Tag Archives: evangelicalism

Sometimes I realize I’ve been lied to: Revisiting narratives we tell ourselves about terrorism + extremism

I visited the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial in September 2015. Do you ever still feel a nauseating shock when you realize you’ve been lied to? I know many of us have expressed feeling this when we got out of homeschool-ville and fundamentalist Christianity in one way or another. I visited the Oklahoma City bombing memorialContinueContinue reading “Sometimes I realize I’ve been lied to: Revisiting narratives we tell ourselves about terrorism + extremism”

I can’t save my siblings

Growing up homeschooled means you get a lot more time with your siblings than other kids. As an older sibling, it also means you have much more responsibility for them. My parents told me I didn’t need friends, I had my siblings. They also told me I was the example for them, the prototype. ThisContinueContinue reading “I can’t save my siblings”

Why the little purple alien in ‘Home’ is me

I’ve always known I was weird. An entire table of public school kids crowded around me in driving school, peppering me with questions. I was one of two homeschooled kids in the classroom. Elsie, the other girl, and I later became friends. We both felt like outsiders, but I told my mom later that I feltContinueContinue reading “Why the little purple alien in ‘Home’ is me”

You don’t have to look: Revisiting how we tell the Easter story

I have problems with Easter. My church attendance has been irregular since I left fundamentalism, which I’ve been told is normal for people who have suffered spiritual abuse. This year, I tried to go to church on Easter Sunday. I drove to the parking lot. Panic rose in my stomach until I thought I mightContinueContinue reading “You don’t have to look: Revisiting how we tell the Easter story”

Deprogramming: documentaries and movies about cults and fundamentalist Christian subculture

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”