RoboRecap: April Ajoy on Deconstructing Faith and Laughing at Christian Nationalism
How an ex-vangelical pastor’s kid turned TikTok satirist is using humor and heartbreak to challenge America’s theological-political confusion.
"Life is really heavy right now. And as scary and dangerous as Christian nationalism is, it's also really stupid," says April Ajoy with a laugh that’s part defiance, part catharsis.
In a recent episode of Faithful Politics, Ajoy—author of Star Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding a True Faith—joined host Will Wright to share her deeply personal journey from Fox News hopeful to progressive Christian content creator. Her story is one of transformation that’s both intimate and political, tracing the overlap of family, faith, and a theology wrapped in red, white, and blue.
Ajoy grew up in what she describes as a “full-blown Christian nationalist” household. Her father, a traveling evangelist, wrote a book warning that unless America proclaimed Jesus Christ as its national deity, God would lift His divine protection. They even went on an “America Say Jesus” bus tour. “It had banners on all four sides,” she recalled. “We even went up and down the Las Vegas Strip a few times for fun.”
Yet her awakening didn’t come through a political argument—it came through grief. After losing her father to cancer in 2011, despite fervent Pentecostal prayers and faith in healing, Ajoy began to question the theology she'd always been told was absolute. “I knew I could not have had more faith than I did,” she said. “But God didn’t heal him. That belief was wrong.”
The unraveling continued. While working as a producer at the 700 Club, she watched her coworkers mourn the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage—while on her screen, queer Americans celebrated in the streets. “It just felt off,” she said. “I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t sad like all the other Christians around me.”
Then, her brother came out as gay. The confrontation between her theology and her love for him was unavoidable—and transformative. “I wanted to be wrong,” Ajoy said. “I wanted to be able to celebrate him.”
This mix of unlearning, grieving, and reconnecting with Jesus outside of fundamentalist confines is what drives her humor-infused advocacy today. On TikTok and her podcast, she skewers the absurdities of Christian nationalism, often with viral sketches that lampoon everything from Matt Chandler’s take on “sexy” deconstruction to church culture quirks. But beneath the comedy is a sincere effort to reach those who feel like misfits in their own faith communities.
“There are thousands of Christians out there that feel alone in their pews,” Ajoy noted, describing how even her early videos drew overwhelming responses like, “I thought I was the only one.”
Ajoy isn’t shy about the costs of speaking out. She gets hate, loses followers, and still wrestles with theology. But she remains committed to staying in the faith, in part because she believes her voice can reach those still caught in the political-religious web she once inhabited. “I know what people said to me that made me doubt—just for a second,” she said. “And sometimes that’s all it takes.”
As for what gives her hope? Her kids. “They see people who are trans or queer and think nothing of it. Hate is taught,” she said. “They remind me that a better future is possible.”
To hear the full conversation with April Ajoy, watch the episode here:
🎧 Faithful Politics Podcast — April Ajoy
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