From prayer to propaganda, about a dozen anti-government Christian nationalist militias are using popular online platforms like Instagram to recruit young men through fitness reels, tactical gear and overt religious symbolism. This is just one example of how some online communities use religious language to justify harmful beliefs and behaviors.
By blending self-help, misogyny and religious rhetoric, these influencers cloak toxic masculinity in divine authority. For young men encountering such messages, the ideology is far harder to resist. Leaving may feel less like unfollowing a website and more like committing an act of apostasy.
Kevin Liverpool
Within Christian contexts, the appeal often is to a nostalgic, pre-feminist ideal. Ideas such as the TradWife are framed as a return to biblical manhood and womanhood. Verses like Ephesians 5:22-23, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord,” are weaponized to advocate for a rigid patriarchal structure positioning male dominance as a divine mandate. This fusion of faith and masculinity creates a framework where questioning the man’s authority is equated with questioning God.
A similar dynamic exists in online Muslim communities. Influencers like Daniel Haqiqatjou of the Muslim Skeptic platform position themselves as defenders of orthodox Islam against a corrupting “woke” West. They often frame feminist ideas as a Western cultural invasion and promote a strict, literalist interpretation of Islamic law regarding gender roles and polygyny. By framing misogynistic views as pure, uncorrupted piety, they offer young Muslim men a sense of moral superiority and cultural identity rooted in resisting equality.
“Questioning the man’s authority is equated with questioning God.”
In India, manosphere rhetoric is deeply intertwined with Hindu nationalism. Influencers advocate for a return to a mythical Vedic golden age where women were pure and patriarchal norms unchallenged. They often target modern, independent Indian women as “Westernized” and anti-national, using religious language to equate traditional gender roles with patriotic duty.
The rise of this ideology shows how online communities promote a model of aggressive masculinity, framing misogyny as a defense of Hindu culture.
Perhaps the most ironic adaptation is within secular corners of the manosphere, particularly the incel community. Without a god to invoke, they turn to a dogmatic interpretation of science, treating evolutionary psychology as a sacred text. Concepts like “hypergamy,” “alpha and beta males” and “sexual market value” are presented as immutable, biological laws, with followers upholding them with religious zeal.
Religion itself is not the problem. Across traditions, faith can provide guidance, moral grounding and a framework for empathy and community. The danger arises when these beliefs are co-opted by influencers seeking to legitimize harmful ideologies. In the manosphere, religious language and symbols often are repurposed to enforce rigid gender hierarchies, justify misogyny or elevate online personalities to near-divine authority.
This misuse of faith transforms personal spiritual practice into a tool of control, making it less about individual growth and more about social compliance within a harmful subculture. The issue therefore lies in co-option, not in belief.
“It doesn’t care which god you worship, only that your engagement can be converted into devotion to extremist ideologies.”
Faith communities themselves have mobilized to resist these distortions. Christian groups like Christians for Biblical Equality, Muslim movements such as Musawah, and Hindu feminists reinterpreting dharmic texts, all work to challenge patriarchal readings and reclaim their traditions. These examples remind us that faith is not only vulnerable to co-option but can also be a powerful tool of resistance against the very ideologies the manosphere promotes.
The algorithm is the high priest of the multi-faith crusade to radicalize young men online. It doesn’t care which god you worship, only that your engagement can be converted into devotion to extremist ideologies. A search for meaning or purpose can lead a young man down a rabbit hole where self-doubt is reframed as righteous anger and bigotry sanctified by co-opting Scripture or science.
Countering this threat requires recognizing we are not just fighting misogyny but a form of spiritual corruption. It demands that faith leaders, educators and tech companies collaborate to promote humane, nuanced interpretations of tradition that offer genuine community instead of a sanctuary for misogyny. It also requires tech companies to de-amplify content that weaponizes Scripture, while faith leaders promote digital literacy and counter-narratives from within their traditions.
Otherwise, the digital pews of the manosphere will continue to grow, turning faith into a tool of control and violence.
Kevin Liverpool is a Public Voices Fellow on prevention of child sexual abuse with The OpEd Project and works as a partnerships specialist with No Means No Worldwide, an international nonprofit on a mission to end sexual violence against women and children globally.
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