I’m thankful that I was not brought up with the nonsense about the rapture (which is weird because I grew up in the Exclusive Plymouth Brethren until the age of 9, and it was apparently the founder of the Plymouth Brethren, JN Darby, who popularized the concept of the rapture, along with dispensationalist theology). But I recognize that it is still traumatic to think about for a lot of people.
Continue readingevangelicals
Debunking clobber verses
Websites that unpack and de-fang religious beliefs about same-sex love and gender nonconformity come and go. I occasionally still meet people who think that all churches are homophobic, or that Christianity and homosexuality just aren’t compatible. And there are always new exvangelicals emerging blinking into the light of day and deconstructing the toxic beliefs that were foisted upon them.
So it is great to see a new series of essays from Father Nathan Monk on Facebook:
Continue readingBe like Cathy
When I was 14 or 15 years old and still a Christian, a boy who was older than me (17, I think) told me that God wanted me to be his girlfriend. I didn’t reciprocate but I was worried enough about it that I asked an older female friend, Cathy, what she thought. Luckily for me, she said that if God wanted me to be in a relationship with him, I would feel the same way about it. Thank you, Cathy.
And thankfully the boy accepted that the answer was no.
The girl in this story (Sarah Carr) didn’t have a Cathy. She finally got justice after nearly 25 years.
The pastor who was betrothed to a child — Friendly Atheist
She has also started a group to help people in the same situation:
the Reclamation Collective, a non-profit group that creates space for those “harmed within religious and spiritual spaces.”
Dealing with door knockers
My best ever riposte to some doorstep evangelists was when they asked me “who do you believe is the ruler of this Earth?” And I replied “I don’t believe the Earth can be ruled, I believe that she’s a goddess in her own right”. The doorstep evangelists practically ran away down the front path. The reason I had this riposte ready was because a colleague had asked me the same question two weeks earlier.
Continue readingJust visiting
I’ve often referenced these posts by Annika Mongan, which present a fascinating account of what’s happening energetically at evangelical churches, and at Pagan gatherings. I also got independent confirmation of this by speaking to another Wiccan who sees energy as colours (I experience it as changes in temperature) who confirmed that she saw a lot of orange energy around an evangelical campground.
Continue readingLiberty for some
Sarah Zang hoped to escape her highly controlled home life in 2006.
— John Verner
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 the rest of the article on Substack (content note: sexual assault trauma and white evangelicals being obnoxious)
Evangelicals harming uncontacted tribes
Sign the petition: pledge to support uncontacted tribes
Religions evolve
Oh dear: the evangelicals are spouting rubbish about Paganism again — ably debunked by John Beckett.
The idea of evangelicals claiming that Paganisms don’t have continuity with ancient paganisms is hilarious when you consider the lack of continuity between evangelical Christianity and early Christianity.
Wibbly wobbly
Changing Paths challenge day 14: changing paths.
Changing paths is a wibbly-wobbly thing. During the process, I was all over the place. It was like having the bends (you know, the thing where a diver rises too quickly to the surface and gets cramps) or being on a giant scary roller coaster ride. That’s why I wrote the book, in the hope of helping other people to have a gentler ride through the process — regardless of their starting point or destination. Although the second half is about joining Paganism, it’s fairly applicable to joining any group.
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 reading
Changing Paths 