Question 1: Please introduce yourself before we get started, providing a brief snapshot of your background an overview of your beliefs today.<\/strong><\/p>\nI was raised an Evangelical Baptist in the \u201cBible Belt.\u201d \u00a0In high school and college I went through a questioning and discovery period, eventually becoming Conservative Catholic towards the end of my senior year of college. \u00a0As a young adult my questioning continued, and although I still consider myself Catholic, faith I no longer hold orthodox beliefs or participate in the Church sacraments.<\/p>\n
Question 2: How did your family and religious community self identify? As evangelicals? As fundamentalists? Or as something else? What did these terms mean to your parents and religious community?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy church and my mom identified strongly as \u201cBaptist.\u201d \u00a0The church we attended was affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT). \u00a0It was more moderate than the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), but there were members in the church who were more conservative in their theology. \u00a0It was a mega-Church and the culture can be described as Evangelical.<\/p>\n
Question 3: How did your parents become evangelicals or fundamentalists? Did they grow up in evangelical or fundamentalist families, or did they convert later?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy mom grew up Baptist. \u00a0She looks up to her mom for passing down her faith to her children, and this identity is very important to her. \u00a0My dad grew up Catholic, but he left the Catholic church while in college. \u00a0My dad rarely went to church with us, except for a brief period when he became a religious fanatic in a more fundamentalist church. \u00a0I was in high school at the time, and his church attendance coincided with his mental breakdown. \u00a0When his brain chemistry balanced out, he said that he had become \u201cmessed up on religion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Section 2: Theology<\/h1>\n
Question 1: Briefly describe the church your family attended while you were growing up. What role did the pastor play? How large was it? What sort of programs did it offer? What denomination was it? How many times a week did you attend church? How about Bible study or Bible club?<\/strong><\/p>\nI grew up in a large Baptist Church. \u00a0There was a pastor, associate-pastor, children\u2019s minister, youth minister, young adults minister, senior adults minister, and music minister. \u00a0These were the top leadership positions, but there were also unpaid deacons and leadership positions as well. \u00a0It was a large church with a lot of influence in the denomination (BGCT) and the community where I lived. \u00a0\u00a0The pastor\u2019s primary role was to preach on Sundays, provide counseling throughout the week, \u00a0and serve on the church board, which planned activities for the church.<\/p>\n
Our church had programs and ministries which were divided up by peer group. \u00a0I went to Sunday School on Sundays. \u00a0These classes were divided by grade level until junior high and high school, when the classes were split according to grade level and gender. \u00a0I also went on Wednesday nights for Mission Friends as a child, \u00a0Girls in Action (G.A.s) in middle school (The boys had a separate program), and Acteens and youth group as a teenager. \u00a0\u00a0I also participated in \u00a0children\u2019s choir and youth choir, Vacation Bible School in the summers and went on mission trips with my church as a teenager.<\/p>\n
Question 2: When and how were you \u201csaved\u201d? How did your parents and church community respond? Did you have a \u201crelationship with Jesus\u201d? If so, at what age did you form this relationship? Please describe what all it entailed. Or, if you attended a church that was more liturgical and did not emphasize the specific moment of salvation or having a personal relationship with Jesus, what were considered to be most important milestones of a religious upbringing (i.e. confirmation, etc.) and how did you experience them?<\/strong><\/p>\nI was officially saved and Baptized when I was 10 years old. \u00a0My sister, who was 7 at the time, had been having nightmares that involved Hell. \u00a0My mom decided that it was time to schedule an appointment with the Children\u2019s Minister to talk about salvation. \u00a0I remember being bored during this meeting, which was mostly about my sister\u2019s dreams. \u00a0Then the Children\u2019s Minister led us in a prayer, repeating her words, to ask Jesus into our hearts. \u00a0We were Baptized a few weeks later after walking down the isle during an alter call at the end of the worship service.<\/p>\n
I always tried to have a relationship with Jesus, but I was confused about how the relationship was supposed to work. \u00a0I questioned my salvation experience constantly, and was re-baptized in high school after a youth minister at a church rally told me that my faith difficulties were a result of being baptized before I really believed. \u00a0I did everything my church community recommended to have a relationship with Jesus. \u00a0I read my Bible in a 15 minute private devotional time, I was heavily involved at church, and I went on mission trips. \u00a0I prayed often and tried to hear the voice of God, but I always heard silence. \u00a0There was always a disconnect between what I was told I should feel about loving Jesus and what I actually felt. \u00a0It took a lot of psychological effort to conjure up the proper religious emotions emphasized by the church community.<\/p>\n
