Technical note...
This is the new location for the
Leaving Christianity site previously at http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~slocks/decon.html
It is not finished moving yet and some links will send you back to the old
Leaving Christianity site until the rest of the pages are moved. Not to fear though as the content is the same wherever you end up!
Note the nice site navigation on the upper left and the site activity lower left! This will gradually populate as I move the rest of the site here. All the site pages are also accessible via this home page as they always were at the old site location.
Leaving Christianity
Preface
Over the years I have come to know and know of many
ex-Christians most of whom were well-churched, their numbers including former
ministers, apologists, missionaries, theologians etc. Why should such people
leave Christianity? These people are the best versed in Christianity and yet
they leave despite so much personal and professional investment in their
religion, enjoyment of their time as believing Christians and social pressures
to stay. How can this happen if the evidence for Christianity is so good? If
supernatural Christianity is true, shouldn't they have known better?
But what if the history and philosophical and moral
implications of the various branches of Christianity are very different from
that which is traditionally taught? The painful fact for many Christians is
that through research and thinking this is the conclusion to which they often
come. Why else should all these people leave, contrary to their world-view,
culture, professions, and heavy investment in Christianity? Why would God go
to the trouble of incarnation and crucifixion only to allow genuine seekers to
find Christianity untenable, or give "spurious" experiences and "incorrect"
interpretation to those who spend so many years trying to be Christians? From
our research and testimonies it is apparent that Christianity is not what we
once thought it was.
I hope that these collected stories and resources will be of
comfort to new deconverts. There is no "exit counselling" from the church and
usually our Christian friends just want to find out "where we went wrong"
rather than really listen and explore with us. It can be a great thrill to
find fellow travellers in what is usually a very lonely journey with often few
or no sympathetic people to turn to. I thought I was the first to deconvert
from a genuine heartfelt Christianity until I discovered a few hints in books,
some friends with similar stories and then the voluminous accounts on the
Internet!
I hope to keep these pages fresh as I am still in the process
of collecting stories and links and discussing this subject with various
interested parties. Discussing religion can of course be very contentious and
although primarily a resource for ex-Christians it is inevitable that some
believing Christians, or others with different opinions, will surf here and
wish to criticise this site. I have tried to avoid too much scornful material,
although sometimes emotions rise in some of the reported on-line discussions -
I am not from Vulcan! But if you think I have not been fair or really have
missed something then I'd like to know. All criticism is welcome as long as it
is not a knee-jerk at just reading a little of what I have to offer as such
criticism is less interesting and causes too much repetition.
This site started partly as a FAQ when on debating lists and
also as a collection of my bookmarks, so there is some of my own material
here. However I don't think I have got the most to say, although I have
included my own story with as much detail as I think is necessary for those
who are interested. I am occasionally worried that I will one day be put in a
corner by religious friends or relatives, so this is also my considered FAQ
for any of them, rather than an emotional confrontation. Luckily it has not
yet been needed - I have coped with carefully placed comments, so far! The
bulk of the material is contained in the links to the writings of other people
which is exactly the sort of information I wish I had found back in the mid
1980's when I was asking all those questions....
Contents
- My Journey and thoughts
Why I left Christianity Includes notes for deeper investigation into what I read
and thought.
Influential
books - many with links to free on-line versions.
Asymmetry of Conversion My
investigation into the asymmetry between the large number of well-churched
Christians who leave Christianity versus the scarcity of those educated in
the problems of Christianity who later become Christians. This also contains
my essay on the resurrection and many further
resources.
Selections of postings I have made to
various newsgroups and mailing lists.
Crazy
stuff from the bible.
Conundrums.
Feedback discussions I attempt to discuss
with those who raise interesting points with me. If you are planning to
evangelize, please check that I have not already had the conversation about
your points here, or elsewhere in part 1 of this site.
For a summary of my discoveries whilst researching and compiling this
website, see my guest
essay. (Off site). To compliment this summary, I have compiled a quotes page of great snippets lifted from some of the
deconversion stories contained within, or linked from, this site.
- The journeys and thoughts of others
Main Links Includes resources for study
and links to hundreds of informative deconversion stories and all the discussion groups for ex-Christians that I am aware
of, both on the Internet and in real life!
