The Circle/A Ted Dekker Community
The official online community of New York Times best-selling author Ted Dekker.
Recovering Fundamentalists
I'm looking for stories of people like you, or those you know, who were at one time involved in an authoritarian Christian faith (perhaps abusive) but lived to tell about it. I do not want to hear from the plethora of now atheists who I've just discovered through googling have a ton of websites and blogs--I've seen enough of that today while researching for my 09 NaNo.
I want to hear stories from people who really were steeped in rules and off the wall unbiblical stuff in the name of God who came out of it and who now live a full Christian life. How does one survive the shunning, the "you're going to hell for sure" talk because you no longer subscribe to their errant doctrine?
It seems people migrate to extremes. They are either gung ho fundies or proud atheists. Where are the Christians who grew up in these ultra right wing, rule-oriented, oppressive denominations and then decided not to leave the faith all together but only that version of faith?
How did you (or the person you know) do it? Did you suffer repercussions? Did you need counseling? What kind of church do you go to now? Tell your story. I'm interested to hear.
I want to hear stories from people who really were steeped in rules and off the wall unbiblical stuff in the name of God who came out of it and who now live a full Christian life. How does one survive the shunning, the "you're going to hell for sure" talk because you no longer subscribe to their errant doctrine?
It seems people migrate to extremes. They are either gung ho fundies or proud atheists. Where are the Christians who grew up in these ultra right wing, rule-oriented, oppressive denominations and then decided not to leave the faith all together but only that version of faith?
How did you (or the person you know) do it? Did you suffer repercussions? Did you need counseling? What kind of church do you go to now? Tell your story. I'm interested to hear.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Deb on -
KC - I am sorry I went off track in your thread.
Faith - thank you so very much for sharing, it meant a lot to me, I have found that God has been so very faithful to me beyond my wildest imaginations and I too have so much more to learn.
In regard to being a doormat that can be a whole topic on it's own I think. Maybe being assertive is saying what you mean, meaning what you say yet not saying it mean. God is the best with boundaries.
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Permalink Reply by Spy Hunter on -
Oh, don't worry. The same preacher had a bit of wisdom for the men, too.
"Husbands often say, 'I do not like how my wife talks to me'. Or 'my wife always looks at me this way' or 'my wife does not do what I say'. When you feel like your wife is giving you dung, it is because God wants to fertilize your roots."
Wives/mothers being doormats to preserve their family and husbands/fathers putting up with a lot of crap and becoming stronger for it? Sounds like real life to me.
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