Christfluencing: Wie viel Sekte steckt drin?

Guys, I have to say, I'm actually a little proud of my TikTok algorithm. I've worked hard on it. I get recipes, funny videos from my daily life, political content and I'm very happy with it. But lately something suddenly comes up between all these TikToks. All my Christian girls, a short talk from sister to sister, wait for the man whom you can rely on in the kingdom of God, wait for the man who leads you to the Bible and I'm going to bed. So really completely different energy suddenly. I don't get it wrong, I don't have a problem with it when people believe in me. If faith gives people hold, then I think it's totally beautiful, good for them. But somehow some Christians act very intensely on social media. I want to be on fire when I'm disappointed and when my dreams are shattered. Because I know I have promised everything in Christ and more than enough the best in the world. There is nothing bigger than that and that should make me passionate through all emotions. Among such contributions is often the hashtag #christfluencer. I don't know how it works for you, but I have really bad vibes for such content. Especially because some Christians with, let's say, not very progressive views. So for me there is man and woman, God created man and woman. And I want to respect that. Difficult if you ask me. One who has shared her faith and her views with several thousand followers on social media, is Daniela. Daniela has been a member of a free church for a few years. In her environment alarm bells ring. My mother had it very quickly on the screen and she said, "Oh, that all comes very, very radical and sect-like." Daniela basically brings her whole youth into this free church. But at some point she gets doubts about the world view of her community. And then she also shares these doubts on social media. And that's not particularly good. Well, if you don't want to be exposed to the community or don't want to be excluded, then you don't have to post anything anymore. And then I got a social media censorship. Crazy, isn't it? But is that a thing? Are there often such sect-like organizations behind "christfluencer"? That have exactly an eye on what is posted? And how dangerous is that all? [Music] I am Lisa Sophie Scheurel and you are watching Wissen Weekly, the podcast in which we want to focus on everyday phenomena. For this we are talking to scientists and those who really deal with it. Today we explain how many sects are in "christfluencer". By the way, this is a special episode because it is created together with another science podcast, the great team of "Wissen mit Johnny". While we are dealing with "christfluencer" today, Johnny tells you the story of a sect with a dramatic ending. But more on that later. You can find the link to "Wissen mit Johnny" in the show notes. Okay, so that we are all on the same page at the beginning of the episode, we asked an expert to explain to us exactly what "christfluencing" is. Okay, so it is very simple. It is simply influenced by "christful content". This is Dr. Claudia Jetta. She is a postdoc at the Theologian Faculty of Humboldt University in Berlin. She is also researching the topic of "christfluencing" there. So it is about content production. That includes christly content. Sometimes it is of course also marketing of christly lifestyle products and similar. When you hear christly, many people in Germany mainly think of the Catholic or the Evangelical Church. Of the 44 million christians in Germany, almost 40 million belong to one of the two. But there are even more faith streams in the christian faith. Also so-called "freikirchen" belong to it. But we will come to that later. Christfluencing is basically similar to social media. Such a right thing was first made in the USA. But since 2020 there is also christfluencing in Germany. Christian creators share their favorite Bible places in blogs, give tips for Bible Highlighters, with which you can mark especially good text places on the thin Bible pages. Or they just tell you about their christly routine. I will always be asked which Bible you should buy. Because I have already tested some Bible, I will tell you a little bit about it. Now you can separate from Jesus if you really want to come to him. We can also see that in the understanding history of the Bible. Matthew chapter 28. Here are six healthy christian habits that changed my life. Okay, so in itself now not as different as other influencers. Just with other products. Many well-known german christfluencing have almost 100,000 followers. Daniela, who we have already heard from at the beginning, has built up a reach with christly content on social media. I used to try to make content with all kinds of social relevant topics. Today Daniela is 30 years old, lives with her two cats and her husband together. She likes to play, she seems super outspoken, just like a person with clear values, for which she also stands. As a christfluencer she has focused her own person very consciously. Especially topics that affected my own reality of life. That was one of the dating tips for young christians. I especially used women. That Daniela chooses such a personal access for her christian content, our expert in Dr. Claudia Jetta does not wonder. That's why institutions are often so difficult on social media. Especially on Instagram and TikTok, they work by individual people. And so to speak, legitimation, how to authorize yourself in a certain way, it works through, well, in