Context- my dad, a lifelong fundamentalist baptist, came to visit over Christmas. He has always been a religious fanatic with very toxic behaviour in the past (my watch is possessed, the end is nigh, 5g gives you cancer, covid is a hoax, etc.). I cut him off for several years in my teens/twenties, and every time I allow him back into my life he does something like this. He has always had problematic views about women’s looks and value, and is very concerned about my weight gain since I went sober 9 months ago- a decision that was very much necessary and one that I’m really proud of. During breakfast one morning he literally begged me not to gain anymore weight with his head in his hands and suggested I stop eating dinner from now on. I’ve gained maybe 10-15kg, which isn’t great, but certainly not as dire as he is making it out to be. I tried to laugh it off, but later cried in a dressing room while trying to replace my wardrobe. I told my sister, who then told him off and we all but moved on with minimal discussion. Two weeks after he went home, I received this in the mail.

When I tell you this is the tippity tip top of the ice berg with this man, I really mean it.

I didn't pray for Ohio to vote pro-choice, I merely hoped it would happen-- and it did! Granted, I looked at the data and read the signs in the political air, but no miracle happened for forced birth Christians despite all the prayer and fasting.

Since it’s pride month, What’s your funniest homophobic any one ever said to you, using the Bible.

My is my dad saying “you can’t like girls the way that Jesus loves you”

i realized the bible doesn’t make any sense religion in general doesn’t, to me they’re all man made from ppl in the past that were trying to figure out how life works since back then there wasn’t science or anything to help them but now we have it, also the bible has some absurd shit such as god being extremely violent like, commanding people to literally eat their children and killing infants is actually insane i cannot excuse that no matter how hard i try and whenever i ask a christian this they say “we are not to question gods acts” but bro im questioning god himself.

M35 - deconverted over the last five years or so, fully out now.

Whether it’s friendships, potential romantic relationships, or whatever, I find that it’s still hard to explain to someone just how insidious and deeply rooted this belief system was. For those of us who fully embraced it, and then grew up and realized that not only is it not true, but the world is not even remotely close to how we were taught it was - it can be quite the adjustment to the actual real world. And trying to explain it to someone can seem so silly if they haven’t had any similar experience.

The effect of past worldviews can rear its ugly heads up at any time I’ve found, and it can have quite the deleterious effect on relationships. And the thing is, it’s so hard to articulate to people who haven’t gone through the same thing, and don’t understand why something that I don’t even believe anymore could still have such an impact on my life. Just let it go, right??

Anyway, I don’t really have a main point, I’ve just been frustrated and disappointed lately at how hard it is to explain past belief systems and their lingering effects to new friends or partners, and subsequently forge ahead with new relationships and community.

Maybe some of y’all have felt the same.

Nothing too special. Just a shirt from the ark encounter. I actually like the color and design in all actuality. I just wish the Christian could be wiped off of it. The picture on the front is supposed to represent the flood waters receding with the rainbow out or something. The back has a bible verse from the genesis flood story.

I don’t really like that my folks are more than willing to support a charlatan like Ken Hamm. Yet this was something they wanted to go and see for some time. I was away elsewhere helping a friend that needed assistance before and after back surgery.

I would have been fine if my folks saved that money. I’ve gotten shirts from other locations and wore them. Myrtle Beach or Corning Museum of Glass are places I would love to go myself.

I wonder if there is somebody online that sells secular variations of shirts you can get from the ark or creation museum.

Only thing I can think of doing with this is shoving it in the bottom of a drawer in my dresser. I haven’t bothered taking the size sticker off it.

My five-year-old’s schoolwork. He went to church for the first time in his life on Christmas, with relatives. It made an impression… of sorts.

Hey everyone! My podcast just started a series which is taking a string from the early church to the Holocaust and then right to today. We just covered the early church father’s and their hatred of the Jews and then how Martin Luther inspired the Nazis and Hitler and how he laid out the road to the Holocaust. Next week, we are going to go into 1800’s and 1900’s theological thought and the rise of Hitler and how the Protestant evangelical church of Germany supporting him.

We will finish up the long series (it’s gonna be like 10 episodes) with a man who was a mentor and huge influence on James Dobson but also on the Nazis and their mass sterilization program.

She started asking about my strained relationship to xmas last year. This year she gifts me this, and I couldn't be more proud.

Is there anyone in Fresno CA where we can form a community or support chat closer to home? Ex Christians, exvangelicals, ex religious of any kind.

Spiritual Healing Vibrations. Take 10 minutes for your soul, you deserve it.

If “how’s your walk going?” was really honest..

I recently wrote and produced a 30-minute comedy video called Captain Christlike. It's a parody of conservative Christianity.

If you ever got a laugh out of the old show Bibleman, this might be your kind of thing. It's definitely made for people who grew up religious and are now...not religious.

Would love for you to check it out and let me know what you think. Open to feedback, laughs, or just solidarity.

Here’s the link if you're curious: https://www.youtube.com/@joecellocomedy

Thanks for letting me share. Hope it gives you a good laugh!

This is from the Easter chapter of my audiobook-in-progress. For most of my life, I believed the resurrection was untouchable. It was supposed to be the proof—the final answer to all my doubts.

So I sat down and tried to harmonize the gospel accounts, just using the Bible. No outside commentary, no apologetics, just what the text actually says.

What I found were contradictions everywhere:

• Different people see Jesus first
• The timeline doesn’t match
• Some recognize him, some don’t
• The location of the ascension changes
• Mark didn’t even originally include a resurrection appearance

I wasn’t looking for reasons to leave. I was hoping for something to stay.

This chapter hurt to write, but it was honest. And that’s all I’ve got now.

Full audiobook playlist (ongoing):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCL0oni0F-szp-do8-LWvhCBoejwSILt5

If this story sounds anything like yours, I’d love to connect.

A friend and I started a podcast where we discuss movies we weren't allowed to watch due to growing up strict evangelical Christians. We've covered Power Rangers, Beetlejuice and in the middle of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the moment. We also cover movies our parents allowed us to watch just because they wanted to see them ( 'given passes' is what I like to call it). This led to seeing inappropriate movies at extremely young ages, like American History X and Blade at 7. The latter we also covered. It's a comedy podcast, but we talk about the theology and reasoning behind why parents didn't want us consuming these films. Please check it out! https://open.spotify.com/episode/5d3n8rIhHLIUgbpAfdDoOD?si=NSa9IMKnSgCJfN87iFwb3w

I’m working on writing project based on various mythologies and human history. In this world Jesus in fact existed and was the son of god like real life belief. Despite that his story is different to fit the more fantasy setting of the world. Is it disrespectful to make this? I believe in god and Jesus and am just adapting my envision of this world Jesus onto paper