Introduce Yourself- Part 3

[ScoobySleuth]

Hi There!

I have been lurking for a long time and just decided to join!

I was raised hardcore Independent Fundamental Baptist in Pennsylvania. I grew up under a lot of rules spoken from the pulpit but more abuse practiced behind closed doors.

I attended Bob Jones University 

 I began the journey of leaving fundamentalism after leaving BJU, but struggled because of being taught it was the only way to God for years.

Also, I was diagnosed with depression and complex ptsd but those things are not illnesses in that branch of fundamentalism. They’re just “sin problems.”

I recently moved to a mid-Atlantic state, Religiously,  I am a Episcopalian.

I have no human kids, but I currently have three fur babies- two cats ? ? and a ?. They rule the roost! ?

I may share more about myself later, but that’s about all for now...

 

[Melinda]

Hello from Finland! 

I have been lurking since Joshgate2015 and I follow at least Duggars, Bates and Wallers. 

I'm an atheist. 

I like to read a lot.

I love winter.

I work in a kindergarten.

My favorite animal is a cow. 

I have made my English teacher cry. Many times. I was 12.

My English isn't good so I'll continue reading...

[Jellybean]

Hi @Melinda!

I’m so glad you have decided to start writing and that you have introduced yourself here. I hope you will continue to write as well as reading. 

There are lots of people here for whom English is not a first language and even a few from Finland (I can only think of @finnlassie now but I know there are more). We don’t mind if you make mistakes — that won’t make anyone here cry!

I look forward to seeing more posts from you!

[Melinda]

Thank you so much @Jellybean! 

[finnlassie]

19 hours ago, Melinda said:

Hello from Finland! 

I have been lurking since Joshgate2015 and I follow at least Duggars, Bates and Wallers. 

I'm an atheist. 

I like to read a lot.

I love winter.

I work in a kindergarten.

My favorite animal is a cow. 

I have made my English teacher cry. Many times. I was 12.

My English isn't good so I'll continue reading...

I love seeing the FJ Finn Family grow! And! My favourite animal is the cow as well! (I used to collect cow items and at best had 100+ collectibles)

[harkasquirrel]

Hi there! I've been lurking on and off for a while and I decided to finally jump in! I mainly follow the Rodriguez Family, and peek in on the Maxwells, Arndts, and Duggars from time to time.

I'm agnostic but raised Eastern Orthodox.

I'm an avid reader and Netflix and Hulu-er.

[OyHiOh]

I'm facinated with fundamentalism in all its varying, glorious, maddening forms.

I was raised in a home with no TV, no commercial radio, a piano, classical music lessons, was homeschooled, and had a steady diet of liberal NPR talk radio.  My parents are not religious but I grew up in church because my father was a professional musician who worked as Music Director in a series of liberal Lutheran churches (ELCA churches).  By the time I turned 10, I was participating in summer theater, knew about dog whistles, had free reign of the library, knew about HIV/AIDS, knew that a friend of my parents was going to die of the disease.  It was a very strange childhood.

And then my dad got talked into enrolling me in a church school that was pretty much the exact polar opposite of my ELCA glory days.  A tiny, fundamentalist lutheran split off called the Church of the Lutheran Confession.  Went to their schools for seven years.  Tried to make myself over as a good fundamentalist young woman.  I tried very hard, but it didn't stick.  Eventually converted to Judaism and then pretty much immediately thereafter found myself on a road to, well, let's just call it not believing in fairy tales.  Fundamentalism intrigues me because I see how black and white rigid thinking shows up in so many unexpected places.

Also, my husband of fourteen years died on Feb 11 after a three week battle in ICU with flu.  I'm still very much in the stage that many people describe as numb, but which I call the "I know it's real but it doesn't **feel** real" stage.  It's also this weird time warp thing where the last month feels like it's moved both too fast and too slow at the same time.  Photo is from 2013, when my youngest was a mere 18 months old.  Mr Oy loved Halloween.  I can't begin to process how we'll deal with Halloween this year.

[harkasquirrel]

@OyHiOh, I'm so incredibly sorry for you and your children's loss.

[Chocolate Lover]

Hi there.

I've been reading FJ for some time but only recently joined.   I'm in the UK.   Gateway fundie were the Duggars but don't read that section much these days.  Got into the Rods and the Anderson's, and currently wading through the  more recent Naugler threads.