some cases, through relatability. So that you can recognize people a little bit, or at least in some way, what the influencers see, what they recognize with themselves, what they somehow find interesting or exciting or beautiful. I also find exciting that Daniela has never said on her channels which faith community she belongs to now. Only that she is christian, that was clear. Daniela says she would have done it mainly for security reasons, not to give too much of herself to the price. But sharing her christly religious stream not publicly is, under christfluencer, a thing, our expert also says. On social media there is a clear trend to put confessional identities at least in the background. Again, that has something to do with social media logic. It actually happens quite automatically, because especially on social media, partnerships are very common. Capitalistic oriented, I would say, on product partnerships. In order to stay as successful as possible, it is best to mention publicly not to which religious stream you are listening to right now. Christfluencing sounds harmless for now. But it is always in criticism. Especially when christfluencer particularly conservative or even problematic values are presented. God knows whether you believe in him or not. And if you don't believe in him, if you don't believe that you are a sinner and need his forgiveness, you will not be saved. I often hear the accusation that the whole thing has sex vibes. But what is really on it? How much sex is really in christfluencing? To check that out, let's go back to Daniela. The problematic thing started from the beginning, but I didn't take it that way myself. When she is about 15 years old, she comes to contact for the first time with a free church. It was very strict with my personal mobbing experience in my school time. I was mobbed for about 6 years in my youth. Daniela has almost no friends at that time. She feels excluded and spends her school breaks usually alone. Until one day a girl comes from her school and tells her about her free church and Jesus. I found the conversation so nice and at first I had a real name there. Then I thought, I'll try it. I'll go there, look at it, it's going to be nice. In short, Daniela doesn't call the name of her free church on her channels. And that's exactly why we won't do it here. Freikirchen mainly differs by the fact that they finance themselves, mostly by donations from members. So not by the church taxes like the evangelical or the Catholic church. In Germany there are several hundred free churches. The most famous are probably Baptists, Methodists and the Pfingstkirchen. How many free churches there are, it's hard to say. But the spectrum is very broad. So no wonder that there are also some problematic free churches. But not all of them. If you want more information about it, you can find a few sources in the show notes of this episode. Okay, back to Daniela. Daniela is currently in a very vulnerable and isolated moment in her life when she falls into a freikirche. And in the community she then feels so really belong to her for the first time. I came here and first stayed because of the community I went to and because of the reception and because of this open culture that I have experienced. Less because of the Christian faith to begin with. The people from the community listen to Daniela. They are warm-hearted, interested in her and tell her from God. And Daniela is first and foremost open for all that she hears there. But relatively quickly it is more than just about the community. The freikirche is against deportation, against the E for everyone. And Daniela then also. For her it was also the so-called "purity culture" that was predicted. We were all predicted in these circles that we can't have sex in front of the E. That self satisfaction is the pornography because of the sexual insult is bad. Not at all because of the ethical debate. So patriarchal, anti-feminist and queer-friendly attitudes are predicted. That is what Daniela recognizes today. Back then as a teenager and also the years after that, she does not ask questions. So many discriminatory, destroying structures and also destroying the self. Because everything is predicted again and again. Only God is everything. Everything comes from God. The human being is completely wrong and sinful. And you actually don't earn any grace. Jesus died for you because you are so bad. And that's what you do to a person. Because you are super manipulatable. This manipulability is the big problem in such groups. Daniela is under amazing pressure. She has to follow all rules of the community and is never good enough. That sounds like every amount of red flags for me. But are they already sexual structures? To clarify that, we first wanted to know from Claudia Jetta what a sect actually is. The term "sector" is difficult and old-fashioned. The science will no longer be used. Okay, the term "sector" can be repeated directly. At least if we want to remain scientific. In the past it simply meant that when religions or world-renowned communities, small ones, they are limited to dominant, large religions. Today, we use the term "sentimental language", but a bit different. In everyday language it is used very often for groups with destructive dynamics. So especially when they are partly connected with a very exclusive truth claim. And also with problematic group dynamics, strong hierarchies, dualistic world image and the like. What is meant by dualistic world image, we will come