#exfundamentalist

[exchristianjoy]

it's wild how long it took me to see that god is entirely defined by his relationship to us

what do we know about god, really?

everything i thought i knew about him is actually about us: our creation, our salvation

what are god's hobbies?

how does he spend his time when he's not obsessing about us?

who would god be without us?

it makes so much more sense that we created him and not the other way around

[connieaaa]

For some people giving up religion is like giving up a shirt that is too small. It was tight, and itchy, and a hand me down that you didn't like it much to begin with.

For some people it's like tearing off your skin. Sometimes you can pull off larges patches in one go, others you pick at constantly. And sometimes the process restarts and you have to do it all over again.

[chaoticneurodivergent]

I believe I've made a post about this in the past but with the popularity of TikTok and the way people can easily end up in echo chambers online I think it's good to talk about it again, so here are some signs of cult manipulation and brainwashing as someone who's been through it.

Signs It's A Cult, Not a Community:

When you first join or learn about it, people seem incredibly welcoming and open and warm and inclusivity is pressed, but as time goes on you get less kindness and more judgement

You're pressured to quickly join, commit, sign something, etc. with some excuse attached, such as "if you walk out of here without joining you could go to hell today" or "if you don't want to commit to this it must be because you're a bad person"

There is heavy group think and people can't disagree without being shunned; there is always one truth you can't deviate from

There is an excessive amount of control over aspects of your life such as what you watch and listen to, what you wear, who and how you date, etc.

People who have left the group are saying very negative things about it or calling it a cult but the inside is a positive echo chamber with no self criticism

There's a heavy us vs. them mindset; the group is somehow being oppressed and the world is always out to get you because they hate the truth

You have huge expectations set for you and guilt and shame is piled up on you for never performing well enough (you're never passing out enough tracts/pamphlets, you're not spreading the message well enough, you're too self centered)

Enjoyment is looked down on as a sign of laziness and lack of commitment, and you start to feel guilty about doing things you enjoy, eating a good meal, etc.

You're encouraged to cut off communication with outside friends, family members, and "bad influences" or focus all your efforts on converting them / getting them to join

Education is discouraged or controlled; you are not ever encouraged to do your own research about things, and you may be told not to go to college or to keep your kids out of the "brainwashing school system"

Conspiracies of all sorts run rampant

There is a strict authority hierarchy (could be 1 person/leader, or something like strictly enforced misogyny where women are servants of the men, or a group of leaders)

There is huge fear mongering about leaving or interacting with the world

I know people think being indoctrinated into cults and cult like groups won't happen to you as long as you're smart, but that's not true. Cults prey on people who are lonely, poor, oppressed, mentally ill, scared, vulnerable, young. We all should stay aware.

[for-evans-sake]

I am trying. It is not easy.

[exchristianjoy]

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death.

I didn’t die when I got baptised.

It was basically just a very awkward pool party. There I was, standing in the pool in basketball shorts and a baggy t-shirt, completing the promise that I’d made when I was 5 years old. I was told it would wash away my sins and bond me to Jesus in a new way. That I would die and be reborn through baptism. I would emerge from the pool as a new creation. I would be covered in His blood, glorious and loved.

Now I wish the water had washed his blood off of my hands instead– the blood that had been on my hands since before I went to kindergarten.

I'm still working on ideas for reverse baptisms. I shouldn't fill a bathtub with silica gel, right? Bad idea?

for more gentle blasphemy, support me on patreon ♡

[exchristianjoy]

doubt like a grain of mustard seed 💜

[exchristianjoy]

present your bodies as a living sacrifice

We can stop the cycle of self-sacrifice.

What good was Christ's sacrifice if we all have to lay our lives down afterwards? What kind of payment plan requires billions of subsequent payments? (These are rhetorical questions. Christ lived and died as a man.)

Even if we interpret the debt as paid, and just follow Christ's example of self-sacrifice for spiritual reasons-- I can't help but think "What a waste."

What a waste to live our lives as a funeral procession.

What a waste to treat our bodies like sacrificial meat.

What a waste to believe everyone is a lamb for the altar.

But we don't have to waste our lives, bodies, or each other.

We have the power to stop the sacrificial cycle.

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[connieaaa]

Life hack: don't expect any emotional maturity from someone who wears church merchandise.