Sympathies to @OyHiOh

ETA   I'm a Kidult!!  So apt, even at my age ?

Edited March 2, 2019 by Chocolate Lover
Noticed my post count title

[ClareDeLune]

Hello, I'm Clare from London. Thank you for letting me join the forum (but will probably lurk more than post) . No 'fundie' connections, an atheist at heart, just a weird interest in religious extremes and watch too many documentaries about them and too much 'reality' tv! ?

[samurai_sarah]

Hi you two new UK-ers,

Join the club. We don't bite, unless we have to. Jump right in, and if you have any questions feel free to PM a mod (aka "helpmeets") of your choice. Other than that, I'm looking forward to your contributions.

[pook]

On 2/28/2019 at 3:32 PM, OyHiOh said:

I'm facinated with fundamentalism in all its varying, glorious, maddening forms.

I was raised in a home with no TV, no commercial radio, a piano, classical music lessons, was homeschooled, and had a steady diet of liberal NPR talk radio.  My parents are not religious but I grew up in church because my father was a professional musician who worked as Music Director in a series of liberal Lutheran churches (ELCA churches).  By the time I turned 10, I was participating in summer theater, knew about dog whistles, had free reign of the library, knew about HIV/AIDS, knew that a friend of my parents was going to die of the disease.  It was a very strange childhood.

And then my dad got talked into enrolling me in a church school that was pretty much the exact polar opposite of my ELCA glory days.  A tiny, fundamentalist lutheran split off called the Church of the Lutheran Confession.  Went to their schools for seven years.  Tried to make myself over as a good fundamentalist young woman.  I tried very hard, but it didn't stick.  Eventually converted to Judaism and then pretty much immediately thereafter found myself on a road to, well, let's just call it not believing in fairy tales.  Fundamentalism intrigues me because I see how black and white rigid thinking shows up in so many unexpected places.

Also, my husband of fourteen years died on Feb 11 after a three week battle in ICU with flu.  I'm still very much in the stage that many people describe as numb, but which I call the "I know it's real but it doesn't **feel** real" stage.  It's also this weird time warp thing where the last month feels like it's moved both too fast and too slow at the same time.  Photo is from 2013, when my youngest was a mere 18 months old.  Mr Oy loved Halloween.  I can't begin to process how we'll deal with Halloween this year.

So very very sorry to hear of your loss.  

[EmmaWoodhouse]

Hi!

I'm a longtime lurker, first-time poster (IIRC, I found FreeJinger while googling more information on Doug Phillips' fall from glory, so it's been a while).  I grew up in a fundamentalist home, but have since evolved to more of a mainstream Christian, as have many members of my family to various degrees.  I even wear pants and am finishing my senior year at a fully accredited university (le gasp).

I follow the Bontragers, Maxwells, Botkins, Duggars, and Bateses (and occasionally read JRod, Lori Alexander, or Gwen Shamblin if I'm feeling especially brave).

I look forward to talking rather than lurking!

 

[MiQ]

Hi everybody  ( or at least us newbies ?)!

I found fundies the first time when I was a little girl on a family trip to Niagara falls. Everybody else was excited about the falls but I saw amish for the first time. I wanted to know everything about them. I even made a quilt in 6th grade ( still have it)  ?.

Much later, when my own kids were little I googled for advice on how to get a baby sleep the night--->found Erika Shupe and fell down a very deep rabbit hole. If it wasn't for Erika I wouldn't have found FJ *bless* .

I don't even know when I started reading here, my youngest were born between 09-12, so around that time. I only registered to read the Anderson-thread. But here I am kind of excited to introduce myself ?. My fave fundies: Andersons, Arndts (newest), Rods, and Nauglers. 

Just now, MiQ said:

 I googled for advice on how to get a baby sleep the night--->found Erika Shupe 

If anybody wonders, I didn't get my kids to sleep better. I just got something to do reading FLOP and FJ.

[AdamsBellybutton]

I'm breaking my long-time lurkage to say hi and we'll see where it goes from there

My best friend and neighbor growing up was a fundie of some flavor--family homeschooled, girls kept long hair and wore only dresses/skirts and mandated head coverings on and off, home-churching, passed out tracts instead of candy most Halloweens, we read "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" together, definite patriarchal overtones, the usual drill. I think I was her only non-homeschool friend and I was probably only approved by her parents because I was a pastor's daughter (mainstream evangelical but still a fairly conservative denomination.) 

