Ted Talk: How cults rewire the brain

Shedding Your Religion...Some of the feelings we have all had...

Shedding Religion: Sixteen things people report about their journey. 

1. You’re losing your religion but gaining your sanity. 

2. You left the church because it wasn’t safe for your psychological health. 

3. You know you are on the right path, but trying to explain it to others is like nailing Jello to a wall, and you often feel misunderstood. 

4. Your new life beyond religion is not entirely as defined as things used to be. 

5. You have twice as many questions as you do answers, but strangely you’re okay with this. 

6. You were accused of being a heretic, and you took it as a compliment. 

7. You desperately wish someone (anyone!) would just accept where you are right now. Just for a couple of people, you could sit down with face-to-face to share where you are without the threat of judgment and condemnation. 

8. On Monday you feel free, and on Tuesday you wonder if you are going crazy. 

9. You can't listen to Christian music anymore. 

10. You don’t know how to answer the question, "What do you believe?" 

11. You refuse to divulge the titles of the books you are currently reading because you know it’s going to alarm the people who already think you’ve lost it
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12. You get nauseated when you hear glib God-talk. 

13. You’re not sure where your Bible is. 

14. Suddenly you find yourself liking the people who were previously classified as “them.” 

15. You don't quite know what to say to people who ask you to pray for them or offer to pray for you. 

16. You remember the things you once believed and say to yourself, "What was I thinking???" © 

Jim Palmer

The Kingdom of God