Post-Rapture Introductions

[books36]

Hello. I'm books36, known as sunniedae at the old board, but I changed it because I hate both misspellings and unfounded optimism. (Why did I even choose that name in the first place? Who knows?). I just finished my MS and am beginning a career in a very Bible Belt-y city in the South.

I was raised Catholic an attended parochial schools for some of my K-12 education, private secular schools for the rest. We moved around a lot. I attended a university affiliated with a liberal Christian denomination for my undergraduate degree. It was not that kind of Christian college. Not the dress code, mandatory chapel, statement of faith unaccredited (excuse me, non-vocational) type so often discussed here. The only requirement was two theology classes, and I took Eastern Mysticism taught by a Buddhist professor and Ritual in World Religion taught by a PhD ordained Baptist minister whose area of expertise was Rastafarianism.

After I finished my undergraduate degree, I decided it was time to really assess my beliefs, to decide if I really believed in Catholicism or if it was just something I believed because it was how I had been raised. After lots of study, reading, and thought, I realized I could no longer be a person of integrity and say that I believed in the divinity of Jesus as Christ. Moreover, I had problems with the Christian worldview -- the idea of salvation, the trinity, and more, but I won't bore you. Anyway, I decided to explore Judaism, and have decided that Orthodox Judaism is a far better fit for my beliefs, personality, and temperament. My parents, two people not exactly known for their laid-back natures, were less than thrilled. In fact, they still make my life miserable because of my choices, and we have reached an impasse where neither of us acknowledge that this huge "problem" exists in our relationship. Though I live my daily life as an orthodox Jew, the conversion process is stalled because of these unresolved family issues. It's painful and exhausting.

On the surface, I may appear to look like many of the fundies we discuss. I am skirts only, no collarbones or elbows showing -- but for me, this modest dressing is more of a (dare I say it?) feminist statement. The way I dress says that I am worth so much more than my body, that it is just a vehicle to carry me around to to the good I need to do in the world. My body is not for public consumption. While I think it is unwise to dress provocatively, I dislike the "blame the victim" mentality that suggests that women should cover up only because men are wild beasts unable to control themselves if they don't. I dress as I do because it is MY choice. I am conservative politically but think that marriage is an issue of contract law, not morality, and I could care less who forms a contract with whom as long as all are consenting adults. I believe that love, not biology, makes a family.

Ultimately, I believe that G-d or the universe or whatever is a concept beyond the human ability to conceive of It, and we all just do our best to understand It in the best way we know how. For me, that's Judaism, but I don't claim that it's the "one" path or the way for everyone. We're all just running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get it right.

I've always been interested in subcultures, and in people/sociology in general, and have been a daily reader and lurker ever since the 14 Kids and Counting days at TWOP.

So, that's me. I've been in lurk mode for so long, I don't know that I have too much else to add to the conversation, but I'm going to keep on reading and may even jump in if I have anything worthwhile to say. Snark on!

[Shoobydoo]

I am also semi-lurking! I actually posted occasionally on the old site, but very infrequently. I think I'm a much better lurker than snarker. I don't know if I'll post much here or not, but I figured I might as well say hi because this is one of my best procrastination tools.

[darkplumaged]

Hello, all. I've been posting as darkplumaged for almost two years.

I'm 33 and married, but with an empty quiver. Perhaps we'll fill it someday; perhaps not. I grew up in a mostly secular Jewish home. I'm more observant than my parents now (but that isn't saying much), and much more spiritual.

I've been fascinated by Christian extremists for many years--I was captivated by televangelists as a kid. I stumbled into my current fundie-watching habit almost by accident, though... when I was in my early 20s, I thought I wanted to have a bunch of kids when I got married, so I started lurking on a large-family message board, where I heard of "quiverfull" for the first time. I found a few of my gateway fundies, including Jennie Chancey and Anna T., through Ladies against Feminism a few years later.

My favorite fundies to discuss, among the big names, include Dougie and the Servens, Chanceys, Maxwells, and Mortons/Smiths.

