When Marvin Olasky Platformed Doug Wilson

I was raised by evangelical parents and homeschooled for my entire childhood education. My parents were leaders in the California homeschool scene. And my family consistently subscribed to two magazines when I was a child: Credenda Agenda, edited by Doug Wilson; and World Magazine, edited by Marvin Olasky.

I faithfully read every single edition of World Magazine from cover to cover multiple times when I was a homeschooled kid. I did this for years. So did other members of my family. We were not anomalies in this regard. I knew many other families in the evangelical homeschooling movement who loved World and the work of Olasky. Homeschool alumna and writer Libby Anne, for example, also “grew up in a family that read every single issue of WORLD magazine thoroughly.” She wrote that, “It was a bit of a joke that every family in our homeschool community had the same magazines on their counter or in their bathrooms—the annual Vision Forum catalogues, WORLD magazine, Citizen, Credenda Agenda, Above Rubies, etc.”

I also have experience with World Magazine as an adult. My older brother attended their journalism institute after college. I was interviewed by World Magazine in 2014 about my advocacy for homeschooled children and alumni.

I say all this to say, I am very comfortable asserting that Olasky—who just became editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, dubbed “evangelicalism’s flagship magazine”—is part of the problem within evangelicalism, not the solution. Olasky’s recruitment and promotion of Doug Wilson, which I discussed today on social media, is not a unique mistake. It is part of a pattern of intentional choices to elevate Christofascists. 

First, no one forced Olasky to recruit Doug Wilson for a book series that ultimately made Wilson the kingpin of classical Christian education. No one forced Olasky to invite Wilson to be on World Magazine‘s masthead and write for and advertise in the magazine. Olasky made those choices himself—and the consequences of his choices have impacted, and will continue to impact, hundreds of thousands of children. As of 2025, the classical Christian education movement has over 677,500 children enrolled across 1,551 institutions, making approximately $10 billion annually. In other words, this was no small mistake on Olasky’s part. It was a decision that will reverberate for decades.

Second, Doug Wilson was not an exception. World Magazine was intimately involved with promoting Christofascism throughout Marvin Olasky’s leadership, from Doug Wilson to Bill Gothard to Doug Phillips to Kevin Swanson. Why else do you think evangelical homeschoolers loved World Magazine so much? It was not their book reviews. 

Here are a few of many examples:

• Olasky found Bill Gothard’s homeschool conferences “impressive,” saying “Gothard folk” are “Christian marines, ready to storm the beaches and fight an American culture addicted to depravity.” Gothard resigned in 2014 from the organization he founded, the Institute for Basic Life Principles, after dozens of women accused him of sexual harassment and abuse.

• Olasky and other World staff partnered with Christofascists to teach and recruit homeschool alumni. World‘s longtime (now former) culture editor, Gene Edward Veith, was the Provost of Patrick Henry College (PHC), a school founded by Michael Farris, also founder of the far-right Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). Les Sillars, the Mailbag Editor at World, was Patrick Henry College’s Professor of Journalism. And Olasky himself was the Distinguished Chair in Journalism and Public Policy at the school. The school, called “God’s Harvard” by some, has made news for mishandling sexual abuse allegations and sending numerous alumni to work in the Trump Administrations. 

• According to Libby Anne, World published articles by Doug Phillips. World also praised Phillips’ writings as well as his homeschool organization Vision Forum. Vision Forum shut down in 2013 after revelations that Phillips was sexually abusing his children’s nanny, a young homeschool alumna. The organization, known for publishing their “Tenets of Biblical Patriarchy” and a shopping catalogue of gendered toys, promoted something called “Plantation Chic”—nostalgia for the slave-owning American South.

• World’s founder, Joel Belz once declared that evangelical homeschoolers were the “Secret Weapon” for conservative Republicans—which HSLDA broadcast in their Court Report newsletter to promote Generation Joshua. Through Generation Joshua, HSLDA recruits and mobilizes homeschooled children to work for free for Christofascist political candidates’ campaigns.

I could go on and on. But I think I have made my point. The point is, Olasky did not make a singular mistake with Wilson. It was one of many times when Olasky partnered with, platformed, and promoted Christofascists. 

Olasky has no problem with Christofascists. What he has a problem with is Christofascist culture. He wishes it were more cultured—more genteel and respectable. That is what Olasky’s “compassionate conservatism” project was all about: making the edges of Christofascism smoother and smarter-sounding so the general public does not struggle to accept it. But at the end of the day, it was still Christofascism. The cruelty was the point, which is why Olasky’s spin did not hold.