#338 The Discreditation Machine: 6 Manipulative Tactics to Silence Truth, with Megan Basham

The Alisa Childers Podcast

Alisa Childers

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Spirituality

4.8 • 5K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2025

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When journalist and author Megan Basham released her book Shepherds for Sale, the evidence she uncovered should have sparked healthy reform and accountability within evangelical institutions. Instead, she watched the entire “Big Evangelical” infrastructure mobilize—using back-room tactics, social pressure, and selective outrage—to discredit her and convince pastors not to read her work.In this deeply revealing conversation, Alisa Childers and Megan expose the six manipulative tactics that often appear when someone dares to speak truth that challenges powerful networks within the church: 1. Prediscreditation – discrediting before you speak. 2. Moralizing dismissal ("Not our thing, Dear!") 3. Shunning and platform pressure. 4. Seizing on minor errors to discredit the whole. 5. Emotional outrage and tone policing. 6. Misusing Matthew 18 to silence public critique.Megan also shares a personal update on her battle with stage 3 colon cancer, how God sustained her through the storm, and why she continues to stand firm for truth despite enormous backlash.Whether you’ve faced rejection for speaking biblical truth in your own church or just want to understand how the “discreditation machine” operates, this episode will equip you to stand firm with courage and biblical clarity. ------------------------------------------------------------------This video is sponsored by:BRAVE BOOKSEntertainment that Engages the Imagination for Good. Go to www.bravebooks.com/childers (http://www.bravebooks.com/childers) for more informationUse my code: CHILDERSGOOD RANCHERSAmerican Meat DeliveredGo to www.goodranchers.com/alisa (http://www.goodranchers.com/alisa) for more information.Back to the Table: https://pitch.com/v/back-to-the-table-for-partners-t346uj (https://pitch.com/v/back-to-the-table-for-partners-t346uj)Use my code: ALISASEVEN WEEKS COFFEETaste the Coffee that is Saving Lives.Go to www.sevenweekscoffee.com (http://www.sevenweekscoffee.com/) for more information.Use my code: ALISA--------------------------------------------------------------------To Purchase the new CD, “Beauty from the Ash”, go to www.alisachilders.com/music (http://www.alisachilders.com/music)There you can get the CD, backing tracks, string charts, rhythm charts and stems.Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/alisachilders (http://www.patreon.com/alisachilders)To order “Another Gospel”: www.alisachilders.com/another-gospel/ (http://www.alisachilders.com/another-gospel/)To order “Live Your Truth": www.alisachilders.com/live-your-truth-and-other-lies/ (http://www.alisachilders.com/live-your-truth-and-other-lies/)To order “The Deconstruction of Christianity”: https://alisachilders.com/the-deconstruction-of-christianity/ (https://alisachilders.com/the-deconstruction-of-christianity/)For Alisa's Merch: https://alisachilders.creator-spring.com (https://alisachilders.creator-spring.com/)To see what gear Alisa uses to record her podcast, go to:https://kit.

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0:00.0	I had so many people tell me, I tried to give my book to your pastor, and he told me that,
0:06.6	you know, he heard from a friend that is a seminary professor at Southeastern Seminary, for example,
0:12.5	that it's not the sort of thing he should read or that, you know, it will not be beneficial to the
0:19.4	body to entertain this kind of material, things like that. And so, you know,
0:24.0	that was, I'm going to be honest, that was a bummer for me, especially when my own grandmother
0:28.8	told me, I tried to give your book to my pastor and he is friends with certain people that
0:36.8	are very high profile on the SBC and he would
0:39.2	not take it. I had dear friends tell me the same, say, I tried to give my book to your pastor and
0:45.7	because they heard that you were critical of someone like Tim Keller, which again is not, you know,
0:52.7	I was, but not in a way to say that, you know,
0:55.1	he's not a Christian or he's a wolf or, but just to say I think he was off base on some
0:59.6	of these positions that he took, you know, they would say he, they just wouldn't read it.
1:04.6	And so I think that was ultimately the goal of this discreditation campaign.
1:19.1	Well, hey, everyone.
1:20.6	Welcome to the Elisa Childers podcast.
1:24.8	I'm Elisa Childers, and it's always my goal to help equip Christians to identify the core beliefs of historic Christianity, discern its
1:28.1	counterfeits, and proclaim the gospel with clarity, kindness, and truth. And today's episode is with
1:33.9	our friend Megan Basham. We're catching up with her after her book came out. We interviewed her last
1:39.0	year. And after her book came out, there was a lot of fallout. In fact, what I observed was the entire
1:45.9	big Eva machine, which we're going to define that in this podcast, but kind of these big
1:50.9	evangelical platforms uniting together to really pool their resources to discredit her, to even
1:59.0	convince people to not read her book, to not take her seriously,
	...

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