I also enjoy fundie-lite family blogs, but as much as I'd like to discuss them here, most of the gals who write them seem harmless and don't really deserve to be snarked upon.

wildflower, the violin smiley is a perfect response to all of the cries of "persecution" constantly ringing throughout the fundie blogiverse.

[Hestia]

This is my first post on the new site too. I was previously athenas.ring, but it was too close to AthenaC, so I have renamed myself Hestia (and I hope to goodness I haven't missed a poster of that name!)

Welcome!

[Rue]

I mostly lurked in the past too. I love the new board and want to post more. LOLDoug is my favorite thread ever.

[FundiesInMyFamily]

Being new here (although been lurking for years) I posted a 'hello' thread earlier but didn't include much about me personally..... I am 38, grew up in very very liberal Boulder and although I don't eat granola, I have hugged trees & bunnies. I am a pants wearing non believin heathen, I own 1 dress that I wear to both weddings and funerals. I'm about 98% athiest, I run in the "I don't know" crowd - but I don't begrudge anyone else their beliefs, I have friends that are christian, athiest, Jewish, and my ex is Pagan. I'm a single mom to a 16 year old disabled son, and I work as a CNA home health aide with other special needs kids. I have a bachelors degree from the evil college and my passion is history, most especially 1500ish english/european. I can speak in full sentences but it seems that as I grow closer to 40 my spelling has gone to shit so I apologize in advance!

[Soldier of the One]

Sisof9, I totally get the need for privacy and not to be picked up by Google.

You sound like a pretty traditional Christian. Would you consider yourself a Fundie?

If so, would you be willing to answer the same questions that I asked Persuaded? I'd love to hear your answers!

Either way, thanks :) And nice to make your acquaintance!

So nice reading up on all you people! :)

[slh12280]

I am a newbie. Been lurking for a while though.

About me:

-21 year old college student

-fundie things: consider myself a conservative Christian, and am also politically/socially conservative, still live at home with parents.

-non fundie things: wear pants instead of skirts, go to college, drink sometimes, secular music.

Anyways, I generally am not too critical of people even if I find their lifestyles different, but still like to read about them.

[Lostie]

I'm Lostie and I was Lostie over at the old board too. I've been on FJ for just over a year but lurked for quite a while before joining in on the fun. Anyways, on with the about me (not that I'm all the interesting :P )

I'm 19 years old and from Victoria BC Canada. I'm a student at the University of Victoria going into my second year (I took a year off after high school). I'm double majoring in Political Science (either with a concentration in Comparative Politics or International Relations - I haven't decided yet) and English. My end goal is to go to law school and I'm leaning toward corporate law. Yes my name is a Lost reference and I'm a huge Harry Potter fan as well. In what little spare time I have I enjoy reading and writing. As I said, I'm not very interesting. I'm hoping I'll be able to post more because I'm not in school, but I still have to work so we'll see what happens. Also, I'm loving the new board.

[AugustPenguin]

alright, let's see if this post takes. My last one isn't here...

I'm in my late 20's, married with no kids (and no pets), living in New England. I was raised Catholic but stopped going to church after I made my confirmation. I went to a catholic college and never went to mass. But this last year I've started going back to church again and I found one where I live that I really like.

I'm a big reader, I read about 3-4 books a week. I'm not a fundie but I do wear skirts/dresses only in the summer. Partly because of the weather and partly because I hate my legs in shorts. Also, I'm the girl who told Kelly I like wearing an apron with skirts.

[desertvixen]

Same name as on the old one. I lurk more than I post, but I'm trying to change that.

I can't remember if Kishiria led me here or if I led her here, since we're friends IRL and other online places. But I love it here! I've always been interested in why people think it's okay to treat others (mainly women) as second-class citizens, and why women would live in a lifestyle that seems to take away everything feminists worked for.

I'm a senior NCO in the US Army, mostly-liberal feminist interested in social justice, reproductive choice and speaking my mind -in person, online, and in the voting booth. I'm dating a self-identified conservative, also in the military. To really give some of the crowd we discuss nightmares, I outrank him. I was baptised as a Catholic, but my family is not very religious, and I am becoming less so. I've eyed the UU crowd.

I'm a single mom with one arrow in my quiver, but she's more like a guided missile than an arrow (Kishiria can attest to this), not opposed to (and hoping there will be more) having more. I have two furry masters of the Siamese variety.

