Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving Their Religion

by Marlene Winell

I was keenly aware of an imminent end

The implication is that you must not relax. You should live in fear about being right with God at all times. Especially for a small child, this can be terrifying.

Fundamentalists are generally unmotivated to better the world because they see it as doomed.

To stay faithful then, the believer must discount worldly knowledge and be shielded from alternative, “ungodly” viewpoints.

This controlled focus on the spiritual and the afterlife instructs Christians to maintain an aloofness from the world, and to withdraw any emotional investment from worldly affairs.

unbelievers have only two relevant attributes: They are potential converts and sources of temptation. As objects of evangelism, they are called “crops to be harvested,” “sheep to be found,” and “fish to be netted.”

Since Christians are already full of truth, there is no need for them to listen, nothing for them to learn, and much for them to lose by admitting alternative views into their consciousness.

If you control the information people receive, you restrict their ability to think.

From a fundamentalist point of view, issues such as egocentrism, aggression, sexuality, and teenage rebellion are treated as problems instead of natural processes.

“Spare the rod, and spoil the child” is taken quite literally.

To bolster their own authority, they use Scriptures such as Ephesians 6:1 where Paul says that children should obey their parents.

the fundamentalist household rarely encourages children to explore their own thoughts, to be open-minded about ideas, or to come to their own conclusions.

Another common pattern is for the family to avoid handling conflicts until the point is reached when emotions boil over. Then chaos reigns as explosions of anger, producing much pain and even abuse. This is followed by intense feelings of guilt, and sometimes apologies, but the damage is already done. With continued avoidance, this pattern is repeated many times, producing a family of deeply scarred individuals.

these family members may feel confused and guilty for their behavior, as well as frustrated that God does not produce changes that heal.