Introduce Yourself

[memell]

Hi I'm Memell

aussie

I dont comment much

I find these fundies (of all varieties ) fascinating ..

My parent delved into semi cult (Jehavahs WItness) when i was a kid .

[August]

I'm August. I'm shattered that I have to wait 75 posts before starting a new thread, because I've been lurking here for years and years and finally have both a horrible fundy quote to contribute and a question to ask. And now I have to wait.

[Ramona]

August ~ maybe you can share them in a current thread if they fit? :)

[TheBoysNana]

Quick intro - read some posts about "scary brown people", so thought this might be pertinent: brown woman married to a white guy, stepmom to one daughter, and Nana to the cutest red headed boy.

We make our home in South Texas.

[JuggsBunny]

Hi everyone!!

I'm also an on-and-off lurker - but have some time on my hands and thoughts to contribute, so now I'm here introducing myself. :)

I'm 37, married, no children, liberal, atheist currently living in New Orleans. I'm originally from Massachusetts, educated in California, and have just moved back to the United States after living in Germany for a couple of years. I was raised Catholic, figured out I was an atheist pretty quickly (around the age of 13 or so), and I'm fascinated with the sociology and psychology of cults and fundamentalist movements. I enjoy reading and debating about various subjects - and in my spare time I like to hang out with friends and drink. I'm very blunt, caustic, and sarcastic - with a wicked sense of humour. Feel free to ask me anything!

Cheers,

Juggsy

[AVENues]

31, divorced, childless, asexual. Sounds bad to most people but I'm happy. How much do I have to tell about myself? How much is too much? Long story short, I haven't had any kind of relationship since my divorce. And looks like there won't be any. I had planned to become single as soon as "put the kid through college", and I reach a certain age when it's okay to be divorced and have no relationship anymore. Turned out that was the dumbest indoctrination I've accepted and it has messed up my whole life so far. Earlier on I tried having a relationship with my own gender for a while and I felt like a freak for not enjoying that kind of relationship either. No one had told me before that it was ok, totally okay to be asexual before I bumped into AVEN. And that I was not a freak for not wanting a relationship. And as soon as I realized that I had set new goals and I have been living the life I have been putting aside, thinking otherwise I would not be normal. Now I'm doing voluntary work and finding myself through meditation. Here's the only place where people don't ask me "how come you don't have a boyfriend" or wanting to hook me up with somebody. Okay, the sunny side of my life has begun. I can fill my days with work and charity and my evenings with reading and enjoying a tea, and my nights with restful, undisturbed sleep. I feel good even if I'm not "normal" according to social standards. I don't have too much self esteem but at least I owned up to what I have always wanted and that's a big step for me. Thanks for listening.

[Dysfundamental]

48-year-old lady. Married to a guy. Bi. Lukewarm Episcopalian. Nowhere near as interesting as 99% of the regular posters here--you folks crack me up with your wit and insight!

[Lolo McGee]

I'm in my early 30's, a mother of three, former military member, and a college student. I was raised fundie in my early years but we've all gone away fro it. I'm agnostic but married a Christian who can't be bothered to care about my religion and wants our kids to decide what they believe when they get older.

[EmiGirl]

Hello! I'm Emily from East Tennessee. I'm 28, married with 3 furchildren. I guess i identify Baptist religiously even though most of my views are for more liberal than my particular church. As for politics, I used to consider myself a conservative Republican but since meeting my husband's extremely conservative family I now tend to consider myself to be more moderate.

It's really my husband and his family that brought me to this board. I found it while researching the crazy Bill Gothard whose cult ATI my in-laws were involved in while my husband was growing up. My parents-in-law have left the teachings (yet still remain VERY conservative), but his extended family has not. Personally blame Gothard for some of the emotional (or lack of emotion) problems my husband has now as they were taught not to get emotionally attached to anyone (even spouses and children). Anyway, he is working through the realization of what was ingrained in him from a very young age and is trying to overcome some of it. In the process I have been looking into some of the beliefs of Gothard-ites and people like them and some of it just makes me completely ill.

[clone]

Hi! I'm Clone. Grew up in the Assembly of God in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Went to church Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and Wednesday nights (I was a Missionette and Honor Star). ;)

My church was actually very mainstream, large, and affluent, and the people were nice but snobby, preppy, country club types. People did speak in tongues, but that was about as wacky as it got except maybe during revivals.

Totally non-religious now. Took me a while to get to the "totally" part, but I always thought loads of the fundamentalist spiel was crap--namely things like views on hell, homosexuality, etc.--even when I bought into the parts I liked way back when.

Now I'm a Godless heathen liberal living in Satan's playground--San Francisco. I have a compulsive desire to keep my fingers on the pulse of evangelical Christiandom because it's like poking a scab, I guess.

I'm lucky, though, because even the religious members of my family are accepting of me and love me just the way I am.

Anyway, it's good to be around people who get this brand of religious mentality. I know a lot of people don't get it. If you don't grow up with it, you just can't comprehend that people really think the bizarre things they do. It's like speaking a completely different language or belonging to a secret society. You have to interpret for people sometimes, and they're just boggled. It's kind of amusing and kind of, 'Omg, was I really a part of that???'

