Karen Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Hi. I'm Karen. I now live in Tennessee, surrounded by all our old favorites--Amy Grant, DC Talk guys, Russ Taff, etc. In the nineties, I was a missionary with YWAM (what a cult!) and then was in Thailand with Asian Outreach. Some of the Thais I was witnessing to had questions that made me really want to get deeper into my Bible, even though I went to a Southern Baptist college and did missionary Bible training. That's when I saw some confusing things I just couldn't deny any longer. It was about a ten-year journey (fear of hell is strong!), but I'm out. Now a friend and I have launched a humorous podcast about leaving religion. We'd love for you to subscribe, rate us, and send in some of your own funny stories. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/deconversion-therapy/id1438032991?mt=2 Website: www.deconversiontherapy.com 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lerk Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Welcome aboard! Is the podcast available on Stitcher? Edit: I get a "502 Bad Gateway" error on the website. Edit again: I found you on podbean. I think I may switch to that from Stitcher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TABA Posted January 4, 2019 Moderator Share Posted January 4, 2019 16 minutes ago, Lerk said: Welcome aboard! Is the podcast available on Stitcher? Edit: I get a "502 Bad Gateway" error on the website. Edit again: I found you on podbean. I think I may switch to that from Stitcher. I’ve been using the Downcast app for podcasts for a long time. It really is excellent. And yes it does have this Deconversion Therapy podcast. And no I’m not connected to Downcast in any way, except as a satisfied user! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orbit Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 I had a listen -- good stuff, thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geezer Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 I listened to it too. Looking forward to more podcasts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
◊ DestinyTurtle ◊ Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 Welcome to X-Xian, @Karen, and hello from an ex evangelical missionary kid! It's a difficult and messed up journey but glad to see you're on the right side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted January 5, 2019 Author Share Posted January 5, 2019 Whoa. That must have been...interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted January 5, 2019 Author Share Posted January 5, 2019 I'm trying to find out how to reply to each person, but no luck so far. But I really appreciate all the support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offtheromanroad Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 38 minutes ago, Karen said: I'm trying to find out how to reply to each person, but no luck so far. But I really appreciate all the support. Welcome, Karen! I love podcasts and will give yours a try. You made me laugh (old favorites). You'll be able to quote after a certain number of posts. OTRR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geezer Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 It takes 25 posts before all the options become available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 Welcome to our merry band of outlaws, Karen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★ Citsonga ★ Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 On 1/4/2019 at 3:18 PM, Karen said: Website: www.deconversiontherapy.com That address doesn't work, but here's one that does: https://deconversiontherapy.podbean.com/ I'll have to try to make time to take a listen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Joshpantera Posted January 7, 2019 Moderator Share Posted January 7, 2019 Welcome aboard Karen! Trying to get caught up after the holidays. I'll look into it. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted January 8, 2019 Author Share Posted January 8, 2019 Thanks for the warm welcome and insight on why I can't quote! Ha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offtheromanroad Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 On 1/4/2019 at 9:18 PM, Karen said: Hi. I'm Karen. I now live in Tennessee, surrounded by all our old favorites--Amy Grant, DC Talk guys, Russ Taff, etc. In the nineties, I was a missionary with YWAM (what a cult!) and then was in Thailand with Asian Outreach. Some of the Thais I was witnessing to had questions that made me really want to get deeper into my Bible, even though I went to a Southern Baptist college and did missionary Bible training. That's when I saw some confusing things I just couldn't deny any longer. It was about a ten-year journey (fear of hell is strong!), but I'm out. Now a friend and I have launched a humorous podcast about leaving religion. We'd love for you to subscribe, rate us, and send in some of your own funny stories. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/deconversion-therapy/id1438032991?mt=2 Website: www.deconversiontherapy.com Hi there, again, I just listened to episode one. Great stuff. Humor is such a good form of therapy, thanks for making me laugh! My favorite bits and pieces so far: the sex booth, of course, and "No hand clapping in my church!" I also totally relate to missing community. That's a biggie. But I guess it's also part of breaking free. Ironically, I also miss singing, although I don't miss those porn-like, ever repetitive worshit songs (see other thread) and the social control coming with church. Keep it up, Karen! OTRR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lerk Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 I've listened to episode 1 and most of episode 2. Good stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted January 21, 2019 Author Share Posted January 21, 2019 Thanks, @Lerk and @offtheromanroad! Yes, OTTR, I miss singing, too. Good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geezer Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 I’m up to date on all the episodes. Good stuff. I love to hear about the hypocrisy that is common in all versions of Christianity. Hypocrisy and legalism seem to go hand in hand. And the fundamentalist remedy for that is to be even more legalistic. Go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 It's all insane, isn't it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FallenEnlightenment Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 So glad I found this. Started following you today after reading this. Great