Question 3: How did your family and church view the Bible, and what role did it play in your life growing up and in the life of your family and church? How often did you, your siblings, and your parents read the Bible? Were you guided by your parents or pastors in how to interpret the Bible, especially certain passages, or were you generally free to form your own ideas about what the Bible said?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy family never formally read the Bible together outside of church. \u00a0\u00a0As children, my mother read us picture books of Bible stories and we watched Bible story cartoons. \u00a0We were encouraged to memorize weekly Bible verses at Church each week, and my mom helped us memorize the verses. \u00a0Thanks to her efforts, my sister and I were recognized as some of the top Bible students in our Sunday School classes. \u00a0In high school I would do a 15 minute Bible devotional by myself because our youth group leaders encouraged this. \u00a0Biblical interpretations came from sermons, but at the same time we were encouraged to read the Bible for ourselves. \u00a0Our church heavily emphasized the priesthood of the believer and reading the Bible for oneself. \u00a0\u00a0If your interpretation was something different, you were free to bring a question to a church leader. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There wasn\u2019t any overt pressure to agree with the leadership on Biblical interpretation, but there was social pressure.<\/p>\n
Question 4: What role did race play in your church? Were there any black or Hispanic families? Were they treated differently?<\/strong><\/p>\nThere were very few minority families in our church, which was made up of primary upper middle-class whites. \u00a0There was \u00a0a \u201cBuilding Bridges\u201d committee, which connected to a local African-American Baptist church. \u00a0Every year the pastor and choir from their church would host a service at our church during the Sunday nigh evening worship service. \u00a0I especially enjoyed the music during these shared-services. \u00a0Our church would also perform a service at their church once a year, but my family never attended.<\/p>\n
Section 3: Gender and Family<\/h1>\n
Question 1: What did your church teach about gender roles, the family, and marriage?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy church didn\u2019t spend a lot of time emphasizing gender roles. \u00a0There were a lot of working moms at our church and women in certain leadership positions. \u00a0There were also Sunday School leaders who were divorced and divorced and re-married. \u00a0Family in general was emphasized, and this was understood as a nuclear family. \u00a0Looking back, although family structures and gender roles were not discussed, they were modeled. \u00a0Women could not be deacons, be pastors, or serve on the main church board. \u00a0The children\u2019s minister and assistant music minister were both female. \u00a0Women could lead Sunday school classes, but most of the women who did this were married to influential men in the church and greater community. \u00a0They didn\u2019t work outside the home.<\/p>\n
Question 2: Describe your parents\u2019 marriage. Was it complementarian (i.e. \u201csoft\u201d patriarchy), or more openly patriarchal, or in practice egalitarian? Did your family or church use any of these terms?<\/strong><\/p>\nOddly enough, my family was more matriarchal. \u00a0This was out of practicality more than anything because my dad battled a mental illness and had difficulty holding a steady job. \u00a0My mom listened to Christian radio, and I learned about complementarianism from listening to Focus on the Family. \u00a0In high school, the girls\u2019 Sunday School class placed a lot of emphasis on finding a godly husband and becoming godly women to attract a godly husband.<\/p>\n
Question 3: In what ways were boys and girls in your family expected to dress or act differently from each other? Were there certain things it was appropriate for girls to do but not boys, and vice versa?<\/strong><\/p>\nI only had a sister, so I have nothing to compare this to. \u00a0In 4th grade, my friend (also female) and I wanted to try out for little league football at school. \u00a0Her dad let her play football, but my mom refused and had me try out for cheerleading instead. \u00a0As far as I could tell, this was purely a gender decision on her part.<\/p>\n
Question 4: In what ways were boys and girls in your family raised differently vocationally? Were the girls expected to be stay at home mothers or to hold jobs? Did your mother work, and if so, how was that viewed by your family and church?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy mom always encouraged my sister and I to get an education and figure out what we wanted to be when we grew up. \u00a0My mom was the primary wage-earner in our family. \u00a0She worked hard and often came home tired and stressed out. \u00a0\u00a0The women who taught Sunday School at our church were wives of wealthy businessmen in the community. \u00a0My dad\u2019s mental instability was hidden from our church community, and I had a sense that my family was different.<\/p>\n
Section 4: Education<\/h1>\n
