The Church of the TigerBeetle: When Tech Evangelism Becomes Faith
Church of the TigerBeetle: A Look at Tech Evangelism
At the Systems Distributed 2026 conference, Adam Wespiser witnesses a TigerBeetle talk that feels more like a sermon than a technical presentation—complete with origin myth, testimonials, and orchestral music. While acknowledging TigerBeetle's technical achievements, he argues that evangelism in tech is harmful: it trains people to hold beliefs by faith rather than reasoning, suppresses dissent, and creates brittle conviction. Drawing parallels to his experience with Haskell, he calls for letting work stand on its merits, showing receipts, and empowering people with facts and reason.
The problem is the claims made on faith—claims made without introspection, without proof, presented to you one after another without a moment in between to digest and integrate them into your current belief system, and set to emotional background music.