I'm also desert_vixen on LJ.

:animals-cat: :animals-cat:

[SlipmeaMikki]

Hi all! I am SlipmeaMikki from Yuku.

I am 23 years old. I was raised in a smaller town in Minnesota, but moved up to the Twin Cities a year ago. I graduated college last December with a double major in Elementary Education with a Middle School English Emphasis and Secondary English Education. I currently live with SlipmeaFiance and we are getting married next June. I have no kids, but would love some whenever we get around to it. I work in the summers as a nanny for a brother and sister duo with a friend there occasionally throughout the summer.

I consider myself a Deist. Other then classifying myself with that very vague description, I haven't thought much about religion lately. I was headed in a semi-extremist way towards the middle of college, but as I was an ELCA Lutheran, I didn't get far.

I found FJ through TWOP. I watched a bunch of Duggar specials on TLC and then found the TWOP thread. I kept hearing about FJ, but for some reason didn't check it out. When Emily and Dna came on the scene, I finally came over and I never left. I don't post too often, but if I am on my computer, I have FJ up in one of the tabs.

[Markie]

Hi Everyone,

I'm Markie and was Markie on the last board and on TWOP. I used to post a bit on TWOP but got warned by Howard. Several other people on there mentioned Free Jinger so I thought I'd check it out.

I am an elementary school teacher (grade 4/5 this year and next) and live in Canada. I grew up on a farm, belonged to 4-H, and attended church on and off when I was a kid - depends on how busy we were on Sundays. Although my parents were United, we went to a Baptist Church when I was growing up because it was closer. I don't go to church now, but did join a United Church for a while after 9-11.

I love reading - mysteries, suspense, historical fiction, classics, biographies

I have signed up to do a 4 over 5, which is, I basically teach for 4 years and get the fifth off. I will be paid 80% of my paycheque throughout the five years. In my fifth year, I plan to travel - not sure where but would like to go to South America, Australia, New Zeland and some of SE Asia. I have several years to plan but should be lots of fun! I am sure I will be adding lots more places to my itinerary.

[jjmennonite]

I am a long time (6-9 months??) lurker and wrote a bit about my Mennonite background here: http://freejinger.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=122

I signed up on the old board but never posted. I debated whether or not my moniker should identify me as a Mennonite, but I am quite enamored of my background, ever since February when I volunteered in Mississippi with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) and then I saw MDS spoken of favourably when the tornadoes started, so I decided to be open about it.

I am Mennonite culturally, and that can never be changed. I am not a Mennonite by religion. I am a 53 year old never-married single mother. My daughter is carrying on the evil tradition of university education, set by her mother. Previous generations went to school, usually until grade 8 or 9.

I dress as modestly as a 53 year old should, I hope. That would be my version of modest. My snarky daughter asked me why my jeans are so baggy, yesterday - because they are not painted on, like hers?

I have 1 arrow in my quiver, and 3 dogs and a cat. I came over here from no-longer-quivering.

I spent the first 3 months reading 'ladyplugover' until I realized that she is a dog lover of the flat wrinkly faced (dogs, not hers) kind. I am somewhat dyslexic and spellchecker is my friend, but I will insist on spelling favour and labour etc the Canadian/British way.

[mstee]

I was mstee, too, on the old board and lurked a long time before I actually joined. I got into learning and googling about fundies (especially the Duggar fundie variety) way back when it was only 14 slaves and counting.

I'm in my early 20's and am slowly getting through school. I'm trying to pick up the pace so that I can actually finish before I have gray hair. I have no arrows in my quiver yet, and am in no rush. I have 2 beautiful fur children though, and 1 foster fur child. I love people, but relate to dogs better on some days. I take in stray animals and work with local animal rescues. Hmm, not else much to say about myself. I love the new smileys on this board! :animals-dogrun:

[Lainey]

I'm thinking about making "We also got a puppy" my version of "I like puffins!".

Love it!!! :lol: :clap:

[Dev83]

Hi all! Same user name as before.

