Two school years ago, during a dinner in the Saint James School refectory, a former male student asked me, “Father Montgomery, what do you think about Andrew Tate?” I can still remember the visible disapproval of the female students at the table upon hearing the question. That should have been my first indication that Tate was not a commendable figure. But as I had never heard of Tate, I could not offer a response. Now I can, and my response is one of concern, particularly for the young men influenced by Tate’s particular views and machismo personality.
Andrew Tate is a 37-year-old American-British social media personality, businessman, and former professional kickboxer dubbed the “king of toxic masculinity.” Tate gained larger notoriety in 2016 when he was a housemate on the British version of the reality television series Big Brother. It was then that past Twitter posts airing racial and gay-bashing comments, as well as a video showing Tate assaulting a woman with a belt, came to light, causing his exit from the show. His toxic masculinity has since been moving more into the mainstream, Tate having amassed over 9.1 million X.com followers as I write this post.
A litany of his provocative statements — that sexual assault victims bear some of the responsibility for their assaults; that women belong in the home and are men’s property; and that depression is not real — have made Tate a prime spokesman of the online “manosphere.” His effect on young middle school and high school students in Britain and America has manifested itself within school halls, with Tate-esque phrases such as “What color is your Bugatti?” (said to brag about social and financial status) and “Make me a sandwich?” (disparaging women and young girls) seeping into their conversations. Tate’s critics have rightly characterized him as “brainwashing a generation” of young impressionable men.[1]
Normally one could simply ignore and reject Tate’s comments. But what makes Tate different from others of his mindset can be seen in his successes. He is young, wealthy, owns fasts cars and palatial houses, and is physically fit. Tate has recalled how he, as a mixed-race man raised by a single mother, has suffered “all of the disadvantages of the old world” and considers himself a fantastic role model for men and women.[2] Yet, like prosperity theology, Tate’s promises of personal development and wealth has drawn young men from underprivileged and socially awkward backgrounds more into his sphere. The most disastrous aspect of Tate’s influence is the thinking by his disciples that hyper-masculinity, misogyny, and opposition to feminism are the keys to better lives and financial success. Tate has admitted, “I am absolutely sexist and … a misogynist, and I have … money and you can’t take that away.”[3] That Tate’s admirers accept his harmful views will lead only toward bad consequences.
While we should give no respect to Tate’s toxic beliefs, his influence among this generation of young men cannot be ignored. As a justification for his words and actions, Tate says he acts “under the instruction of God to do good things.” He encourages hard work, discipline, religion, and abstaining from drugs and alcohol.[4] Those are all commendable. Yet underneath them are dangerous views that render Tate a false prophet in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15). This is why Tate cannot be ignored. To combat him, we must read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest God’s Word and live by his will, which leads to our human flourishing.
I must be fair to Tate in acknowledging his genuine belief in God. Raised within the Christian faith, Tate was for a time an atheist before briefly returning to Christianity and then converting to Islam. He grounds his argument for God in Newton’s Third Law of Motion, that “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” For Tate, the presence of evil and injustice throughout the world is evidence of God’s existence, because if there are forces seeking to destroy us, then there must be good forces wanting to help us. That which seeks to help us is God.[5] That is the good in Tate’s belief system.
Tate, though, views Christianity as “a joke of a religion.” He finds Christians ignoring certain articles of faith, becoming tolerant of everything and standing for nothing.[6] While there is some element of truth to this view, the problem is grounded there too. Tate characterizes Christianity based on people’s actions and not on its creeds and he from whom those creeds are derived. And because he sees Christians as weak and unwilling to stand up for their faith, Tate considers Christianity inauthentic and irrelevant. He sees Christianity through what he deems to be true, not by what is the truth. Tate’s perspective is thus more reflective of the world and not in sync with the reality that is God.
There too we see the assumptions influencing Tate’s beliefs on manhood. His beliefs have led to a mindset that one’s successes are attained through having power and control. Given his opinions regarding Christianity, and how the modern women’s movement has called many men to task for women’s historic inequalities, Tate sees dominance as the solution for men countering perceptions of weakness and irresponsibility. For the young men who feel ostracized and disrespected by society, and particularly by young women, Tate is the gold standard of masculine success.
Since Tate sees all his actions as coming from God’s instruction, the young men who follow him likewise think of Tate’s advice as reflecting God’s intentions. From the Christian perspective, Tate’s philosophy of manhood is undeniably averse to what God has revealed in Holy Scripture. For instance, when the Pharisees asked Jesus about the legality of divorce, he reminded them that the reason divorce even exists is because of people’s hard hearts, not God’s intentions. Jesus reminds his hearers that God originally designed marriage to be a lifelong union between one man and one woman who are equal in a God-centered relationship (Matt. 19:3-8; Mark 10:2-9). This is why Peter says that husbands must truly honor and respect their wives, not domineer them, and Paul instructs married men to love their wives as Christ loves the Church (1 Pet. 3:7; Eph. 5:25).
