This is an installment of the Religious Fundamentalism and Sexuality Project. You can read the full list of questions here and the posting plan here. The first six participants whose stories I’ll be posting are Melissa and Haley, Lina and V, Latebloomer and Katy-Anne. Romantic Relationships 1. What were you taught to expect in a romantic relationship and/or marriage? How have you found reality to match or differ from your expectations? (more…) Read more
I was seventeen when Ayn Rand captured the hearts of my best friend, Sven and his other male friend. “We’re libertarians,” they proclaimed proudly, though I had no idea what that meant. When I asked, they responded that I ought to read Atlas Shrugged, because it would open my eyes to the Way Politics Really Were. They also told me that it was a philosophy based on individual liberty and reduced government interference. I said I supposed I was a... Read more
To date, I’ve received loads of (probably rhetorical) questions from readers of my millennial post, asking (in paraphrase) “Watchu gonna do about it?” Since it’s Independence Day in an election year and we’ve all got politics on the brain, I’ve decided to actually answer them. What should we do about the economic plight of young Gen Xers, Millennials and their unemployed parents? Here’s my short list. For individuals: Talk about them. (More below the jump.) Vote. (Duh!) Call your senators.... Read more
This is an installment of the Religious Fundamentalism and Sexuality Project. You can read the full list of questions here and the posting plan here. The first six participants whose stories I’ll be posting are Melissa and Haley, Lina and V, Latebloomer and Katy-Anne. Peer Group 4. Did you experience peer pressure regarding sexuality and/or purity? How did you respond to it? Did you ever see yourself as a role model or example for others in the purity movement? (more…) Read more
This is an installment of the Religious Fundamentalism and Sexuality Project. You can read the full list of questions here and the posting plan here. The first six participants whose stories I’ll be posting are Melissa and Haley, Lina and V, Latebloomer and Katy-Anne. Peer Group 3. What did you believe about non-fundamentalists and their attitudes towards sex? Where did your impressions come from? (more…) Read more
This is part of a series of songs with excerpts of lyrics I’ve found relevant to leaving fundamentalism. Lyrics below the jump. Muse would have been way out of my reach when I was a fundamentalist teenager. So convinced was I that anything with a beat constituted “satanic rock” that I thought Billy Joel was scandalous (though I sneakily listened to him anyway). When I went to college, I studiously hid my music choices because I was certain that whatever I was... Read more
I find it really interesting that my daily read through the blogosphere today brought up two apparently unrelated articles that echo each other. They use different examples and are written in noticeably different styles, but they nonetheless bring up the same issue and even the exact same description of the problem (bolding is mine). Both are worth a look. Enjoy! Jolene Tan at The F Word (UK) writes: What’s wrong with sexual objectification? Hint: it’s not the “sexual” bit “Objectification”... Read more
This is an installment of the Religious Fundamentalism and Sexuality Project. You can read the full list of questions here and the posting plan here. The first six participants whose stories I’ll be posting are Melissa and Haley, Lina and V, Latebloomer and Katy-Anne. Peer Group 2. To what extent did “purity culture” affect your beliefs about sexuality (in any sense of the word)? (more…) Read more
This just in from the Department of Unintended Irony: Michelle Duggar makes a public statement about modesty, just to be sure you know how modest they are – too modest for the beach – in case you were straining your neck looking for their modest stairstep children in the crowd while you immodestly sunned your heathen midriff. After all, they’re so modest, they wouldn’t want you thinking and worrying about them too much! Michelle Duggar: We Don’t Wear Shorts – Or... Read more
This is an installment of the Religious Fundamentalism and Sexuality Project. You can read the full list of questions here and the posting plan here. The first six participants whose stories I’ll be posting are Melissa and Haley, Lina and V, Latebloomer and Katy-Anne. Peer Group 1. Growing up, did you (a) identify as gay, lesbian, bi or trans, or (b) know someone who did? How did you feel about that knowledge (about yourself or other person)? (more…) Read more
The Phoenix and Olive Branch
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