So Cal native, 28, agnostic, married 5 years, very liberal, mom to 3 cats and a dog. No human kids as of yet. Majored in sociology. Intro to fundi world was No Longer Quivering and, of course, the Duggars. Now a avid blog reader of too many fundie blogs to count, but I prefer the ones of "average" fundies, not the royalty.

I think that about covers it ;)

[aubrietta]

Aubrietta, you sound like my kinda woman :) Fundies don't have the monopoly on the loveliness of the domestic sphere :) And yay for reading 'Heather Has Two Mommies'and donating to Planned Parenthood and a church with a female pastor. Those are all good things :)

A question about MckMama: I saw her blog and it looked alluring. Is there a whole subset of fundies who do the 'trendy' thing? What are the tell-tale signs of decoding the trendiness and revealing the fundamentalism and patriarchy? It sounds so easy to get sucked in! I'd love to hear more about those church experiences too :) Thanks!

MckMama is a narcissistic drama queen who attention-whored out her sick baby for ad revenue and free gifts from kind and generous readers. She had/has an abusive husband and yet preached wifely submission and dished out otherwise hypocritical and dangerous marriage advice. She consistently lies or exaggerates, gets caught in those lies and denies it. There is a snark site dedicated solely to her because she's a never-ending stream of BS, although I personally think her snarkers are as crazy or perhaps crazier than her, so I no longer frequent it.

My own trendy church experience...don't even know what the tell tale signs of a trendy yet fundie church is...I only have my own experiences and have no idea where to begin. It had great music, was all about hospitality and drawing new people in. Lots of great events for the 19-30 crowd, engaging teaching, dynamic small groups...and a whole lot of pressure to perform, perform, perform. Works based salvation was frequently mocked from the pulpit, but was practically expected. I suppose that the most harmful impacts were on my marriage. The teaching of submission and headship were so far from a fit for my husband and I, and we spent years fighting, both of us feeling like complete failures as he is not a "headship/leader" sort of fellow and I am definitely not a "submissive/following" sort of gal. As we experienced a lot of conflict around this, we sought counseling within the church, and it was always on my shoulders to submit more. I gave it a royal go. This lead to many negative consequence, the major one being our current extremely poor financial situation - being taught that heads of households were heads of finances, my very bad at money managing husband made some truly terrible financial decisions that i was unaware of. My husband and I have had many heart to hearts and have transformed our marriage into one of equality and health, but we are still reaping the consequences of our years of attempting to fit into a broken mold.

There are lots of other things that come to mind as well, such as the time I was locked in a bedroom with three women to pray for me that I would receive the baptism of the holy spirit and speak in tongues. After a very long time, it got awkward and I faked it just to get out of there- the problem with this was that I had to fake it a lot - every single prayer meeting for the next several years. That sucked. Also, I had a prayer session to ambushed upon me to help stop smoking. This magically worked (Wow! Miracles! God answers prayer and helps people quit smoking instantaneously) because I wasn't actually a smoker, just had a random cigarette now and then and had been "caught" having a drag off a friend's smoke at a party.

When we had a child, we were expected to become Ezzoites, and when we didn't, and vocally challenged the teachings on many occasions, things got messy and that's when we ditched. It did not end nicely between us and the pastors. My whole family still attends the church and some of my family is on staff. When we informed them we were leaving we were quoted Psalm 68:6 "God sets the lonely in families...." this was interpreted to mean that you don't get to choose what "spiritual family" you attend, but instead, God chooses a church for you and you stick it out come hell or high water. We disagreed with that very weird interpretation and attend another church. I will never join another church membership because of my experiences, but I attend weekly and participate actively in the community and service.

Does that sort of answer your question?

[nonymouse]

Hi, longtime lurker at the old boards, but I created this username over there when I saw the trouble brewing and wanted to lend my support and find out where the new board would be.

I'm nonymouse (original, I know). In my mid-30s from a New England state, married for eight years, two kids, three furbabies. Just about as liberal as they come (example: my kids do not have Godparents, they have Fairy Godparents... hey, someone's got to teach them how to dress up and do their makeup, it won't be me!). I'd identify myself as an agnostic and though two different religions can claim me judging by which parent religion is handed down through, I wasn't raised to follow either sets of tenets. I'm here because honestly, this stuff fascinates me; I was three credits short of an anthropology minor and am fascinated by people, especially those who can be seen as living in the extremes. Came here from either TWoP or NLQ.

