Today's dispatch comes from my friend Shana Nielsen, who like me grew up in the Evangelical Church and is now walking a path in which she is processing her experiences within it and coming to recognize its theology and practices as emotional and spiritual abuse that we carry with us long after leaving. She has …
I have worked with young children for far too long to not learn from their example and sometimes stand in awe of the wisdom found in their innocence. By observing them, I've come to some conclusions about the way humans work. I believe that people are inherently born with a sense of not only self-worth, …
If you were an evangelical teenager in the 90s, you listened to DC Talk. They were the compass by which all Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) was measured. There are plenty of explanations for their surge to the very top of our greatest rock stars, but the primary reason was because they were more wickedly talented …
I feel compelled to make clear that what follows is a personal story about Religious Trauma Syndrome in action. It crescendos with a 15-year old me in a fetal position, rocking back and forth under a tree as I sob for God's mercy. It is an epic night for a anxiety attack: The winds howl …
Some of my favorite people are evangelicals. Unless they are using their authority and influence to actively take advantage of others, I'm really not angry at the folks in the pews at all. I've learned that the primary difference between evangelicals and exvangelicals is that the latter have simply realized that we are all victims. …
Continue reading My Story: The Tiger-Eyed Kid – An Exvangelical’s Tale of Amazing Grace
Growing up in the Southern Baptist Church was basically life in a bubble in which we pretended the world we created for ourselves was the only one truly worth living in for everyone. Sometimes, people would just leave and we'd hear they were “backsliding,” but it's okay – we were prepped in Sunday school and …
Continue reading Exvangelical Musings: How to Talk to an Evangelical When You are Deconstructing
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 