Beyond marriage, there is instance upon instance of Jesus affording women respect and dignity throughout his ministry, emphasizing how God made all men and women in his image and declared them good (Gen. 1:26-31). Jesus, the visible face of the invisible God, shows us what God’s original intentions are for every relationship and how Christianity calls each of us to advocate for the respect and dignity of every person. God is love, revealed in Jesus as patient, kind, and building up, not boastful, rude, or domineering of others (1 John 4:16; 1 Cor. 13:4-6). If Tate heeded God’s instructions, he would see how God calls us to conform our lives to his will, seeing from his goodness and revealed truth the true way of living.
Many incels, primarily young heterosexual men defining themselves as “involuntary celibates,” are drawn to Tate. Like Tate, many of these men believe that women owe them sex and that, because of men’s general advantage of strength, they can treat women however they wish. As women resist these views (and rightly so), many incels descend into anger, racism, and violence, further alienating them from other people. Thus, many of them resort to violence against women and sexually successful men as revenge for their perceived plight. As incels refer to themselves as being “black pilled,” a term deriving from the 1999 film The Matrix, and as Tate often refers to The Matrix as part of his rhetoric, the potential effects of Tate’s views on a certain part of this generation of men must be confronted before it is too late.[7]
Here is where we should consider Tate’s criticism of Christians. As I wrote a couple of years ago:
God’s continuing work of redemption in Jesus requires us to be hearers and doers of the Word (James 1:22). This makes Christian theology something we not only profess but also something that represents how we believe God functions in the world through our actions. If we believe that God is love and that we should love one another as God loves [all of] us, then why are we perceived as hypocritical, judgmental, self-righteous, arrogant, and even racist? Because there are pockets throughout the Church in which one or more of these views are unfortunately present. … Sin has caused theology to become a weapon used against one another. Charity in our theological talk has been lost in segments of Christianity. The lack of charity has produced a gap between Jesus and his followers.
I am a single, 39-year-old man. I would welcome the privilege of loving a kindhearted, God-fearing woman with whom I could have a family. But as that has yet to happen for me, I have been embracing more and more the call to and gift of celibacy. I do not find myself feeling angry, depressed, or despondent about this. I remain in good spirits because of the faithful Christians throughout my life and still today who have witnessed to the truth of God’s unconditional love in their words and actions. Through their love for and witness to me, I have seen and experienced the greater love of God, coming to know God’s will to be the best path in this life. And I can love and encourage others because of God’s first love for me and all of us. Love of others, not dominance over them, truly does work.
That is the key to combating the harmful beliefs of Andrew Tate and those like him. We must be active images of giving ourselves wholly to the love and will of God, made known in Jesus Christ. If we are, then we have an opportunity to witness to others how God truly loves them and gives the greatest peace of mind that passes all understanding (Phil. 4:7). If we are not, then woe to us and those coming after us.
[1] Anti-Defamation League, “Andrew Tate: Five Things to Know,” (March 12, 2024); Amanda Holpuch, “Why Social Media Sites Are Removing Andrew Tate’s Accounts,” The New York Times (Aug. 24, 2022); Carly Douglas, “Teachers and Girls Call Out Andrew Tate Influence as Rape Threat Revealed,” The New Zealand Herald (Sept. 7, 2022); Isabella Kwai and Emma Bubola, “Brainwashing a Generation: British Schools Combat Andrew Tate’s Views,” The New York Times (Feb. 19, 2023).
[2] Martin Domin, “Andrew Tate Banned From TikTok as Controversial Kickboxer Faces Social Media Blackout,” The Mirror (Aug. 22, 2022).
[3] Saman Javed, “Andrew Tate Shares ‘Final Message’ After Being Banned by Social Media,” The Independent (Aug. 24, 2022).
[4] Lucy Williamson, “Andrew Tate BBC Interview: Influencer Challenged on Misogyny and Rape Allegations,” BBC News (June 1, 2023).
[5] “Andrew Tate vs. The Matrix,” Real Talk with Zuby (Episode 232, Nov. 17, 2022).
[6] “Christianity Is a Joke—Andrew Tate,” YouTube (June 24, 2022).
[7] Amanda Taub, “On Social Media’s Fringes, Growing Extremism Targets Women,” The New York Times (May 9, 2018). For further information, see Bruce Hoffman, Jacob Ware, and Ezra Shapiro, “Assessing the Threat of Incel Violence,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (Vol. 43, No. 7), pp. 565-87.