to that later. What Claudia Jetta describes here definitely sounds very similar to what Daniela has experienced in her former Freikirche. So, let's take a look at these four features for groups with destructive dynamics or "catchy" names. So, strong hierarchies, closed groups, exclusive truth claim and dualistic world image. When Daniela enters the community her mother immediately starts to notice one thing. So, these very, very strong hierarchical patriarchal structures in the community were only allowed to lead men, only men to preach. Crazy hierarchies? Check. Daniela also tells that the identification with the group was very strong. That's why she also makes contention to her belief. But to a strong group feeling is always the distance from the outside. And that's why my family was always the most incredible. That's the second priority. I can't do anything about it. They have the same wisdom as I do. Or like my Christian friends. So, actually, my Freikirche was my first family. And of course, my family noticed that. And my mother also had broken her heart. But she also noticed that something was going so wrong. But she couldn't do anything because she couldn't get close to me. Because this world image is so hermeneutical, closed to the outside. So, you can't get close to it. There are no barriers from the outside. Daniela would have let her family get into her group first if they take on the supposedly true belief, i.e. their belief. One of them shows the very closed group. Check. On the other hand, also the point of the dualistic world image. That means there is clearly, right and wrong. The true belief and the false belief. No nuances, no gray zone. What brings us directly to the next point is the exclusive claim of the truth. This is also particularly clear during the Corona pandemic. After about 10 years in the Freikirche Daniela then gets the first doubt. The people didn't really stick to the distance rules, to the mask care. And sometimes things were made very strictly about the vaccination. And with the vaccination it was also called a sign of doubt. And what do I know. So that was really, really, really creepy. And very confusing. Myth-based. So the Freikirche clearly said what the science says is wrong. We know the truth. Exclusive claim of the truth. Check. Daniela gets a strange feeling for the first time. And then learns to know her current husband. Even he is Christian, but much more liberal. In the discussions with him, her doubts are getting bigger and bigger. And at some point she shares these doubts publicly. Yes, that was more like semi-good. Yes, semi-good is a very euphoric description. I was very afraid of that. Because I knew that the reactions will be very negative. How exactly the reactions look like, we will come to that later. Let's take a short look at this point. To groups with destructive dynamics, administratively and incorrectly also known as sects, we know that first, strong hierarchy. Secondly, a closeness to the outside. Third, an exclusive claim of the truth. According to the motto "only we have it checked" and "all others don't". And fourth, a dualistic world view, in which there is true and false. But no gray zones or ambivalences. You can already say that these points are all in a certain way for Daniela's former community. Daniela is at that time in a sect or destructive group into the group. Such groups can be very dangerous. In the worst case, when the affected are completely from their families and friends and are dependent on this destructive group. What this can have for dramatic consequences is what you hear with "Knowing with Johnny". What exactly is going on there, I think Johnny tells you best himself. Hey, dear Brain Food Club, in our episode, we look at a particularly serious case. The American Jim Jones will lead a destructive group in the 60s and 70s. Their closeness to the outside is so extreme that they retreat into a settlement to Guyana, so in the middle of the South American rainforest. In Jonestown, the settlement is called "Live From There" more than 1,000 people in absolute isolation from the outside world. But at some point, the mood shifts. When Jonestown happens, you hear "Knowing with Johnny". So listen, in any case, we will link you to the episode in the show notes. Daniela was part of a destructive structure and made content about her beliefs on Instagram. But is this the proof that Christfluencing has something sexual? How dangerous are Christfluencers in real life? The problem with sexual-like structures is that it often needs this offline environment. Online cannot be built so strongly. Daniela was also mentioned offline at school. And many of the characteristics of sexual-like structures do not even touch online. For example, hierarchies and a closeness to the outside because you can say theoretically "Okay, I'm going to subscribe now, I'll block everyone and then I'm out". So it's not that easy to handle. Dr. Claudia Jetta also sees central differences between groups with destructive structures and Christfluencer. In the end, we simply talk about individual people who act there and make Christian content. Some here may have a leading function within a community that could be referred to as a destructive group. But even in this case, social media is the logic of the digital. Destructive groups and Christfluencing can therefore not be so easy to compare. Only because you follow a few Christfluencer members, you are not yet part of a destructive group. There is much more