Reciprocal Links Includes both those
in accord with my site and those in disagreement.
- Study Resources
Some of the best places
I have found for serious study. This includes:
Main Links (Also see notes).
- Ontario
Consultants on religious tolerance. Good general research tool. Also
required reading for any visitors to pro/con religious sites!
- Testimonials
page on the Secular Web. Some very heartfelt and well written accounts.
- Ex-Christian
stories
- Collected deconversion
stories This is a zip file (189kb)
of deconversion stories in TXT, RTF and HTML formats mainly from the
ex-Christian mailing list archives. Unless specific permission has been
given to publish these stories I have removed references to full names.
- List of
Ex-Christian webring sites. Most of these sites contain deconversion
stories.
- Recovering from
Religion Webring.
- Fundamentalism and Deconversion webring
- List of
Leaving Born Again Fundamentalist Christianity Webring sites
- Deconversion stories emailed to
me or found from personal websites not on the ex-Christian webring.
- The
Ex-tian homepage Mailing list and resource for ex-Christians.
- The ex-Christian mailing list
archives.
- The
Secular Web's ex-Christians page. I now maintain this page myself. When
I adopted this page I was asked to try to give preference to papers that are
archived on the Secular Web but also to link to the good stuff that's out
there. So it's mostly a high quality subset of my site. Well worth
investigation for good quality material.
- Walk Away from Fundamentalism Support, advice, and community for those who have left or are in the process of leaving fundamentalist Christianity.
- Ex-Christian.net
- Former conservative Christian women including details of their books and other writings.
- Recovery from the International Churches of Christ (ICC)
- ex-pentecostals.org
- Fundamentalists
Anonymous. The purpose for Fundamentalists Anonymous is to put
people in touch with available resources, and testimonies, of individuals
who have abandoned fundamentalism, cults, and religious fanaticism. This
project (started October 19, 2003) is designed to index every known
testimony of De-Conversion from all religions, that exists on the web -
including in-depth details (as much as the person feels comfortable with).
The site is operated by Ed
Babinski the author of Leaving the
Fold, which documented the testimonies of over 30 individuals who
abandoned fundamentalism and religious fanaticism.
- The Courage to Walk Away: How to Escape From Cults. Includes a big download of deconversion stories (including from "main stream" Christianity) and other resources.
- exchristian.org This is a
database (started end Nov. 1999) where people may post their stories
about losing their faith in biblical Christianity. It uses a form to
enter descriptive keywords and either the text of the story or a URL. Hence
readers can then search for ex-Christians with similar backgrounds to
themselves.
- Losing my
Religion.com "A support site for those leaving the Christian
faith"
- USENET
Testimonies. This page contains testimonials from ex-Christians
extracted from Usenet.
- Secular
Testimonies. Deconversion stories from SecularLife.org
- De-conversion
stories collection on the Positive Atheism website.
- Testimonies from exchristian.net
- Letters from Leavers
- Out of Christianity We were once not only Christians, but youth pastors, evangelists, nuns, and music ministers, yet we've left the Christian faith.
- Deconversion stories from The Infidel Guy radio show. Note these are mp3 files.
- Deconversion stories listed at Ebon Musings.
- The Joy of
Disillusionment by David Crews.
David wrote to me: 'The Joy
of Disillusionment is directed at the same audience - those going
through that especially difficult and lonely transition out of
organized Christianity. I offer a philosophical, positive and
hopefully helpful analysis of the new worldview of the recently
de-religioned person, as well as some poetry and even a "revised"
parable.'
I was very impressed with the way David identified
and discussed some of the most poignant issues that confront a new
ex-Christian, or those in the process of this awakening. I found his
writings not only warm, humane and even "spiritual" but also purveying
the real heat of the thoughts and emotions that so many of us have
gone through. I am sure many visitors to my site will find David's
quality writing to be very helpful.
