.
Work minimum wage jobs with no benefits.
Watch their towns die while corporations move overseas.
Live in places where the church is the only community left.
And what do they get told?
“You’re blessed.”
“The enemy is liberals, not landlords.”
“If you suffer, it’s God testing your faith.”
They are sold poverty as virtue, fear as faith, and ignorance as wisdom. They’re told “don’t trust science,” “don’t read those books,” “don’t believe the media.” And instead of looking up at the people robbing them, they punch sideways — at teachers, atheists, drag queens, immigrants.
They didn’t come up with this. It was fed to them. One video at a time.
Evangelical culture has become less about salvation and more about defending a shrinking cultural identity— Kristin Kobes Du Mez, historian and author of Jesus and John Wayne
Some of Them Know. But They’re Trapped.
Not all poor evangelicals are fooled. Some know they’ve been lied to. Some watch their churches become QAnon cults. Some see the rich get richer while they pray for a used car that won’t break down.
But they’re stuck. Because walking away means losing everything.
Their family.
Their community.
Their identity.
Their sense of purpose.
So even if they doubt, they stay. And the algorithm keeps the doubts buried under a fresh feed of fear.
Deconversion often isn’t intellectual — it’s social. Leaving a belief system can mean losing your entire support network— Bart Campolo, former evangelical pastor
It’s Not About Jesus Anymore
You know what’s missing from all this evangelical panic?
Jesus.
The guy who told people to sell their stuff and help the poor. The guy who said love your enemies. The guy who flipped tables over exploitation.
Modern poor evangelicalism has become about:
Borders, not beatitudes.
Guns, not grace.
Control, not compassion.
They pray louder than ever but look less like Christ than ever. And it’s not because they’re evil — it’s because they’re scared. The algorithm sells fear. Their leaders sell fear. And fear drowns out everything else.
When Christianity becomes a political identity instead of a spiritual path, it loses both truth and power— Brian McLaren, former pastor and Christian author
Final Thoughts
Poor evangelicals aren’t the problem. They’re the most manipulated class in America. They gave their faith, their hope, and their minds to a machine that turned them into soldiers for someone else’s war.
They deserve better than algorithmic fear. They deserve honesty. Dignity. A shot at truth that isn’t poisoned by billionaires and bots.
They deserve to be told: You’re not crazy for feeling lost. But the enemy isn’t your neighbor. It’s the ones making money off your fear.
To be honest, only a small portion of subscribers are paid—most of my posts are free for everyone to read, with some exclusives. But reader support buys something priceless: time. Time to research, question power, and hold the powerful accountable. If you can afford it, your support helps keep this work alive.
The 2.4% wealth statistic is devastating when you put it next to the culture war obsession. What's sharp here is recognizing that apocalyptic theology creates a perfrect vulnerability for algorithmic manipulation, because everything gets framed as existential. When people believe they're in a spiritual war, economic policy debates become irrelevant noise. I watched this happen with family members who went from moderate skepticism to full conspiratorial thinking in like 18 months, purely thru YouTube's recommendation engine.