leaving religion

Deprogramming with Gillian Jenkinson

/ Yvonne Aburrow / Leave a comment

Just got an update from Gillian Jenkinson:

Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army BBC2 27 July and 3 August 9pm 

I had the privilege of being filmed delivering Post-Cult Counselling in a Recovery Workshop for a documentary “Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army” with four amazing survivors. This was filmed at my house in the Hope Valley by a wonderful team who have been very professional and supportive in every way throughout this process. 

The two-part documentary includes a history of JA and archive material, interviews and the Recovery Workshop and is being screened on Sunday 27th July and 3rd August at 9pm on BBC 2. It will be on BBC iPlayer from 27th July.  

There will also be a podcast (which I am not involved with) which will be very interesting as it will address legal issues around cults/coercive control amongst many other things. 

Watch the trailer

Gillian Jenkinson’s website

Be like Cathy

/ Yvonne Aburrow / Leave a comment

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.”

Sarah Carr

A healing journey

/ Yvonne Aburrow / 1 Comment

A new book from Moss Matthey, An apostate’s guide to witchcraft: finding freedom through magic, explores his personal journey from fundamentalist Christianity to witchcraft.

Moss writes:

This book is about my journey from a fundamentalist Christian cult to the joyous and freeing world of Witchcraft. Blending my personal experience with gentle exercises, this book is for anyone who is curious about witchcraft and alternative spirituality. It is also great for those seeking a way in to witchcraft, especially so if they are coming to this path from another faith. It focuses on joy, enchantment and freedom, to leave any reader feeling uplifted and inspired.

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Alanah Sabatini

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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 settings, as well as at atheist events.

You can find her on instagram & threads as @alanah.dont.wanna

Alanah Sabatini

Repost: Should I stay or should I go?

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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 or should I go? Exploring a journal prompt from chapter 2 of “Changing Paths”

Get your copy here!

We need to talk about miracles

/ Yvonne Aburrow / Leave a comment

There are many wonderful things that we could classify as miracles: the capacity for love, the beauty of a sunny morning, dew on roses, the ability to paint or compose a masterpiece, and many other natural wonders.

Many Pagans believe in healing energies and such; but we tend to regard them as supplementary to conventional medicine—not a replacement for it. We also believe that they are within Nature, and that one day science will be able to explain them.

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Religious trauma workbook

/ Yvonne Aburrow / Leave a comment

I’m excited to see that Gillian Jenkinson’s book is out! Gillian Jenkinson is a therapist with extensive experience in helping people break free of harmful beliefs dinned into them by cults. I quoted her work in Changing Paths (my book) and I’ve been looking forward to her book coming out.

It’s also very reasonably priced, presumably to make it accessible to those who need it.

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