- Losing my Religion.com "A support site for those leaving the Christian faith"
- Books by (and about) ex-Christians
- Excerpts From Losing Faith In Faith:
From Preacher To Atheist by Dan Barker
- Why
I Left The Ministry And Became An Atheist By the ex-Methodist minister
G. Vincent Runyon
- The
Reverend Don Cupitt explains how the scales fell from his eyes This is a
section from the link below:-
- The Sea of Faith Network The SoF
Network explores the implications of accepting religion as a human creation.
Many senior current and past churchmen (and women) are part of this
organisation. Examples of transitions from traditional Christian to Sea of
Faith non-realist are available in the accounts from Anne
Horner, Jude
Bullock and others at Personal essays. Also
see my comments on Cupitt.
- The Very
Reverend Andrew William Ussher Furlong. Dean of Clonmacnoise in Ireland
who (as of December 2001) has been suspended by his bishop for
his progressive views. Andrew Furlong's Articles are available, both at his
main link above and at The Center
for Progressive Christianity. Furlong's transformation is outlined at Treasure In
Earthen Vessels: Reflections of a Reformer. The Dean's publications can also be
found in the theology
section of Anglicans Online and at Furlong's
articles in the TCPC library]. Frank Walker reviews Andrew Furlong's story in Tried for Heresy: a 21st-century journey of faith,
published by O Books, 2003, 1903816521. Andrew muses on the accusation
of heresy made against him by the Church of Ireland in 2002 in a recent
Guardian Face to Faith column titled Pilgrim's Progress.
- John
Dominic Crossan. A leading scholarly member of The Jesus Seminar and a
former Monk and Priest, Crossan explains why his scholarship led him to see
religion as a purely human creation.
- Marcus
Borg another prominent scholar of the Jesus Seminar, describes his
journey.
- Gerd Lüdemann
The German Lutheran theologian's reasons for leaving Christianity and the
fall-out that this brought to his career. Also see Gerd Lüdemann
at the Secular Web.
- Geza Vermes - Fellow of the British Academy
and Prof. Emeritus of Jewish Studies in the University of Oxford. Vermes was
a Priest in the Sion Order but left the Priesthood and the Catholic church
after his groundbreaking work on the Dead Sea scrolls, no longer considering
himself a Christian.
- Professor Michael Goulder Notes from an interview
with this ex-Priest and renowned biblical scholar.
- Bart Ehrman
is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor and Chair of the
Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. Once he was a fundamentalist Christian, seminarian and
graduate of the Moody Bible Institute, but became an agnostic during
his studies. There are some interesting articles and interviews with
Bart Ehrman at the following sites:
- From
Fundamentalist to Humanist by Robert M. Price. Also see his Beyond
Born Again. Robert Price has appeared as "the Bible Geek" on The Infidel Guy radio show. The free podcasts are here and you can also find more by searching for "Robert Price" and "bible geek" at YouTube.
- Why
I am agnostic The famous freethinker Robert Ingersoll describes the
research and thinking that led him to agnosticism and the joy that this new
world view gave him. Ingersoll's
other writings are also available.
- Why
I Quit Going To Church by Robert Hughes (With Answers to Critics and
Correspondents).
- Joseph
McCabe: Fighter For Freethought Short Biography of the famous ex-monk by
Issac Goldberg.
- Farrell Till's deconversion
story
- From Minister to Honest Doubter: Why I Changed my Mind
- a book by John W. Loftus, a former Christian apologist and student of
Dr. William Lane Craig. John also runs the Blog Debunking Christianity - "This
Blog has been created for the express purpose of debunking Evangelical
Christianity. We are all ex-Christians. Most of us are ex-ministers,
and even ex-apologists for the Christian faith..." The backgrounds and books written the contributors are available here.
- Raymond Fontaine
- former Priest, now Deist.
- Ray Billington - a former Priest, now
atheist.
- From
Missionary Bible Translator to Agnostic. Kenneth Daniels gently yet
powerfully describes his journey, including insights into the depths of his
prayer life as he struggled with doubts and the respectful way he dealt with
his critics. Captivating, sincere, detailed, and dramatic! Further articles
documenting his views and journey are available here and his free on-line book is available at http://kwdaniels.com.