My family definitely wasn't fundie (ebil public school because pastor's salary = poor, pants for us girls were fine although church dresses on Sundays were an unquestioned requirement, etc.) and I know my parents cast a wary eye on a lot of the neighbor family's practices. I myself figured out from a very early age that religion was "the family business" and it was much easier on everyone involved if I looked like the Good Christian Daughter they expected. Thankfully I was pretty good at being a church girl (memorizing bible verses and trivia, holding stimulating conversation with people much older than me, playing various instruments and volunteering for all the Sunday School/Vacation Bible School/little ones teaching asks) so I faked it through until age 18 while maintaining an internal ever-increasing skepticism for religion. The internet really helped. Thank you, internet.

Luckily I was also pretty good at school and was able to use various academic and extra-curricular excuses to slowly weasel my way out of too much church participation by the time I hit middle and high school. Got a full ride to *secular* college in the Big City and I was out of there the second our orientation started. Now I've been living in sin with my partner for almost 7 years while my parents do the nice Midwestern thing and press their lips together grimly whenever this co-habitation comes up.

My friendship with fundie neighbor girl petered out around middle school because her mom overheard one too many mentions of me discussing having a crush on someone (had she realized the crushes were on boys AND girls, the end of the friendship might have been even more abrupt.) 

So my fascination with all things fundie is two-fold: one, connecting the dots and realizing just how many crazy things that neighbor family probably bought into at various times; and two, reassuring myself that despite a slightly awkward and sheltered upbringing, I turned out okay and it could have been SO MUCH WORSE. It's also nice to observe a community that generally gets how spooked I feel about a lot of these things (like okay, that was kind of a close call.) I don't necessarily follow any families in particular or anything, I just appreciate the... overall chaos and nuttiness.

[Botkinetti]

Welcome. I love your screen name.

[Longhairedheathen]

Hello! Long time luker

Growing up my family was a strange mix of New age and roaring Nazarene fundamentalist.

One weekend would would be camping in the woods, working at the family shop ren faire, going to pow wows and events. Lots of talk about mother earth and the science of life. Free love and nudity isn't to be ashamed of. 

We would go a couple of weeks like that and then it would be church retreats, spiritual healing, lectures on creationism, skirts only, handing out tacts, youth lock ins. Summers doing VBS and street ministry.  

I ended up marrying a guy from the church, having 2 amazing kids and sadly splitting with my ex due to his mental illness.  The church was supportive of the divorce and everything. Unfortunately religion is a huge trigger for his mental illness. It is still fresh so it hurts to take about it.  

I left the Nazarene church, went Pagan, went to a Pentecostal Church, left and went Pagan, now I am in a really good UU church and thriving. 

My parents loved us and I think at times were a odds with each other but wasn't abusive to each other and like the different in options. 

Anyway hello

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

Welcome, @Longhairedheathen!

That sounds like a hard way to grow up. I can imagine going from Nazarene fundamentalist to New Age practitioner and back might cause a sort of mental whiplash. (At least, I bet it would for me!) 

I don't know if you already know your way around FJ or not, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask. It's good to meet you!

[Longhairedheathen]

44 minutes ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

Welcome, @Longhairedheathen!

That sounds like a hard way to grow up. I can imagine going from Nazarene fundamentalist to New Age practitioner and back might cause a sort of mental whiplash. (At least, I bet it would for me!) 

I don't know if you already know your way around FJ or not, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask. It's good to meet you!

I think they both did a lot of "mental gymnastics" to please one another. 

Like we didn't have a T.v because it was money my dad didn't want to spend. 

Mom: God doesn't operate on human linear timelines, 1 day could be 1 million years to him. 

Dad: God is neither male nor female so it could be a he. 

Mom: Jesus was from the middle east so holiday were different but if you celebrate it and think of Jesus it still counts.

Dad: You dress accordingly, everyone in skirts, you in skirt. Everyone nude, you in what you feel comfortable in.  