Oh, I like snark too. :)

[NeonJungle]

Hi, I'm 45, live in the south, have a husband and two dogs, no children, and used to read/post under the same user name on the ezBoard. Can't believe it's taken almost a year and a half since I registered here for me to post!

[moochies]

Hello all! Longtime lurker (we are talking yuku days here) and first time poster. I am 30-something year old gal with a husband and 3 kids. Raised in the Bible Belt as an Eastern Orthodox but now consider myself an Episcopalian, much to my family's dismay.Politically I would say I am a moderate and I work in the field of Psychology. And I've had a long fascination with fundies, probably because i see a lot of it down here! Anyway, it is great to finally meet yall!

[NeonJungle]

Welcome to Whiskeypalianism (I kid, I kid)! Cradle Episcopalian and former ezBoard/Yuku lurker too checking in!

[moochies]

Welcome to Whiskeypalianism (I kid, I kid)! Cradle Episcopalian and former ezBoard/Yuku lurker too checking in!

Thanks NeonJungle! We have been to many a different churches and we always seem to come back to the Episcopal Church. It just feels like home to me. And growing up EO, a denomination that actually serves wine at communion was kinda a must ;)

[NeonJungle]

I don't know where "down here" is, Moochies, but we may be neighbors, as I also live in the buckle of the Bible belt. I think y'all will really like Epsicopalianism. Over the years, when moving from one town to another, I've visited churches of various denominations, and think the way you do -- it feels like coming home to attend an Episcopal service. And I also know what you mean, "much to my family's dismay;" my mom told me my grandmother would roll over in her grave to hear I was attending services other than Episcopal. And I told her, "Yes. And then she'll roll over the other way, glad in knowing I am still going to church." Wasn't much Mom could say to that. :D

[moochies]

I don't know where "down here" is, Moochies, but we may be neighbors, as I also live in the buckle of the Bible belt. I think y'all will really like Epsicopalianism. Over the years, when moving from one town to another, I've visited churches of various denominations, and think the way you do -- it feels like coming home to attend an Episcopal service. And I also know what you mean, "much to my family's dismay;" my mom told me my grandmother would roll over in her grave to hear I was attending services other than Episcopal. And I told her, "Yes. And then she'll roll over the other way, glad in knowing I am still going to church." Wasn't much Mom could say to that. :D

I wish my dad would feel that way! He had a complete fit when be found out we were not having an EO wedding (complete with him "disowning" me, but that's a different story!) but more of a stroke when we broke the news that our kids were being baptized in the Episcopal church. He's kinda laid off the subject since my sister is now full on Southern Baptist now, the complete opposite of what my dad ever thought would happen. I just feel like the Episcopal church is a good blend.

can I ask where you are located at? Or is that a PM kinda thing?

[NeonJungle]

Don't mind saying I'm in Alabama. :) Were you Greek Orthodox, by chance? There are several Greek EO churches in the state, and my beloved mentor was a member of a Maronite Church. In what part of the buckle of the Bible belt do you live? And my DH's family is Southern Baptist, but they are really cool -- they don't hold truck with worrying about denominational differences. They just want to be people who...well, are just people. Ask them, they'll tell you, but mostly they just try to live. "Evangelize" with what they do, I guess, rather than being like the vocal "evangelicals" I see here.

Your Dad, especially if you're from a long line of EOs, must be wondering, if your sister went full-on Southern Baptist. That's so far away from EO (t he must be scratching his head, much like my Mom did when I told her I was visiting Baptist churches. Your sister broke ground for you, though -- maybe he'll think, "OK, Episcopalianism is a little closer to EO..." :D

[CoatRack]

I'm A and I was raised Assemblies of God in Los Angeles, CA - church on Sundays and Wednesdays, extra church in the summer, church camp a couple weeks each year, etc. I left/was asked to leave the church a few weeks before I turned 13 because I took another girl to the 7th grade dance with me (I was in public school). My mother wasn't super into the church, that was stepfather #1's gig and they divorced not long after. Stepfather #2 always hated me because I saw through his veneer so I left home while in high school. Worked to get myself through college with some pretty hefty loans and found my home in the Unitarian Universalist church.

I am 25, transgender (or FTM masculine-identified genderqueer if you want the specifics) and am in seminary studying for ministry and hoping to be ordained in the UU church in the next few years.

I have a lovely partner, am a live-in evening nanny for two awesome kiddos, and am a ridiculous church geek. And I'm not anywhere near as evil as my parents probably think I am.

[Austin]

Greetings all,

I've been lurking for a while and figured it's high time I introduced myself. I'm 34, a mother of one sweet and hilarious first grade boy and two humongous tuxedo cats (Walter & The Dude), and am a life-long resident of Maryland . I work in Customer Service. I discovered FJ when I was searching for info on the creepalicious Quiverfull movement and of course, our friends, the Duggars. I am a liberal Christian (Episcopalian) and strong supporter of marriage equality, the Dream Act, and legalization of the green sticky stuff.