- www.ministerturnsatheist.org. Joe Holman, a fundamentalist Church of Christ minister for nine years. Amoungst the aims of his website Joe writes that he "wants
most of all to let other doubting and hurting religious people (like
myself years ago) who are losing their faith know that there is life
after religion!"
- Dennis Diehl
was for 26 years a pastor in the Worldwide Church of God. In his
articles Dennis addresses the falacies of Fundamentalism and the
negative effect it has on the human spirit.
- Deconversion stories from The Skeptical
Review. 29 testimonies including many from ex-ministers, missionaries
etc.
- 22 deconversion stories from letters to Dennis
McKinsey's Biblical Errancy magazine.
- Converts' Corner Where people write in if they have lost their religion (or have been encouraged to come out of the closet) as a result of reading The God Delusion or other Dawkins books. From RichardDawkins.net
- The Official
alt.recovery.catholicism Webpages.
- James describes his deconversion
and includes correspondence with his family after they found out he no
longer believed. It is a powerful example of someone who decided to confront
issues fully and candidly with those who expressed dismay at his loss of
faith. He has included his Tough Questions for
the Christian Church at his site. Also
don't miss these Tough Answers for the
Tough Questions by John Love-Jensen.
- Resource Center for Freedom of
Mind. Some ex-Christians, particularly those from fundamentalist
backgrounds, have discussed elements of cult phenomena in their churches.
Steve Hassan is an ex-Moonie leader and has been involved in educating the
public about mind control and destructive cults since 1976.
A number of people on the ex-tian
mailing list have remarked on how useful they have found Steve Hassan's
writings. His site links to Walk Away (see above) and his Cults and Groups of
Concern includes the Worldwide Church of God, Alcoholics Anonymous, Jews for
Jesus, Marantha Campus Ministries and many others.
- Dr. Marlene Winell, specialist in recovering from religious indoctrination, author of Leaving the Fold. Hear her talk in this windows media file from Freethought Radio.
- Non-Believer
Former-Members of the Worldwide Church of God
- Former
Worldwide Church of God - WWCG WebRing
- Ex-Jehovah's Witness Forum and Recovery Site
- More deconversion stories from
reciprocal links.
- Ex-Muslim
Testimonies and Ex-Muslims' Survey. As
Steve Hassan (above) observed, a successful way of seeing the problems with
one's own religious views is to see the parallels in a belief system that
one is not adverse to criticism of. Also see Faith Freedom International - a
site created by ex-Muslims to help Muslims leave Islam.
- Former Christian
Priests and Missionaries who have Embraced Islam.
- Testimonies of
Jews who returned. Stories from born-Jews who converted to Christianity
(often at the hands of the "Jews for Jesus" organisation), describing why
they finally left Christianity, returning to the religion of their birth.
- Charles
Kluepfel An ex-Catholic examines the liberal side of Christianity.
- Benefit of the Doubt by
Dave LF.
- AT LIBERTY
Liberty Graduates Tell Their Stories. A site for Liberty Graduates who
have significantly changed their beliefs after graduating from Liberty
Baptist College or Liberty University. By Glen Draeger.
- Fraser Valley Ex Christians blog.
- QUESTIONING An
Examination of Christian Belief.
- Winston Wu describes what it's like to combine Christian fundamentalism with mental health problems and how he recovered from them both.
- Escape Religion by Scott R. Stahlecker. (Also see my review of his book "How to Escape Religion Guilt Free")
- Why I’m Not a Christian by Jon Host.
- Set Free from Jesus by Mark Smith. Amusing and thought provoking! Don't miss Contra Craig.
- Einstein
explains why he rejected religion. I realise that Einstein was of Jewish
descent, rather than Christian, but he is often quoted as if he was a
theist, so this link is to dispel that mistake.
- The Secular Web. The largest and
most heavily visited nontheistic web site on the WWW. You can find vast
resources of information about secular thought here. There are writings
of notable non-Christians including people who have left Christianity on the
historical
biographies page. Also of particular interest to ex-Christians is Lives of the Unbelievers.
- Freethought
ring list.
- ex-Christian
books sold at Internet Infidels bookstore. Also see my main book link.
