Changing Paths

Blog

  • Reblog: Why I like being a Pagan

    Reblog: Why I like being a Pagan

    Read more: Reblog: Why I like being a Pagan

    There was some part of me that almost craved a sense of wonder and magic — something existing just beyond the humdrum of everyday life — all my life. I remember being a kid and imagining that I could feel the flow of magical energy all around me.

    Read more

  • ExVangelical solidarity

    ExVangelical solidarity

    Read more: ExVangelical solidarity

    Fantastic article from John Beckett (polytheist UU Druid) on the rise of the ExVangelical movement and how to get the tentacles of Christianity out of your brain.

    Read more

  • Blogging challenge 2024

    Read more: Blogging challenge 2024

    I’m starting the Changing Paths blogging / photo challenge. Take part and use the hashtag #changingpathschallenge2024 to be in with a chance to win a copy of Changing Paths. Subscribe to this blog, Changing Paths, or to the Dowsing for Divinity blog, to be in with a chance to win. Feel free to write poetry,…

    Read more

  • Reblog: Desiring sacred community

    Reblog: Desiring sacred community

    Read more: Reblog: Desiring sacred community

    My belief that both I and the other are sacred has me focusing more on building and nurturing relationships between the sacred self, sacred others, and the sacred world. I find myself looking more at the importance of community. — Jarred the Wyrd-worker Desiring sacred community: Exploring a journal prompt from chapter 6 of “Changing…

    Read more

  • Reblog: My religious deal-breakers

    Reblog: My religious deal-breakers

    Read more: Reblog: My religious deal-breakers

    My religious deal-breakers: Exploring a journal prompt from chapter 5 of “Changing Paths.” Hello readers and happy Friday! Time to tackle another journal prompt from Changing Paths by Yvonne Aburrow. This week, we’re looking at chapter 5, … Before I start pulling out my “laundry list” and discussing it, I should note that this is…

    Read more

  • Reblog: A weird boy, but definitely a boy

    Reblog: A weird boy, but definitely a boy

    Read more: Reblog: A weird boy, but definitely a boy

    A weird boy, but definitely a boy: Freestyling it again for chapter 4 of “Changing Paths” This Friday, I’ll be blogging some of my thoughts from reading Chapter 4, “Religion and Gender” of Yvonne Aburrow’s book, Changing Paths… It’s been interesting for me as a man primarily dedicated to and working with Freyja. It seems…

    Read more

  • Alanah Sabatini

    Alanah Sabatini

    Read more: Alanah Sabatini

    Beautiful music for deconstruction from toxic religions by Alanah Sabatini, who has just released an EP of reclaimed hymns. It’s available on Bandcamp and YouTube now, and on all the major streaming services next Friday: It’s very calming and could be sung as a group. It would work well in Unitarian, Unitarian Universalist, and Pagan…

    Read more

  • Reblog: Ritual style preferences

    Reblog: Ritual style preferences

    Read more: Reblog: Ritual style preferences

    Reblogging Jarred the Wyrdworker who is writing blogposts using the prompts from Changing Paths. Ritual style preferences: Exploring a journal prompt from chapter 1 of “Changing Paths” I find all four styles — or at least elements from them — appealing. I certainly like the familiarity of certain liturgical elements whose symbolism and meanings I…

    Read more

  • Review of Changing Paths

    Review of Changing Paths

    Read more: Review of Changing Paths

    A lovely review of Changing Paths by Jarred the Wyrd-Worker: Yvonne Aburrow has provided a helpful guide for people who are considering leaving their religion and either finding a new spiritual home or abandoning religion altogether. Throughout the book, they offer guidance through the process, encouraging the reader to explore and understand what leaves them…

    Read more

  • Reblog: Reflections on chapter 3

    Reblog: Reflections on chapter 3

    Read more: Reblog: Reflections on chapter 3

    Being gaily religious and religiously gay: Blogging freestyle for chapter 3 of “Changing Paths.” This week, I want to blog about chapter three of Changing Paths by Yvonne Aburrow… My relationship with my sexuality when I was an evangelical Christian was a complete mess, and not solely because I was gay. For those who may…

    Read more

  • Repost: Should I stay or should I go?

    Repost: Should I stay or should I go?

    Read more: Repost: Should I stay or should I go?

