Earlier this week, I said I’d be posting memories from my escape from the fundamentalist Christian cult that I grew up in. Today I’m telling it in pictures. May 20, 2012: I’ve just finished three years of college, and this is my last family vacation. We’re in Maine, around Kennebunkport and Camden. I’m not allowed toContinueContinue reading “My escape from fundamentalist Christianity: 4 years after I left”
Tag Archives: healing
That one time I chose freedom over soul death
This month marks four years since I escaped the cult. Sometimes it feels like yesterday, sometimes it feels like another lifetime ago. In the spirit of celebrating my independence, I’m posting something from the days when I was first learning to fly, slowly and painfully. This is an email I sent to some friends, afterContinueContinue reading “That one time I chose freedom over soul death”
I am the thing I was taught to hate
My brother tells me a joke that he and one of the pastor’s kids laugh about at youth group. “Let’s go get Christian t-shirts from Mardel’s and drink beer like the New Life Christians! Hahahahaha!” I don’t laugh. I feel the gut punch. Pause. “Do you know anyone from New Life Church? Have you ever metContinueContinue reading “I am the thing I was taught to hate”
Embracing Sobriety in Spiritual Practice: Interview with Elizabeth Esther
Photo: Elizabeth Esther Another blogger friend, Sirius Heart, introduced me to Elizabeth Esther’s blog back in 2014. Recently I ran across her top ten signs of a spiritually abusive church YouTube video and I was so, so glad someone finally mentioned the dangers of “independent fundamental” churches like the ones I attended when I was aContinueContinue reading “Embracing Sobriety in Spiritual Practice: Interview with Elizabeth Esther”
Book Review: The God Gene by Dean Hamer
A couple of summers ago, I checked out a few non-fiction books from the library. One of them was The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into our Genes by Dean Hamer, a molecular biologist who studies behavioral genetics. His premise was basically this: you can take this research either as proof that God existsContinueContinue reading “Book Review: The God Gene by Dean Hamer”
Eleanor Skelton 