- Other helpful resources recommended by
ex-Christians
- The Unitarian Universalist
Association. Some ex-Christians, who have wished to maintain the
community and structure of their old Christian fellowship without the dogma,
have enjoyed being a part of this non creedal religion. Apparently very laid
back and thoughtful - includes liberal Christians, agnostics, atheists and
others - and I am told the sacramental drink is coffee....
- Ex-Christian
Sites. A collection from the Montana Freethinkers.
- Study Resources.
- Former
Creationists. An interesting sideline from Talk Origins. Not all subsequently
left Christianity.
Newsgroups, Mailing lists, Forums and other discussion
groups for ex-Christians.
If any of these links below don't work for
your browser, or your server does not have any of the newsgroups, then you
may wish search for them at Google
Groups (was Deja News).
- Ex-tian
This list is for and about ex-Christians. Hot topics here include coming out
of the closet as an ex-Christian, how to deal with the family around Easter
and Christmas, etc.
- Leaving Born
Again Fundamentalist Christianity E-Mail List This consists of
ex-fundamentalists and those who are interested in walking away from born
again fundamentalism or who aren't sure and have questions about whether to
leave. This is a support group and is not intended to take you away from
spiritual beliefs in which you are comfortable and in which you wish to
stay. This list was set up by Mike McClellan who introduces his reasons for
leaving fundamentalist Christianity which also leads to his website born again fundamentalism
exposed.
- Walk Away
from Fundamentalism Forum
- Recovering from
Religion Discussion Forum (a moderated, Christian-free forum).
- Ex-Christian.net open
forums. In particular see Testimonies of Former Christians.
- exChristian email
group.
- XCharismatics
From the mailing list intro: "I've spoken in tongues, healed and been
healed through the laying on of hands, heeded prophesies given to me by
others, been subjected to hours long exorcisms, and was taught to beat my
own children in order to exorcise them. I've been out of the Movement for
some twenty years now and I still wake up in a cold sweat and a frustrated
rage over what was done to me and my family. If any of this rings true to
you, then maybe we should talk."
- Exit Fundyism
- Association of Former Pentecostals Discussion Forums
- Ex-Christian
Support
- How to Escape Religion forum
- Ex-ICC Member's Discussion Forum
This forum exists to provide a gathering place for ex-members of the
International Churches of Christ, also known as the Boston Movement and
the Crossroads Movement. In addition, family and friends of current ICC
members are welcome to participate here. Current ICC members are free
to read the forum, but are not allowed to post.
- soc.atheism - provides a forum for
discussion of the social aspects, ramifications, and benefits of being an
atheist. Also discussed is what leads one to atheism.
- "Tell us your story". Deconversion discussions from "Christian Biblical Errancy Debate" forum.
- alt.recovery.religion
- alt.recovery.catholicism
- ExCatholic -
Leaving Roman Catholicism.
- alt.recovery.fundamentalism
- alt.recovery.christian.abuse
- Coming out of
the Atheist closet.
- Leaving Christianity - a discussion board in the SF Bay area
- Also don't miss the Internet
Infidels Discussion Forum. Particularly (for ex-Christians) see the
"Secular Lifestyle & Support Forum"
Meetups - Meet others like yourself for
informal chat.
Meetup is a free
service that organizes local gatherings about anything, anywhere.
- Ex-Catholic Meetups. Arrange
meetups with other local Ex-Catholics to discuss leaving the Church and what
you believe now.
- Ex-Protestant Meetup.
Meetup with other local people who have left Protestant Christianity and
discuss the virtues of your previous faith, what you believe now, and using
the fervor that used to go into your faith.
- Ex-Christian Scientists Meetup.
Meetup with other local people who have left Christian Science.
- Ex-Jesuit Meetup. Meetup with
other local ex-Jesuits to discuss what they have been doing since leaving
the Society and whether The Spiritual Exercises continue to influence
their lives.
- Ex-Mormon Meetup. Meetup with
other former members of the LDS church.
And relatedly...
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| Other recommended sites in accord with my
site. These include valuable resources on the theme of leaving Christianity but also related matters. |
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- Atheism Central for
Secondary Schools "Help with homework assignments and general
support for atheist students attending religious studies courses in
secondary schools in the United Kingdom (age range 11-18)." Alan
Urdaibay's site addresses the imbalance in RE teaching in UK schools.