I hope to get to know you all and participate! Thanks!

[FakePigtails]

Hey all, I went with the fresh board, fresh name deal. I was someonesomewhere before. I'm a mid-20s grad student in the midwest and am married. My closest thing to fundie cred is that my parents were Focus on the Family fans before the declarations of corruption of the nation's children via Tinkie-Winkie and Spongebob. Now I consider myself Protestant but don't go to church and am waiting to see if or when I'll feel like going back.

I got sucked into this whole scene from seeing the Duggar specials years ago. More recently I've been appalled by the way churches and politics are mixing as well as how I see how submission and Quiverfull beliefs spilling in to religions like Catholicism.

[zeebaneighba]

Hi! I'm zeebaneighba. I am a SAHM/W, married for 27 years, 2 kids, 2 cats. I was raised Episcopal by very religious parents (we lived next door to the church) but figured out in college that I really didn't believe any of it. It took me many years to work through the guilt my lack of belief induced, but eventually, I became comfortable with my atheism. I have 4 sisters, ranging from social Catholic to fundie, (she lives in NW Ark and gets fundier by the day. Is it something in the water??), and 1 brother who is even flakier than I am. I have spent the last 30 years or so wandering through various religious traditions, from UU, to Presbyterian, Wicca to Pantheism. I currently consider my self a secular Buddhist. I don't remember how I found FJ -- from TWoP likely, but I lurked for so long I have forgotten.

(looks off to the right...wow, that's a LOT of smileys) :lol:

Where was I?

I may not post much -- still working on childhood issues about expressing opinions -- but I enjoy reading everyone else's posts. Thanks again to everyone who worked so hard to set up this shiny new board! :clap:

Edited because I am still figuring this icon business out.

[Love]

Hi everyone! I'm Love here and had the same username at the old board. I've been married for 13 years and have 2 boys ages 12 and 9.I work full time, out of the home. So does my husband. I have the fortunate experience of getting to see fundie families at my work. They come in and purchase wholesale organic produce. Its awesome! One group is named "Covenant Kitchen" and the woman in charge has 10 kids. Their names are peace, faith, hope etc...

I was raised by half-ass Catholics who sent us to Sunday school so they could watch football in peace. As we got older we had little involvement in religion. Every once in a while we would go to Mass, it just depended on how guilty my mom was feeling.

I left home when I was 14 and moved in with some weirdo fundies. I didn't realize at the time just how 'out there' these people were. I blame it on my youth, but looking back I should have known something was off with this family beings that I met them outside an all-ages gay nightclub. They used to take their entire family, little kids and all, down to this nightclub on Friday nights and pray that it would shut down.

I lived with them for a few months, until one night during bible study they all sat me in a circle, put their hands on me and told me to say " i accept the lord Jesus Christ as my savior". They chanted it over and over for a good 10 minutes. :-o I freaked out and left. Never saw 'em again. :animals-dogrun:

Years ago I found the Mothering.com community and was totally dumbfounded by the wifely submission threads. That's where my fundie addiction began.

As for my religious beliefs... I just can't commit to any religion that I've learned about so far. Hell, I can't even commit to being atheist. I just try to treat others how I want to be treated and follow my heart.

Anyways, I love FreeJinger! I love the funny people here, and the many different backgrounds. And the common feeling that we all just want children and women to be respected and treated well.

[Soldier of the One]

Thank you aubrietta, for answering so candidly. It sounds like an all-round horrible experience, possibly cultish.

What are 'Ezzoites'?

[rachelmom]

Hi, I am Rachelmom, a 43 yo SAHM to one lovely DD (named Rachel). Although I did attend a baptist ACE school for several years, I graduated from a public high school and then college with an engineering degree. I have had brushes with fundamentalism, but now consider myself agnostic.

[Librul]

:D Hello all! I am the same Librul as on the previous board. A thinking Catholic who mistrusts all things fundie, whether political, religious or social. Glad to make the move.