Question 1: What sort of education did you have: public school, Christian school, or homeschool? What reasons did your parents give for choosing the method of education for you that they chose?<\/strong><\/p>\nWe went to the public school. \u00a0My parents chose a house in a neighborhood that had a good public school system. \u00a0This decision was made before I was born, so they always planned to send us there.<\/p>\n
Question 2: Briefly describe the academic aspect of your educational experience (public school, Christian school, or homeschool), focusing on the role played by religion. If you were public schooled, did your parents try to counteract anything you were learning at school with different teachings at home (i.e. sex education, evolution)? Or, did the public schools in your area find ways to include things like creationism or abstinence only sex education?<\/strong><\/p>\nReligion wasn\u2019t really an issue at my public school, perhaps because I lived in a smallish city in the Bible Belt. \u00a0I was taught about evolution in the 8th grade, but my teacher was open to us about being an active member in her church. \u00a0She told the class that we needed to learn the information for her class, but if we had concerns we should ask our parents. \u00a0Learning about evolution didn\u2019t bother me. \u00a0Looking back, I think I compartmentalized evolutionary theory, taught to me at school, and the creation story being taught at church. \u00a0My mother would often mention that she believed in six day creationism, but she never used videos or books to really indoctrinate me on this.<\/p>\n
Question 3: Briefly describe the social aspect of your upbringing, especially as influenced by religion. How did your educational experience (public school, Christian school, or homeschool) affect your socialization? Was your friend group religiously diverse or more homogeneous? If you were public schooled, did your religious background cause you any social problems in school?<\/strong><\/p>\nChristianity was the \u201ccool\u201d religion at my public school. \u00a0All the popular kids were Christian or at least went to church. \u00a0\u00a0I was a bit of a nerd, which necessarily meant my friend group was more diverse\u2013Christian friends but also atheist and agnostic friends, and a Jewish friend. \u00a0\u00a0Although I went to church regularly, by the time I attended high school I wasn\u2019t really friends with anyone at my church due to my social status in the high school hierarchy.<\/p>\n
Question 4: Did you attended Sunday school, youth group, Bible club, or church camp? Please describe your experiences.<\/strong><\/p>\nAll of the above. \u00a0As \u00a0a child I enjoyed going to Sunday School, which usually involved a craft and a Bible story. \u00a0I also enjoyed going to children\u2019s\u2019 summer camp, and I have fond memories of swimming in the lake, working a ropes coarse, doing crafts, and singing Bible songs. \u00a0\u00a0I continued to participate in Sunday School as a teenager, but I didn\u2019t enjoy it as much because I didn\u2019t have very many friends at church. \u00a0I often felt left out and lonely. \u00a0The few years I went to youth camp, I stayed indoors a lot reading books because I felt intimidated by all the popular kids who went to my church.<\/p>\n
Section 5: Purity<\/h1>\n
Question 1: What were you taught about physical and emotional purity, and also about modesty? What did your family believe about dating and\/or courtship? How was sex education handled?<\/strong><\/p>\nThere was a lot of emphasis placed on purity in my church youth group. \u00a0When I was 15 we had a \u201cTrue Love Waits\u201d campaign, in which we signed virginity pledge cards. \u00a0\u00a0My mom also took me to the Christian bookstore to pick out a pledge ring to wear on my wedding ring finger. \u00a0\u00a0Modesty was never really mentioned at my church, except at youth summer camps and on mission trips. \u00a0The rule was \u201cno short shorts,\u201d but nothing was really enforced. \u00a0There were also a lot of lessons in the girls\u2019 Sunday School class about saving yourself for a godly husband.<\/p>\n
The sex education program at my public school was somewhat vague. \u00a0Girls and boys were separated into different classrooms, where w learned the difference between male and female reproductive systems. \u00a0\u00a0We didn\u2019t really learn about STDs or prevention methods until Health class, taken sometime in high school. \u00a0Almost everyone at my church went to public school, so they would have received the same education.<\/p>\n
My parents didn\u2019t allow me to date until I was 16. \u00a0Then they encouraged me to not get into a serious relationship and to date several different boys. \u00a0I think this is what they did when they were kids, and the message I heard from them contradicted the messages I heard at church and on Christian radio, which talked about dating to find a husband.<\/p>\n
Question 2: How did the things you were taught about purity, modesty, and dating\/courtship work out for you in practice? Did you date, and at what age? Did you have sex before marriage, and if you did, did you experience guilt? In essence, explain how belief met practice and with what results.<\/strong><\/p>\nI went on my first official date the day I turned 16\u2013dinner and a movie with the boy I had been crushing on. \u00a0I had a \u201cserious\u201d relationship with him for 9 months. \u00a0We didn\u2019t have sex, but we kissed and fondled each other. \u00a0I felt guilty about this, and that\u2019s one of the reasons we broke up.
