I grew up fundraising in evangelical churches and most certainly there are two common enemies talked about all the time: The Devil and The World. The World is

I grew up fundraising in evangelical churches and most certainly there are two common enemies talked about all the time: The Devil and The World. The World is an extremely broad catch-all term for whatever the speaker doesn't like. It isn't sin, which is laid out pretty clearly - lying, stealing, hate, murder, affairs, etc. The World is more like the speaker's preferences. CS Lewis has one of his main characters decide to give up her royal heritage for makeup and pretty dresses - that's The World. It's not _sinful_ it's just not what he thinks is important. The World fills an important role, because while Christians are taught that hate is a sin, it's allowed if you're hating The World. This gives an easy out that allows believers to hate as much as they please, as long as they call the object of hatred "The World" or "Worldly Things". Here's brief list of things I've heard genuinely described as The World: guitars, drums, syncopated rhythms, atonal music, chanting, fasting (recommended in the Bible), mediation (also recommended in the Bible), sugar, staying fit, eating meat, spicy food, curry, alcohol, cannabis, bathing suits, makeup, fashion, nudity, being LGBTQA+, pronouns, sex-ed, women in sports, women in the workplace, civil rights, birth control, chemotherapy, antidepressants, antibiotics, vaccines (shouldn't be a surprise to anyone reading this), archeology (unless it focuses on Israel around 30CE), science, astronomy, therapy, TRPG games, World of Warcraft (I mean it's right in the name!), communism, socialism, and shopping at businesses that aren't owned by Evangelicals. Not every church says the same things are The World, but there's definitely a lot of overlap. Generally the idea is that if it fits within the current culture of the speaker, then it's ok. If it's from a different culture than it's The World. The World has recently been given a new name that will sound familiar: Woke. It's a modern rebranding of The World into a fresh new term. The benefit is that Woke is a step removed from the religious terminology of The World, so it sounds less villainous to say it on public or broadcasts. Saying you hate The World and want to destroy it just isn't a good look.