    Should I stay or should I go? Exploring a journal prompt from chapter 2 of “Changing Paths” Excellent post from Jarred reflecting on one of the journal prompts from Changing Paths. Hello dear readers! It’s Friday morning so that means once again exploring a journal prompt from the wonderful book, Changing Paths… Should I stay…

    Read more

  • I’m in the COVR Awards

    I’m in the COVR Awards

    Read more: I’m in the COVR Awards

    Hey everyone, I have been nominated for a COVR award for Changing Paths. If you enjoyed it, please vote for it. And also vote for items in other categories that you enjoyed. Vote in the COVR awards 2024

    Read more

  • Undermining Christian hegemony

    Undermining Christian hegemony

    Read more: Undermining Christian hegemony

    I think it’s important to challenge the hegemony of Christianity in our culture and promote tolerance of all religions that want to live in harmony with each other and with atheists. The way to get to that point is not by insisting that we should all read the Bible so we can use it to…

    Read more

  • Liberty for some

    Liberty for some

    Read more: Liberty for some

    Sarah Zang hoped to escape her highly controlled home life in 2006.She enrolled as a student at Liberty University in Virginia. She looked forward to making her own decisions, free of her parents’ strict rules. Liberty University, a Christian college, seemed like the perfect haven, promising safety and a community that shared her values. —…

    Read more

  • State funding removed from Norwegian JWs

    State funding removed from Norwegian JWs

    Read more: State funding removed from Norwegian JWs

    In Norway, subject to rules about not being coercive or oppressive, all religious groups can apply for state funding. Due to the JWs’ practice of disfellowshipping and shunning people who leave, including children, the Norwegian government has removed their funding. Friendly Atheist: Norwegian court upholds ban on state funding of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    Read more

  • Women, LGBT+ people and the churches

    Women, LGBT+ people and the churches

    Read more: Women, LGBT+ people and the churches

    This is old news, but interesting nonetheless. BRIN (British Religion In Numbers) collated a number of datasets and research results from a variety of sources in 2017, including data on women and LGBT+ people in churches, both of which would go a long way towards explaining why people are leaving churches in droves.

    Read more

  • LGBTQ+ religious trauma

    LGBTQ+ religious trauma

    Read more: LGBTQ+ religious trauma

    Religious trauma still haunts millions of LGBTQ Americans. Some mental health experts are advocating for religious trauma to be considered an official disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Religious trauma occurs when an individual’s religious upbringing has lasting adverse effects on their physical, mental or emotional well-being, according to the Religious…

    Read more

  • Review: The Book of Mormon

    Review: The Book of Mormon

    Read more: Review: The Book of Mormon

    We went to see the stage show of The Book of Mormon at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto. I haven’t laughed so much for ages. It was hilarious. It’s also making some serious points about religion. In the interval, I was amused to overhear someone saying “There’s a lot of swearing in it.”…

    Read more

  • Reverting to your old path

    Reverting to your old path

    Read more: Reverting to your old path

    A helpful article from John Beckett on the type of people who revert out of Pagan traditions and back to their original path. John urges compassion and empathy for people who leave Pagan paths for another religion, and offers suggestions for deepening your understanding of Pagan ideas so that you can avoid reverting.

    Read more

  • Still second class citizens

    Still second class citizens

    Read more: Still second class citizens

    So the Pope has offered the blessing of same sex relationships—while still saying that same sex relationships are sinful. You can’t bless something with one hand and condemn it with the other. This is more of the same homophobia with a slightly better public relations spin on it. A turd augmented with glitter.

    Read more

Blog archive

  • Revelation and Ragnarök

  • Ways of talking about faith

  • Tenth anniversary edition of All acts

  • Meditation is powerful

  • DARVO

  • Do you fear death?

  • Discerning good theology

  • Red flags

  • Rapping about the rapture

  • Unpacking religious baggage

  • Deprogramming with Gillian Jenkinson

  • Debunking clobber verses

  • Pagan Roots — available now

  • High control covens

  • Toxic positivity

Categories

Tags

1000 Volt Press atheism authentic self book books change changing direction Changing paths Changing Paths blogging challenge 2023 Changing Paths blogging challenge 2024 changing tradition Christianity community cults deconstruction embracing uncertainty escaping from cults escaping fundamentalism evangelicals exvangelicals fear fundagelicals fundamentalism high-control religions hot takes Indigenous Jarred the Wyrd-Worker John Beckett leaving religion LGBTQ LGBTQ2SIA liberal religions meaning metaphors other people’s journeys Paganism religion religious trauma ritual spiritual abuse spiritual wobbles survivors the book Unitarianism Wicca