Changing Paths will be published by 1000 Volt Press in April 2023.
The Changing Paths Book Launch will be on Zoom, on 16 April 2023 at 11:00 am Pacific Daylight Time, 2:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time, and 7:00 pm British Summer Time.
Continue readingTattoos, anti-Semitism, and sexual abuse
The Walrus has a new article about the Meeting House, a Canadian mega church. Personally I find even the name triggering, as that’s what the Plymouth Brethren call their churches. So it’s kind of ironic that this one was meant to rise above the scandals of conventional churches.
Continue readingBenefits of religious practices
Altruism is good for you. Caring for and about other people is good for you. Loneliness is stressful, and can give rise to those self-critical thought spirals as you lie awake at 4am. The solution? Spend more time creating connection and meaning.
Continue readingI’d rather be “left behind”
There’s a good article in The Guardian today about the nasty psychological effects of being exposed to constant propaganda about the rapture and being “left behind”. Trigger warning if you’ve been exposed to that kind of bad theology. Thankfully I left the evangelical nonsense before the trend for making these movies happened.
Continue readingRise of the Nones
Interesting article by Adam Gabbatt in The Guardian exploring how the pandemic has accelerated a trend of church closures in the US:
Losing their religion: why US churches are on the decline
“As the US adjusts to an increasingly non-religious population, thousands of churches are closing each year – probably accelerated by Covid”
“a little bit of a weird outcome”
From six-year-old Tibetan monk to teenage Ibiza raver: a Spanish boy’s incredible journey. Osel Hita Torres joined a monastery after the Dalai Lama declared him a reincarnated spiritual leader, but at 18 he broke free and moved to Ibiza. A new TV series tells his story.
Ashifa Kassam
Leaving the Mormons
An in-depth resource on leaving the Mormons: Recovering Agency: Lifting the veil of Mormon mind control.
Luna Lindsey Corbden was born into the LDS Church and left the faith in 2001, at age 26. They live in Washington State and write about topics of interest, including psychology, mind control, culture, and autism. They also write science fiction and fantasy. When they’re not busy traveling to improbable worlds, or thinking hard about this improbable world, they’re probably snuggled with their cat and an iPad.
De-baptism
There’s been a discussion on the internet recently about de-baptism.
Here’s an excellent article about it from John Beckett over at Patheos: Debaptism: You Probably Don’t Need It, But It Can Be Done
…you can’t unpour water. The baptism happened and we can’t pretend it didn’t.
John Beckett
But we can reverse its effects.
Further thoughts and resources on de-baptism after the jump.
Continue readingOld Maps No Longer Work
A poem about maps and paths and stars that was shared in a thread on Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg’s Substack, Life is a sacred text.
Continue readingEscape from Scientology
TW: Scientology, religious trauma. ‘At 52, I abandoned everything, every friend, every family member’: the top official who escaped Scientology (The Guardian)
When he was certain that he wasn’t being followed, he caught the tube to the National Portrait Gallery, where he sat on the grass outside and let his heart rate slow to its regular beat. “I went OK, now what? What am I going to do? For the first time that I could remember, I wasn’t answerable to anyone.”
‘At 52, I abandoned everything, every friend, every family member’: the top official who escaped Scientology (The Guardian)
Changing Paths 