Some people asked us what life was like after we left when I posted the UnBoxing Project series, how we handled leaving the sects of fundamentalist Christianity we were raised in. My friends and I went through a period of deprogramming, which is still ongoing. We’d been told what to think our whole lives, what isContinueContinue reading “Deprogramming: documentaries and movies about cults and fundamentalist Christian subculture”
Tag Archives: abuse
The UnBoxing Project: Homeschool, the perfect hiding place
I met our friend Shelby Shively while working for the campus newspaper, The Scribe. Shelby was earning a master’s degree in sociology, and she mentioned that the homeschooling population seemed to be understudied in academic literature. Here is her perspective on Christian fundamentalist, Quiverfull children we were helping to leave their abusive households, in herContinueContinue reading “The UnBoxing Project: Homeschool, the perfect hiding place”
The UnBoxing Project: Gissel’s story
Gissel dyed her hair red for the first time during the week after she left home. | Photo: Ashley Kavanaugh In July 2014, Ashley came over to my apartment to visit one Saturday morning. While we were talking, Ashley got a text message from Gissel, one of her friends from the First United Pentecostal ChurchContinueContinue reading “The UnBoxing Project: Gissel’s story”
The UnBoxing Project: Cynthia Jeub’s story
I introduced Racquel and Ashley to Cynthia Jeub (now known as Artemis Stardust) shortly before they left their church, the First United Pentecostal Church of Colorado Springs. We had both been homeschooled and raised in a Christian fundamentalist, Quiverfull environment. We went to college together and were both editors for our college’s newspaper. Here is theirContinueContinue reading “The UnBoxing Project: Cynthia Jeub’s story”
The UnBoxing Project: Ashley’s story
Editorial note: Although Ashley is a survivor of a Christian fundamentalist cult, unfortunately she became abusive herself. She has been reported to several law enforcement agencies for human trafficking others from 2017-2019. She is the abusive partner mentioned in this post from 2022. I keep Ashley’s story on the blog as a reminder that thoseContinueContinue reading “The UnBoxing Project: Ashley’s story”
Eleanor Skelton 