Prisoner of Patriarchal Presbyterian Pedagogy: Alia’s Story

CC image courtesy of Pixabay, Bilder_meines_Lebens. HA note: The author’s name has been changed to ensure anonymity. “Alia” is a pseudonym. I grew up in the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. It was a small denomination, and I hope it’s getting smaller. In the RPCNA, only preachers and elders could be part of the governing body of the church: and

Sexism and Homeschooling: Maya’s Story

CC image courtesy of Pixabay, Animus Photograpy. Trigger warning: Detailed descriptions of abuse. HA note: The author’s name has been changed to ensure anonymity. “Maya” is a pseudonym. I don’t even know how to begin to explain myself. Here I am sitting in the place I am forced by income and circumstance to live in (my parents’ home) outing myself

One Ticket to the Gray Havens, Please: Marais’s Story

  CC image courtesy of Pixabay, Animus Photograpy. HA note: The author’s name has been changed to ensure anonymity. “Marais” is a pseudonym. My pseudonym is Marais. I am 17 years old. This is what happened to me when I was 12-14. I was part of a not-very-well-known homeschool group called Regina Coeli that was part of a bigger religious

As A Homeschooler…

Photo credit: Darcy Anne, used with permission.  Editor’s Note: Darcy Anne is a homeschool alumni blog partner. She blogs at Darcy’s Heart-stirrings. This post was originally published on July 28th, 2016, and is reprinted with permission. I’ve been watching my kids learn about their world and their place in it. Answering their questions about current events like the marriage equality

Looking For A Future: Jane’s Story

Tomorrow I take my final exam for my first semester of nursing school.

I am one day away from finishing the first leg of something I almost never started. I am also one day away from maintaining a 4.0 GPA. Instructors, friends, classmates, and my therapist all say they knew I could do it.

Clearing My Head: Nichole’s Story

Patriarchal Christianity tried to kill what makes me, me, and it almost succeeded.

Do You Love God More than You Love Your Children?

CC image courtesy of Flickr, Jon Grainger. Editorial note: The following is reprinted with permission from Libby Anne’s blog. It was originally published on March 30, 2016. I’ve written a lot about the evangelicalism I grew up in. I’ve written about patriarchal ideas about male leadership and female submission, and about what it was like to believe demons were literal beings I might encounter.

We Are Less Fragile

CC image courtesy of Flickr, Carlos Andrés Reyes. Editorial note: The following is reprinted with permission from Eleanor Skelton’s blog. It was originally published as a guest post in a series on March 2, 2016. Mary, the writer of this post, blogs at Threads of Stars.  I grew up believing that I could break other people, break myself, break the world, with the

How Answers in Genesis Shattered My Faith in Creationism

I realized with growing horror that much of the material there was either flat-out lying or skillfully misleading people.

Isn’t This Why We Don’t Send Them to Public School?

This was the first time that I was that child, the bad influence. Usually it was my parents keeping me away from other children that could lead me astray. This time, they hid their children from me.