work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted February 1, 2019 Author Share Posted February 1, 2019 <Blush> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geezer Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 The Baptist are rather benign compared to the Church of Christ and Pentecostals. The c of C and Pentecostals is where you find the seriously batshit crazy beliefs and traditions. I know because I was an Elder in the c of C. Being a member of those groups takes some serious professional grade brainwashing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offtheromanroad Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 1 hour ago, Geezer said: The Baptist are rather benign compared to the Church of Christ and Pentecostals. The c of C and Pentecostals is where you find the seriously batshit crazy beliefs and traditions. I know because I was an Elder in the c of C. Being a member of those groups takes some serious professional grade brainwashing. I now almost nothing about CoC. Do you have any advice on where to learn more about it? Other than Wikipedia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geezer Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 4 hours ago, offtheromanroad said: I now almost nothing about CoC. Do you have any advice on where to learn more about it? Other than Wikipedia? Basically the c of C worships the Bible. They, of course, would deny that but they do. They follow the Bible as literally as humanly possible. They interpret examples found in the NT as commands, thus communion must be observed every Sunday morning because that is the first day of the week as noted in the NT. There basically must be a scriptural reference for everything the c of C does. “Is that scriptural?” Is a common question for anything and every thing the c of C does. Marriage Divorce & Remarriage is an issue in the c of C. Divorce is sin unless it is for a scriptural reason and adultery is the only scriptural reason in the Bible. Unscripturally divorced people can never remarry and must remain celibate the rest of their lives or be doomed to Hell for eternity. Unscripturally divorced people would not be accepted as members in the c of C. The c of C does not allow instrumental music in their buildings/worship service because there is no scripture in the N T that authorizes it. They operate by something referred to as CENI. That means Biblical Commands, Examples, and Necessary Inference. NI basically means it’s up to the Elders (those recognized as leaders of the congregation) to determine if something is okay or not when the Bible doesn’t specifically address the issue. Things like even having a church building, parking lots, air conditioning and heat, etc. All congregations are autonomous, there is no central authority. It is not uncommon for one congregation to disfellowship another congregation for a scriptural reason. Such things as having a kitchen and fellowship hall in the building are considered scriptural issues by some congregations, but not others. It is common for one congregation to disfellowship another congregation for issues like this. Members are disfellowshipped for scriptural reasons. Questioning the doctrine or teaching can get a person disfellowshiped. The c of C is extremely legalistic and they believe water baptism is how a person is saved Acts 2: 38. The concept of grace is not something that the c of C promotes. The c of C is a works based religion. They teach salvation can be lost when a person sins and they will remain lost until they repent and are restored to the Church. The c of C is all about fear and punishment. And they think they are headed for extinction because they are not legalistic enough. Oh yeah, they believe they are the only restored church from AD33 and thus the only true Christians on earth. They believe denomination churches are man made and their members are destined for hell because they aren’t real Christians. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lerk Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 On 2/2/2019 at 10:13 AM, offtheromanroad said: I now almost nothing about CoC. Do you have any advice on where to learn more about it? Other than Wikipedia? Actually, the Wikipedia article isn't bad. Church of Christ websites probably have more detailed explanation of their own doctrines than any other denomination because they're really steeped in getting their doctrine "right." They claim that they "speak where the Bible speaks" and are "silent where the Bible is silent." This came about because one of the early CoC leaders, Alexander Campbell, believed that there were Christians in all of the denominations, and he was sick of them all (including his branch of Presbyterians) thinking they were the only ones being saved. He figured if everyone would take a few steps back and start over, they'd all come to an agreement and there wouldn't be any more denominations. Thus, they claim that they are non-denominational. And the most ironic thing is that in the intervening 170 years, it has reached the point where the CoC are among the few who think they're the only ones going to Heaven -- Campbell would be turning in his grave. If you want to do some reading, do a search for the initials "ceni". You'll find a bunch of Church of Christ websites about "command, example, and necessary inference" which explain how they treat the Bible. Essentially, they're trying to take the New Testament and distill it down to a "Law of Moses" type law so that they don't have to deal with ambiguity. So much for the "perfect law of liberty!" And if you want to see some real infighting, read the Mental Divorce website! These folks are really nasty to each other when arguing about trivia! (That website's been around since 2000. I was a believer back then and for the life of me couldn't figure out what the argument was about. It turns out that some are super-legalistic, and some are super-duper legalistic when it comes to the "MDR" (marriage, divorce, and remarriage) issue. The fight was over whether the "innocent party" in the case of adultery had to be the one to actually file for divorce in order to be able to remarry. Some argued that it was the principle of being the innocent party that allowed remarriage, and others argued that, no, the Bible only talked about the "innocent" party doing the "putting away," so if the adulterer was the one who filed for divorce, the innocent person could never remarry. No shit. No exaggeration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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