They both were conservative with same sex marriage and "pro-life"  but frustratingly enough the reasons weren't biblical.  Dad and my brother pass away but I do wonder how the Trump/Clinton would have affected them.  

[Palimpsest]

Hi @Longhairedheathen,  and welcome to FJ!

I look forward to more of your input on FJ..  It sounds as though you have some very interesting stories to tell and I don't know much about the Nazarenes.  I'd like to know more.  The New Age bit is also very intriguing.

[Longhairedheathen]

16 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

Hi @Longhairedheathen,  and welcome to FJ!

I look forward to more of your input on FJ..  It sounds as though you have some very interesting stories to tell and I don't know much about the Nazarenes.  I'd like to know more.  The New Age bit is also very intriguing.

Pretty much a baptist but without the eternal salvation. 

and we could dance. 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

1 hour ago, Longhairedheathen said:

Pretty much a baptist but without the eternal salvation. 

and we could dance. 

That's right. I had forgotten that Nazarenes don't agree with the "once saved, always saved" idea. 

[Ticklish]

Hi! I'm a long time lurker and this isn't my first time posting, but I thought I should introduce myself since I've been posting more lately. 

I've been lurking on FJ since 2014 (that's when I got an account anyway, I'd been lurking much longer anonymously) and I just hit 50 posts, which makes sense since I am extremely introverted. I work from home and live in a small town where I don't know many people/have a lot of friends so it's easy for me to stay in my introverted bubble. 

I live in the Midwest (born and raised), I'm in my 30s, married, with 2 little girls, 2 cats, and 1 big needy old dog. I was an English major and love to read, but somehow still manage to watch too much TV. 

My gateway to fundies were the Duggars. I've always been fascinated by large families and I remember watching the special where they built their house (15 kids?) and then watching the TLC show that featured large families (the Arndts, etc). TWoP eventually lead me to FJ, and here I am! Trying not to lurk so much!?

[HerNameIsBuffy]

2 minutes ago, Ticklish said:

Hi! I'm a long time lurker and this isn't my first time posting, but I thought I should introduce myself since I've been posting more lately. 

I've been lurking on FJ since 2014 (that's when I got an account anyway, I'd been lurking much longer anonymously) and I just hit 50 posts, which makes sense since I am extremely introverted. I work from home and live in a small town where I don't know many people/have a lot of friends so it's easy for me to stay in my introverted bubble. 

I live in the Midwest (born and raised), I'm in my 30s, married, with 2 little girls, 2 cats, and 1 big needy old dog. I was an English major and love to read, but somehow still manage to watch too much TV. 

My gateway to fundies were the Duggars. I've always been fascinated by large families and I remember watching the special where they built their house (15 kids?) and then watching the TLC show that featured large families (the Arndts, etc). TWoP eventually lead me to FJ, and here I am! Trying not to lurk so much!?

Welcome to posting  

[Loolaa]

Hi ?‍♀️

I'm also a long time lurker. I started reading here sometime after Razing Ruth and the fall of Doug Phillips (is a Tool), but before Joshgate. My gateway fundies were the Duggars, but I also follow others: Rods, Schrader, Lori, Gwen Shamblin, Erica Shupe at the time, and I stop by here and there on other threads  ... Not the Nauglers though, cause the though makes me

I grew up non-religious in a Scandinavian country that's mostly secular, where fundamentalism is rare and mostly just in certain areas of the country. I was baptised since that was the norm at the time and more about tradition than religion. The baptism automatically made me a member of the state church. State and church have later been separated. Although I was never in church and was a so-called "silent member" on their member lists, I decided to officially file a request to leave church around 10 years ago due to their view on homosexuality. The church gets state funding based on their membership numbers and I didn't want to be a part of it anymore.

Despite my avatar, I'm a dog mom. My instagram feed is mostly filled with dogs ? But I feel that the cat picture so accurately captures my thoughts on fundamentalism.

I've struggled with infertility and failed IVFs, then my husband filed for divorce just before our much awaited adoption was to be completed, which meant that the adoption was annulled. In my grief I fell into an unhealthy relationship that became abusive (on his part). Am now single and trying to live a good life, though it's a struggle most days. FreeJinger is my happy place when times are rough!

I might not write a lot, but hope to venture into some threads now and then.

Edited May 24, 2019 by Loolaa
riffles