to it. The partial accusation that Christfluencer wants us to draw in sects is therefore wrong. Not only because the term "sector" is unconscious, but also because it is not that easy in the end. But that does not mean that this content can not still bring danger to itself. We have already briefly said at the beginning that there is no one Christian believer and there is also not the one type of Christfluencer. Some are more successful than others. The fact that many Christfluencer members are conservative really covers itself with my impression. "Conservative" is not yet problematic per se, but if "Conservatism" is part of an influencing business that lives from wealth, then it already has potential to conflict. That also has to do with social media logic, which plays a lot with it, because radical content, knowledge is simply pushed more by the algorithms. If you want to get as much wealth as possible on social media, it has to shorten, shorten and shorten and play certain themes. Daniela already knew that. She makes content about Corona at the time, about LGBTQ and the like and how you can justify rights for queer people when you are born with legs and so on. And I was very aware of which themes polarize, whether we bring clicks and which themes are now less suitable and less polarize. Social media algorithms determine with which content they get much wealth and which less. And can lead to that from conservative content it becomes more populist on the right. I'll give you an example. The topic is oppression. A conservative take could be said that alternatives to oppression should be strengthened. It's not special in the social media world. Unlike the populist statement, oppression is murder. That's probably a lot more clicked, commented and sent on. And that's what the creators also notice. Our expert Claudia Jeter says. Especially when it comes to anti-feminist narratives and the same. We have the problem that many were originally conservative. Which is not dramatic at first. You can find it difficult and find it wrong. But first of all, it's not what you have to do right away. The problem is that in the meantime, and especially on social media, many such statements are populist. And that's why it makes for narratives a very clear spectrum. And that also affects Christian content. The more extreme the takes, the more reachable it is. In many cases. Not everyone who speaks about his beliefs on social media is totally conservative or right. But there are a few watch-outs that you can pay attention to. There is a lot of emotional content. For example, it has to be stupid. There is a story, a big scenario is created here. Maybe even with the help of false statements. A very classic example for such a big scenario is the story, that you are only saved with the right belief. If you don't have it, you will eventually come to hell. That's exactly what was predicted by Daniela in her free church. I was really afraid to come to hell. I also predicted my family. Otherwise they would come to hell. Creepy. Such things should be considered always critically. The question is, whether an individual promise of truth is made for everyone. Of course, it is always difficult. An individual promise of truth is often claimed by reading the Bible. Some belief communities then claim that the only right way is to read the Bible. There are many different interpretations of the Bible, even among theologians. In fact, they are all quite obvious red flags. But a big problem with such content is that nowadays he is simply super perplexed for many. Especially in connection with religiosity, which also promises a certain group belonging in the community. Nobody knows that better than Daniela. And these strict structures give a lot of feedback. It fulfills many human psychological needs according to community, according to control, because you have such a simple worldview. You have a problem here. The Bible has a solution, God has a solution. It is always found a solution. Especially in this current world-political situation. You should know exactly what is going to happen. As Daniela did at the time. When she started asking questions in her free church a few years ago, her community is unfortunately not open at all. And that was so bad. I was so badly shocked. I was presented as a liar and a fake news reporter. My faith was pulled into the dirt to stop people from believing in me and to listen to my doubts and to criticize and to silence me. Daniela's free church will then give you an ultimatum at some point. Either Daniela is ready for conversations that she describes today as "brainwashing" or she leaves the community. I said, "Okay, I have to get out of here or else I'll break down and suppress my questions, I have to suppress myself." I noticed how it breaks me from inside and the whole manipulation made me so broken. And then I said to myself, "Okay, I leave the community on its own." I don't take one or the other from you, I go by myself. And then I officially left the community. I said to myself, "I love you. I would like to stay, but my journey is going on outside. I think I'm better off there." For Daniela, it's a hard and painful process to get rid of the structures and thoughts of her former community. For a while she's mentally really bad. She's falling into a depression. Of course, she has lost her family, her relatives from one to the other day. Daniela needs distance from the free church and her environment. Literally. She draws to her former friend, who is