My interest in the fundie types began when I was a hostess in a restaurant and we had regular Sunday night customers who were a youth group from a local Pentecostal church. It was a large bunch and I was fascinated by the young ladies' huge, complicated hair styles and long dresses. They also tended to be loud and rude to staff and had a tendency to leave fake $100 bills ("Disappointed? You wouldn't be if you had Jesus in your life...") as tips. Our servers used to draw straws to see who would be stuck with the three large tables it took to accommodate them. Needless to say I was fascinated and could not look away. They seemed a little different from the Duggar/Gothardite type fundies. I actually befriended their pastor's daughters in a class I was taking at the local community college and she told me that dancing (as long as it was aerobics type stuff or in church) and dating were ok. They also attended public schools.

So far, I'm loving the diversity of topics I've discovered here as well as the bond between members and, of course, the snark (and the cake, yum). Thanks for having me!

Welcome!

The leaving that gross tract as opposed to a tip is disgusting. I really cannot believe people do shit like this, but they do it all the time.

My eldest son, a college student, is also a cook, trainer, and server at a local chain restaurant, albeit one of the more upscale ones. He told me recently that when he is scheduled to serve on Sundays, he asks the hostesses to try not to seat any "church people" at his tables. This son is a liberal, but also a pretty devout Lutheran, so he's not anti-Christian, but the truth is, he says, that people that go to church, in his experience, tend not to tip well in general.

Back when I was a church-goer, we always tipped generously and fairly (still do), but I guess a lot of them just feel like the restaurant staff should just feel honored to serve them. :roll:

[SurroundedbyFundies]

Hey all...

Been lurking for a long time, but finally joined today. It feels like a confession of sorts.

Im 33, married, 3 kids. Raised baptist, evolved to Assembly of God...got trapped in legalism for 10 years and had my awakening about 3 years ago when I moved into the mountains and was too far away to get to church regularly. Converted to Catholicism, decided I am probably Episcopalian, then came out of my "journey" only to discover that I live somewhere that is a Fundie PARADISE. One of the largest old world mennonite colonies is here. Those that aren't mennonite are not far from it...lots of homechurching, growing kids Gods way, and Courtship galore. I feel like I am surrounded by denim jumpers and everything smells vaguely of ignorance.

Funny how it seems normal until your eyes are opened.

We do homeschool, but not in a weird creepy way. We are definitely eclectic in our approach. It works for us.

I read stuff here and it horrifies me sometimes..not because of snark, but because I think of how much I was like these people. The comedy is therapy for this former fundie. It sure is nice to find my way and discover I never really was one of them...and glad it happened before my kids were old enough to be damaged by it.

Tough to be surrounded, but finding our way and our own little tribe. :)

[bal maiden]

Hello everybody. Long-term fundie-watcher here. Have lurked on this board for a while but only just signed up! I'm a PhD researcher from the UK, atheist (born and raised), feminist, and Cornish nationalist.

[Artemis]

Waves hi

If you're coming up to the Bristol area, feel free to PM me and we'll have a coffee :)

Knew you'd be Cornish the minute I saw your nick :)

[NurseNell]

Hello everybody. Long-term fundie-watcher here. Have lurked on this board for a while but only just signed up! I'm a PhD researcher from the UK, atheist (born and raised), feminist, and Cornish nationalist.

I like reading books set in Cornwall. I hope I can visit it, and Guernsey, before I die.

[QualifiedMidwife]

Thought I should introduce myself now that I've posted elsewhere!

As per my user name I am a Qualified Midwife in Australia. I got ridiculously pissed off when Jill decided she was a midwife - I have no idea on her training etc, but ours was huge (3 year undergrad degree, constant placement etc). Anyway, that's what made me think about joining. Plus I've had a long time fascination with what Mullet is doing to her body.

so umm, yeah. And I have 2 kids, and a cat. :mrgreen:

[treehugger]

Hi all

I guess I'd better introduce myself before I get all carried away posting elsewhere. I am 22 years old and happily married to the father of my sweet 3 month old baby girl. I'm a SAHM now, but I did work outside the home for 3 years after graduating college - and I would love to go back to school later on! We live in Alberta and my hubby works up north on the oil fields, so we can actually afford to live on a single income and still put away money for our daughter's education :shock:

My gateway fundie was Jacinda from Growing Home. We actually grew up together (we are the same age and it blows my mind that she has already has 4 kids!), and I have vaguely fond memories of playing with her as a little kid. Somehow though, she got stranger and stranger (her family isn't crazy fundie so I am not sure where that all came from) and I now watch her in shock and some horror. I am a Christian but of the very left-leaning variety. Which means I am a pacifist and a bleeding-heart, human-rights advocate.

Right now, Free Jinger is the only thing helping me keep my sanity - thanks to the insanely stupid comments and posts that are flooding my facebook feed. Thanks you all for being a ray of common sense in this pathetic world. Carry on!