I was indoctrinated from a young age into believing that I had a "God-shaped hole" in my heart that only a personal relationship with Jesus could fill. In its way, teaching the exclusivity of this theological belief (as if it is a one-size-fits-all salvation package) is very deceptive, because when a "relationship with Christ" didn't …
Here is today's brief reminder that Hell Theology is child abuse, and I am doing what I can to be a part of the change that will make it reportable to children's services. To those of you who have experienced the psychological trauma of Hell Theology: There is help and resources, and the anxiety you …
Continue reading Exvangelical Meditation: Hell Theology is Child Abuse
After walking away from a childhood faith that taught me that it holds the absolute Truth (about God, life, the universe, your eternal soul, and everything else), transitioning out took more than simply walking away from it all. It required a complete deconstruction of the way that I was taught to think – all things …
Ron Luce is the founder of Teen Mania Ministries, a foundation that recruits teenagers to accept Jesus as their Savior as the first step in battling the "powers of darkness" that have infiltrated America through pop culture, the media, and liberal politics. "This is war," Luce insists, "and Jesus invites us to get into the …
Continue reading Exvangelical Musings: Acquire the Cult Fire
Whether or not religious abuse is real isn't up for debate, as the recent discovery of mass graves at residential schools for Native American children continues to prove. I've heard some evangelicals use gaslighting language to try to isolate the issue (and to shift blame exclusively on the Catholics, as they are keen to do), …
Continue reading Exvangelical Meditation: Mass Graves and Residential Schools
In 2018 -- 12 years after walking away from the church -- I finally went to therapy and confronted what I came to understand was trauma I still carried from my religious upbringing. The more I realized that I still carried so much trauma within myself, the more I knew that I needed to confront …
Continue reading My Story: A Dream of a Million Feathers – A Tale of A Repentant Abuser
Marlene Winell's book LEAVING THE FOLD, in which she coined the phrase "religious trauma syndrome," was immensely helpful in my own healing -- particularly in recognizing the ways I still carried abuse and trauma from my experience in church. (I left the church in 2006, but did not read the book until 2018.) For example, …
Continue reading Exvangelical Meditation: The Sin of Pride and Religious Trauma
One of the most common phrases that the evangelical church likes to toss around is, “The greatest trick the Devil pulled is convincing everyone that he doesn't exist.” I'd actually like to beg to differ. I think one of the most horrible tricks the Church ever pulled was convincing everyone within their walls that he …
It may surprise you to learn that the concept of Biblical Inerrancy is a relatively new movement in the Christian church. In fact, it isn't even as old as America – when Thomas Jefferson distributed copies of the Gospels to the other founding fathers, he left out all the miracles. He is on the record …
Continue reading Exvangelical Musings: When Scientists are Satanists – Biblical Literalism in Action
Surviving the Spirit 