By LoFi — (SPOILER ALERT for Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity Wars in this article.) Let’s say you are sitting down to watch Avengers: Infinity Wars for the first time. Someone comes over and tells you: “Thanos wins in the end. He snaps his fingers and half the universe disappears. When he does, I’ll give you $50.” So you start the movie with the “knowledge” that he’s going to win, and you have a financial incentive to see him win. When you see… Read more
By Barrett Evans — The 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) have been widely utilized due to their perceived effectiveness in helping many people struggling with alcohol addiction. As exemplified by the AA Agnostics of the San Francisco Bay Area, those who are skeptical of a “Higher Power” have even utilized the framework in a slightly modified and non-religious form. Interestingly enough, some psychologists have noticed a parallel between alcohol addiction and compulsive religious thoughts and behaviors. While I am not a licensed mental health… Read more
By Tim Zeak — How is a person saved? Paul says in Gal 2:16 & Rom 3:20 that salvation is by faith alone. James 2:21–24 states that it is by works. Acts 2:21 & Rom 10:13 say to just call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved, HOWEVER, Matt 7:21 states that not everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Matt 25:34–46 teaches that heaven is obtained only by helping the poor and needy and without doing those things one is… Read more
By Eric Wells — Recovering from Religion is very excited to host a series of discussions we’re calling RfRx Talks. In this series, we bring on mental health professionals and other guests to discuss advice for coping and hoping through doubt, trauma, and pain stemming from religion. It’s designed to complement the RfR Support Groups and Helpline Community by focusing on topics often encountered by both groups. The RfRx Talks are co-hosted by the Online Programming Coordinator, Amaia Perez, and the Support… Read more
By Eric Wells — Like so many groups and organizations recently, Recovering from Religion has had to figure out how to adapt and continue our mission in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The RfR program impacted the most by the outbreak are the Support Groups. For a bit of context, the RfR Support Group program is exactly what it sounds like: in-person peer support for those who are struggling with doubts, pain, and trauma stemming from religion. Each group… Read more
Image by Georges Seurat, Article by Amara — Check out Part 1 to read about how, and why, Amara started seeing a therapist through the Secular Therapy Project. Within the first few therapy sessions, I learned a few things about myself. I was horrible at identifying my own emotions and had zero vocabulary for discussing them. I really didn’t ever take time to work through my feelings. Why was I this way? To answer that fantastic question, we have to go… Read more
By Dr. Darrel Ray, founder of RfR and the STP — Shortly after publishing my book The God Virus I began to receive calls for help from readers. They needed help finding a therapist who was not religious or who would not bring superstitious ideas into the therapeutic relationship. I was a bit surprised and overwhelmed by the number of requests. I kept getting stories like these: “I have been depressed for several years and finally decided to go to… Read more
By Joe Omundson — For many ex-believers, the hardest part of leaving religion is dealing with the social fallout. Parents can be deeply invested in their children’s faith. Partners and close friends can be shocked by a change of belief. In some countries, “apostasy” is a criminal offense with severe penalties. The decision of when, and whether, to come out as an ex-believer is different for everyone. If the pros vastly outweigh the cons, or vice versa, it can be… Read more
By James Fielding — Most people would probably agree that the hardest thing about leaving a religion is the loss of community. For many of us, we have lived our entire lives immersed in a group of people that think just like we do. We agree on most things and generally support one another. That all sounds great on the surface. However, once you are away from the pervasive and often damaging nature of that kind of indoctrination, hindsight shows… Read more
By Miklos Jako — I’ve talked to ex-Christians who say that every so often they have residual doubts about leaving Christianity. Myself, I never have such doubts about leaving Christianity and here is why, first generally, then specifically. I came to my decision step-by-step, assiduously, over decades. I proceeded humbly, with an open mind, reading, thinking, and brooding over every issue. After coming to a decision, I wanted to make sure. Sure that I wasn’t missing some esoteric insight or attitude… Read more