\nI decided to not date anyone else until college because I switched to the look for a godly spouse mentality. \u00a0I dated several guys in college, until I met who would become my future husband. \u00a0We were very involved physically while date, but remained virgins until our wedding night.<\/p>\n
Question 3: How do you feel about your family and church\u2019s purity, modesty, and dating\/courtship teachings today? Do you think there are any parts of these teachings that still have value? How do you plan to handle these issues with your own children?<\/strong><\/p>\nI appreciated my parents\u2019 advice to date a lot of guys before I settled. \u00a0This helped me figure out what I liked about the different men I dated. \u00a0I don\u2019t think I will encourage my children to date with marriage in mind because I believe this can strain male\/female friendships and cause relationships to become too serious too soon. \u00a0When they are old enough I will discuss the importance of making healthy sexual choices within the context of a serious relationship.<\/p>\n
Question 4: Do you feel that the purity, modesty, and dating\/courtship teachings you were raised with still have lasting impact on your life today? If so, how? What do you feel is the most detrimental effect of purity teachings?<\/strong><\/p>\nI think these teachings have haunted my adult life more than anything else I was taught by the religious community. \u00a0I converted to Catholicism in college partially for the deeper systematic theology regarding sex and the body. \u00a0I was raised only hearing, \u201cSex is bad until you\u2019re married. \u00a0Then it\u2019s fabulous, so have fun.\u201d \u00a0It wasn\u2019t very deep.<\/p>\n
I found deeper theological reasons justifying this mindset in Catholicism, specifically in Theology of the Body teachings and the literature put out by the Couple to Couple League, but it also came with more rules and an anti-birth control message. \u00a0My husband and I followed these teachings, and had 2 surprise pregnancies within the first 3 years of our marriage. \u00a0This changed the course of our lives and halted our career plans. \u00a0I became completely afraid of sex and pregnancy. \u00a0We decided to remain abstinent for a year while we worked through questions about the Catholic Church\u2019s position on birth control. \u00a0\u00a0This was hard on our marriage, and we ultimately decided to abandon the Church\u2019s teaching.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a difficult process, involving a lot of guilt and anger (at each other, the Christian community, and the Catholic Church), but since abandoning these teachings our marriage has become stronger. \u00a0We are more comfortable being physically intimate in ways we both enjoy.<\/p>\n
The most detrimental effect of this teaching was my fear of sex with my husband and fear of another unplanned pregnancy. \u00a0We may have more children in future, but I want to experience the excitement of a positive pregnancy test, rather than a sense of failure at doing NFP incorrectly.<\/p>\n
Section 6: Politics<\/h1>\n
Question 1: In his book Broken Words, Jonathan Dudley argues that a fourfold opposition to abortion, homosexuality, evolution, and environmentalism constitute the markers of evangelical tribal identity. What role did opposition to these four issues in your fundamentalist or evangelical upbringing, and would you agree with Dudley?<\/strong><\/p>\nThese main issue discussed in my church was abortion, and the people there were very pro-life and endorced pro-life candidates. \u00a0My family was also strongly against homosexuality, specifically homosexual marriage and against environmentalism. \u00a0I went to high school during the early 2000s, and remember prayer in school being a big issue. \u00a0There was a yearly \u201cSee You at the Pole\u201d campaign in which churches encouraged students to pray around their school\u2019s flagpole before school. \u00a0\u00a0It was also a big deal when prayer at football games was replaced with a moment of silence.<\/p>\n
Question 2: What role did you, your family, or your church community believe Christians should play in politics? What did your family or church hold was the end goal of Christians\u2019 involvement in politics? What were your family and church community\u2019s beliefs about the end times, and how (if any) did these beliefs affect their view of Christians\u2019 role in politics?<\/strong><\/p>\nThere was a big emphasis placed on the end times in my church around the time that the Left Behind books were published. \u00a0My mom used end time theology to take a \u201cit doesn\u2019t matter\u201d approach to politics, as in, \u201cJesus is coming back soon, so it doesn\u2019t matter who wins the election.\u201d<\/p>\n
In our church we were told that it is the Christian\u2019s responsibility to vote because we have the privilege of living in a democratic nation. \u00a0We should therefore pray about we vote for, and vote for those who are against abortion.<\/p>\n
Question 3: Were you, your family, or your church community involved in politics? What all did this involvement include? Did your pastor ever preach a political view from the pulpit? Did you ever picket an abortion clinic, attend a \u201cdefense of marriage\u201d rally, or participate in any related activities? Describe your experiences.<\/strong><\/p>\nGrowing up nothing explicitly political was preached from the pulpit, other than our responsibility as citizens to vote. \u00a0The pro-life message was taught in Sunday School, where we learned that abortion was a horrible evil and blight on the nation.<\/p>\n
