Peter Croce Project

There is an important aspect of the “us vs. them” mentality when it comes to religion. It helps create sub-cultures. Sociologist Christian Smith (1998) wrote a book called “Evangelicals: Embattled and Thriving”. In the book, Smith talks about how evangelicals use their distinctiveness as a group to stay strong. It’s called the “subculture identity theory”. Evangelicals keep a strong sub-culture by constantly reminding themselves that they are different than the rest of the secular world. They engage the secular world but only to try and save souls, in doing so they come into contact with non-evangelicals who are very different than them, which reaffirms what they’ve always been taught- they are different, they are special, and they destined for a better place.