I have a guest
essay at Alan's site, in which I summarise my findings to date in
compiling Leaving Christianity. Alan also describes how he became
disillusioned with religion.
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- Freethought
crossroads "If you're at a crossroads between faith and reason,
feeling the pull of each, this site is for you."
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(Note this site appears to be no longer active and
this version is therefore taken from the Internet Archive) |
- Religious
Humanism and Belief Systems "The main purpose of this website is
to provide some reasonable justification and some confidence for you
who are in the process of walking away from your traditional belief
system. -- to possibly give you a little head start by using some of
the "spade work" that I have done. -- this may save you some effort
and time."
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- Reasonworks.com "Audio
Tapes and Articles for Agnostics, Atheists, Skeptics ... and Even
Curious Religious Folk!" By former Mormon Mike Earl et al.
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- The Skeptic's
Annotated Bible. "This easily navigable site contains the entire
text of the King James Version of the bible presented from a skeptic's
point of view. It identifies the bible's absurdities, cruelties, sex
and vulgarities, insults to women, injustices, foul language, false
prophecies, and contradictions. Verses are classified using a four
star rating system, with cross-referenced links and attached notes."
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- An intelligent and absorbing analysis: The Rejection of
Pascal's Wager - A skeptic's guide to Christianity.
"The
Central Thesis: The major claims of Christianity are demonstrably
untrue and, on balance, it has brought more harm than good to the
world."
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- Edward T. Babinski.
A true romp of entertaining and intellectual deep thought. Good fun
whilst also a wide range of perceptive and well-researched thinking on
creation vs. evolution, leaving the fold, Christian history, biblical
errancy etc. Incisive commentary on an extraordinary variety of other
Christian beliefs and phenomena. Gentle yet serious deprogramming for
the confused. Many people have written to Ed thanking him for helping
then in their walk away from fundamentalism.
Ed also runs the resource www.fundamentalists-anonymous.org
At From Young
Earth Creationist to Evolutionist Edward T. Babinski describes how
he was a YEC-evangelical Christian who turned evolutionist and
agnostic. Read his account of the events and knowledge which changed
his beliefs forever.
Also see ED
B's story from the ex-Christian mailing list archives.
Ed also
has a page on the secular web here.
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| Reciprocal Links with Christian sites. |
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Interactive Area
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 Feel free to email me with any other collections of
deconversion stories you know of, feedback or links to other sites I've
missed that you think are particularly relevant. Also I would be glad to
arrange reciprocal links to your site if it is relevant and especially
if it disagrees with mine. I will also put up your own deconversion
story if you wish, although now it is probably better to send it
straight to the exchristian.org
database to enable other readers to easily search for ex-Christians
with similar backgrounds to themselves.
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| If you want to leave a message for everyone to see, then please sign
my guestbook. Note that if you are writing to convince me that
Christianity is true, please check that I have not already discussed
your ideas to your satisfaction on my
pages or in my feedback
discussions.
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How consistent are your beliefs? Check your Tension
Quotient!
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If you used to be active in an atheist organisation and
considered yourself well-read in arguments against Christianity and yet
subsequently became a Christian, I would be very interested if you could email
me to explain, or put resources that convinced you in the guestbook if you
would prefer to stay anonymous. See Asymmetry of Conversion for the
background to this question.
If you are an ex-minister then you
may wish to
at the Freedom From Religion Foundation
Inc. Dan is currently engaged in writing a book about former clergy who
are now unbelievers. He is also an ex-minister and ex-missionary who has
written a
popular book about his deconversion (excerpts are available). I wrote to him
in December 1999 to enquire about the progress of this and to maybe give him
some more leads. He replied that he has over 20 stories so far, and is hoping
to get a few more. The ones he has represent a wide cross section of belief:
Baptist, Roman Catholic priest, Seventh Day Adventist, Pentecostal, Episcopal,
Church of Christ, and so on. Dan may well be interested in your story of why
you are an ex-Christian and ex-member of the clergy.
Back to Contents | Email me
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