After I became Catholic, I heard the pro-life message preached more often from the pulpit.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t involved in politics until after I converted to Catholicism. \u00a0In college I was involved in my school\u2019s pro-life organization, and in my young adulthood I prayed the rosary in front of Planned Parenthood with a Catholic demonstration group.<\/p>\n
Question 4: What political issues did you, your parents, and\/or your church community see as most important in deciding who to vote for and why?<\/strong><\/p>\nThe biggest issue was abotion and which candidates were pro-choice and which were pro-life. \u00a0My parents were strong fiscal conservatives, so I also heard a lot of talk about \u201clazy people on welfare.\u201d<\/p>\n
My own political beliefs, up until the past 3 years or so, were shaped around the pro-life mentality. \u00a0There is a picture in my scrapbook of my friend and holding up our voters\u2019 registration cards in front of the building where we voted. \u00a0The caption I wrote below reads, \u201cVoting Pro-Life!!!\u201d<\/p>\n
Section 7: Questioning<\/h1>\n
Question 1: In what ways did the culture of your family and church differ from \u201cmainstream\u201d American culture? To what extent were you integrated into or isolated from \u201cmainstream\u201d American culture? To what extend do you feel that evangelicalism creates a sort of self-contained culture of its own, with Christian bookstores, Christian music, etc.?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy family was within mainstream culture for the area where I was raised, Texas, which is very red state with high church attendence. \u00a0Evangelicalism does create it\u2019s own culture, but this was the dominant culture where I grew up and where I went to college. \u00a0This culture wasn\u2019t isolated from mainstream American\/pop culture, but it existed alongside it and with it.<\/p>\n
Question 2: What first made you question evangelicalism\/fundamentalism? Was this initial questioning a frightening or liberating experience?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy initial questioning began in high school when I wanted to understand why I believed the things my mom taught and the things I was being taught in Church. \u00a0I started reading theology books and investigating the claims of other Christian denominations. \u00a0\u00a0Because my Baptist church and Baptist university encouraged reading the Bible for oneself, I saw it as my Christian duty to understand why I believed what I did.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t start questioning Christianity itself until well into my adulthood. \u00a0\u00a0This began when I had my own children and found an experiential disconnect between what I was feeling about motherhood and what I was told I should feel about motherhood.<\/p>\n
Question 3: What did you struggle with most when you were in the midst of questioning and leaving evangelicalism\/fundamentalism? What was the hardest part?<\/strong><\/p>\nThe hardest part about leaving evangelicalism was having my college pastor tell me why he thought I was going to hell. \u00a0It was a lengthy discussion, and I left in tears because I knew I was no longer welcome around many of my college friends. \u00a0This was followed by a letter of excommunication from the Presbyterian church I was attending. \u00a0I missed the community.<\/p>\n
Question 4: Among those you grew up around who were also raised evangelical\/fundamentalist, what proportion still hold those beliefs and what proportion have also left them?<\/strong><\/p>\nI would say that most there is about \u00a0a 50% retention rate of those still within the Evangelical\/Baptist community that I grew up in. \u00a0Half of my peers from church are still very-much Evangelical\/Baptist. \u00a0Of those who have left, most no longer go to Church, but would still call themselves Christians. \u00a0A few of us also spent some time in stricter sects or religions such as fundamentalist Baptist, Mormonism<\/a>, or in my own case, Catholicism.<\/p>\nSection 8: Relating to Family<\/h1>\n
Question 1: How did your parents and siblings respond to you questioning\/rejecting evangelicalism\/fundamentalism? How did the friends you grew up with respond?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy sister was very accepting and understand of my questioning. \u00a0My mother gave me Baptist apologetic literature to read and took my decision to leave very personally. \u00a0She stopped helping me pay for college my senior year, so I had to take out a large student loan to complete my education.<\/p>\n
I left for college determined to continue to question my faith, so I didn\u2019t have any childhood friends bothered by my questioning.<\/p>\n
I lost a few friends in college when I became a Catholic, but my best friends stayed with me. \u00a0These friends have continued to question their faith as well, and we keep in touch and openly discuss religious issues together.<\/p>\n