her husband today, and starts again from the beginning. And she makes a social media break. The circumstances were pretty terrible if you can say it like that. But in the end, I saved my psyche. The online break was really, really necessary. It was very important that I did it. Today, Daniela still makes content on social media. But it's completely different from before. "I changed my name and also took down the old content because I can't stand behind it because they were queer-friendly, women-friendly and just very critical, let's say so." Let's get back together. On Insta and TikTok, we often meet Christfluencer who post strong, emotional content on extreme views. That's no wonder, because with exactly such content the users engage in a lot and for a long time. Accordingly, this content is worth even more range from the algorithm of the platform. And then it lands in our feeds. And then we are very quickly at content that is not only patriarchal, but also anti-feminist and queer-friendly. But the ideal is also very, very strong. Because there are a handful louder voices that often make a bit more provocative statements. So we media also bring something to this impression that many Christian-Fluencers are radical and dangerous discriminating views. How many are really problematic there are unfortunately no numbers. You can't say that's totally difficult. So naturally there are many influential people who are problematic because they have a quite large range. But of course there are also harmless Christian-Fluencers. In my opinion, the most successful Christian-Fluencer is relatively less visible than generally any worldly or otherwise worldly or political positions. So they have a very strong mix of mental health content, so Christian content, so the way in which the faith helps with depression and the same helps, and then fashion. If you notice content, then just knock it off for a few notes. Is the content strongly emotionalized, does he fear or fear? Is a opinion or perspective sold as the only truth? And is he trying to hide his ideas with false statements? If you can answer this question on one or all of these questions, then you should better be careful with this content. However, you can't say that Christian-Fluencers are the dynamics and structures of destructive groups, which are also known as sects, spread on social media. Tiktok and Co. have their own rules. For example, the user follows individual persons there and does not group. These types of dynamic destructive groups simply do not unfold there, like the formation of a closed community. For that, it simply needs offline structures. Daniela did not like the faith after the exit from her community. She still believes in God, but differently. In Daniela's faith, there should be doubts and ambivalences today. He is much more open than before. So that's why I live my faith today less exclusively, more inclusive. Faith should be something that is good for me, but also for other people. As soon as my faith is damaged, then something is wrong. And that's why my faith is much more free, more open, more inclusive and more loving. And even less terrifying than before. Thank you very much to the team of "Wissen mit Johnny" for the great collaboration. You are absolutely listening to Johnny's episode. We will link them to you in the show notes. After the break, we will answer your community question for the last episode. And next week it will be about a completely different topic. Mücken. What does it really look like? When I was really fat, swollen, I had a stick in my knee, I couldn't walk for three days because the swelling was so big that I couldn't bend the leg. I am Lisa Sophie Scheurel and thank you to Daniela for sharing her story with us. And of course to Dr. Claudia Jetta for her expertise. Feedback, comments, praise and criticism you can always send us at [email protected] We look forward to your messages. Wissen Weekly is a production of Spotify Studios, a collaboration with Kugel & Niere, Executive Producers Daniel Nicolaou and Michael Batlewski. Audio Production, Hammer & Ambos. Redaction, Karolina Torres, Tatiana Tameros, Johanna Bormann and I, Lisa Sophie Scheurel. Creative Producer Nadine Raba. Line Producer, Sarul Krause-Jensch. Hi, here is Lina from the Wissen Weekly Team. Last week it was about proteins. Tina asked in the comments "I was told that animal proteins are better absorbed by the body than plant ones." Is that true? If you are a plant or vegetarian, you can always hear that animal products are better absorbed and they are even better for us than plants. For food, the so-called bio-sufficiency is calculated. So how good is the body, the proteins that consist of amino acids absorb and increase? Proteins with high bio-sufficiency are easily absorbed and used efficiently. Proteins with high bio-sufficiency are better than plant-based food. That is because of the cell structure that is similar to animal proteins to us as plant-based. That does not mean that plant-based food is basically worse. Fish or meat provide many of the essential amino acids that our body has to absorb through the proteins. When it comes to plant-based nutrition, you have to combine them. So, full grain or processed products absorb the different amino acids. Also, plant-based food has the advantages of other important nutrients such as potassium and vitamins that the body needs to function. So, eat as much as possible. And then you can easily cover your protein needs with plant-based nutrition.