Hell is empty and all the devils are here.
Or so wrote William Shakespeare. But in the late 1990s–at least according to Evangelical Christians–hell was full to overflowing and yearning for more souls. The Satanic Panic was in full swing. Here are some stories from our Facebook community. It’s almost unbelievable what religious people will teach their children. If any of these superstitions resonate…
What’s My Purpose Now?
When we’re in the thick of Christianity, we’re bombarded with the idea that if we leave we’ll no longer have purpose or meaning in life. Our life’s purpose is given to us by the church, and if we “turn our backs on them,” we have nothing. But it’s simply not true. I turned once again…
Dear Younger Self
For many of us, fundamentalist religion stole years of our lives, and so this month, we are going back in time and speaking to our younger selves. I turned, once again, to our private Facebook group for inspiration, and they responded beautifully. If you’d like to write to your younger self, comment below or check…
Purity Culture Doesn’t Get the Last Word
Purity Culture says that monogamous married sex between two heterosexual people is the only good and moral way. Anything that “deviates” is evil and sinful, even an abomination to god. But it’s all a lie. When we leave religion—whether it’s Christianity or any other fundamentalist belief system—we don’t magically forget everything we believed. The homophobia,…
You’re Worth the Work.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the US and one thing that suffers greatly under religion is our mental health. I spent years believing that my mind was filled with demons. As soon as I stopped praying, the demons left. Almost like they were never real. One doesn’t have to believe in demons to be…
Poetic Humanism
Poetry is one way we homo sapiens, can get a glimpse into another’s life, into the lives of people whose experiences may be wholly different than our own. Poetry has the power to meet us where we are and possibly begin to change us. Humanism is about human lives–the story of our lives–both our individual…
To Make Out the Landscape of the Universe?
“What I aim to do is not so much learn the names of the shreds of creation that flourish in this valley, but to keep myself open to their meanings, which is to try to impress myself at all times with the fullest possible force of their very reality. I want to have things as…
Sam from When Belief Dies reflects on his appearance on the podcast
This is an incredibly touching reflection from my friend, Sam, who was on the podcast back in March of 2020. https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2020/03/19/sam-when-belief-dies/
I Was Mistaken
The honesty, the humility, the relief, and the release I feel when I say the words: I was mistaken.
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