Question 2: Now that you\u2019ve questioned and left evangelicalism\/fundamentalism, what is your relationship with your parents and siblings like today? What is your relationship with the friends you grew up with like?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy relationship with my parents is better, now that I have had children and have been out on my own for several years. \u00a0Religion is an understood \u201coff limits\u201d topic between us. \u00a0My relationships with my sister and childhood friends never became strained over religious differences.<\/p>\n
Question 3: For those who are no longer Christian, are you \u201cout\u201d to your parents or siblings or friends from growing up? If so, how did you do it and how did they respond?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy status as a Christian is more complicated, and I\u2019m not ready to completely abandon Christianity. \u00a0Thankfully my husband and I have been drifting together in this area. \u00a0We are \u201cout\u201d to his parents, who do not understand our lack of certainty and dismiss us as agnostics.<\/p>\n
Question 4: Have any of the rest of your family, including parents and siblings, left evangelicalism or fundamentalism? How do you approach the relationships with those who have not?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy sister now attends a mainstream church and considers herself a universalist. Religion is not discussed with our parents, except on the most shallow level of attending church.<\/p>\n
Section 9: Coping<\/h1>\n
Question 1: Does having being raised evangelical or fundamentalist has made you feel \u201cdifferent\u201d from the rest of society, or like you stick out or don\u2019t fit in in some way? Explain.<\/strong><\/p>\nI don\u2019t feel different having been raised Evangelical, I feel different having left Evangelicalism.<\/p>\n
I now live in a smaller Texas town, and being Christian is the norm here. \u00a0\u00a0Having more accepting believes regarding people of different races, ethnicities, and sexual identities makes me feel different, especially because I\u2019m committed to speaking out against intolerance.<\/p>\n
Question 2: What do you think is the biggest way being raised in an evangelical or fundamentalist family and church community has influenced who you are today?<\/strong><\/p>\nI learned to value family and togetherness, and I understand the mindset of my current community. \u00a0I think the emphasis placed on personal belief and reading the Bible for oneself gave me a starting place to begin exploring my own beliefs, a process I feel is never really complete.<\/p>\n
Question 3: How did you perceive your childhood and evangelical or fundamentalist religious upbringing at the time compared to how do you see it now?<\/strong><\/p>\nAs a child I thought it was a lot of fun to go to church, and I was very happy with my friends and experiences there. \u00a0As a teenager, I felt out of place and resented being forced to go to church. \u00a0\u00a0I tried hard to be the best Christian I could be because I wanted to fit in with the popular Christian kids.<\/p>\n
Now, I simply see those experiences as a part of my childhood. \u00a0I appreciated the community I received as a child, but I\u2019m glad I could explore other Christian communities as an adult.<\/p>\n
Question 4: What do you think were the most beneficial things about being raised fundamentalist or evangelical? What were the most problematic things?<\/strong><\/p>\nThe most beneficial things were the emphasis on families at my church and the different age-appropriate activity levels for the kids. \u00a0Because my church was large there were a lot of different activities. \u00a0I found my love of singing in church choir, and I had an outlet for volunteer work in the community. \u00a0Since leaving, I really miss these things.<\/p>\n
The most problematic thing for me was feeling out of place as a working-class kid, who preferred reading books than talking about boys. \u00a0\u00a0I didn\u2019t like the cliquishness. \u00a0At the same time, this has helped me sympathize with misfits and become a more open-minded adult.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“I was raised an Evangelical Baptist in the \u201cBible Belt.\u201d The church we attended was affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. It was a mega-Church and the culture can be described as Evangelical. In high school and college I went through a questioning and discovery period, eventually becoming Conservative Catholic towards the end of my senior year of college. As a young adult my questioning continued, and although I still consider myself Catholic, faith I no longer hold orthodox beliefs or participate in the Church sacraments.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[99,135,127,106,131,261,251,253,105],"class_list":["post-8919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evangelicalism-fundamentalism","tag-church-2","tag-gender","tag-healing","tag-marriage-2","tag-modesty","tag-public-school","tag-questioning","tag-raised-evangelical-series","tag-sex-2"],"yoast_head":"\n
Raised Evangelical: Kacy's Story<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""I was raised an Evangelical Baptist in the \u201cBible Belt.\u201d The church we attended was affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. It was a mega-Church and the culture can be described as Evangelical. In high school and college I went through a questioning and discovery period, eventually becoming Conservative Catholic towards the end of my senior year of college. 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