Worthwhile Reads: Letter to 18 Year Old Self

The Huffington Post recently published an article by a young woman who grew up in the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements and left at age 18. The article is called Christian Woman Writes Letter to 18 Year Old Self. In this article, Lauren Dubinsky seeks to give advice to other young people facing the same situations and choices she did.

Something you may have noticed if you are following the Raised Quiverfull project is that young people who leave the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements tend to make one of two main choices when it comes to religion. They either embrace a much gentler and less literal form of Christianity or spirituality in general (see, for example, Latebloomer, Mattie, or Tricia) or they question religion altogether and move toward atheism or agnosticism (see, for example, Melissa, Joe, or myself).

This difference can make things interesting as the CP/QF survivor who remains Christian or simply spiritual looks in confusion at the CP/QF survivor who questions God’s existence entirely, and vice versa. Fortunately, I have so far seen a great deal of cooperation and understanding between the two groups. My point in saying all this here, though, is simply to point out that Lauren’s article above is an excellent representative of the journeys of CP/QF survivors who remain Christian or simply spiritual.