I was willing to lose everyone and everything to live an authentic life - Andrew Pledger

T/W - brief discussion of depression, suicidal ideation

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Today I spoke with Andrew Pledger, who grew up as a Christian in the Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) cult and attended Bob Jones University, but ultimately denounced fundamentalism.

We discussed many topics, including:

• How the IFB maintains strict control through fear-based teachings, a strict authority and control structure, and strong isolation from all other influences.
• Being taught that the King James Version of the Bible was the only legitimate version, and all other versions were false and Satanic.
• Hearing that if he obeyed his parents, he would have a long life.
• Being taught that god hated people and was sick of their sin, but yet still loved them.
• Hearing that a lack of wholehearted obedience or conformity was evidence of not being saved and being in danger of damnation.
• Growing up in an environment where strict gender roles were strongly preached.
• Being taught to be judgmental of and disgusted by everyone who wasn't a staunch fundamentalist Christian.
• Learning that acceptance and praise was only available to him through conformity.
• Facing intense shame for not being perfect or for having any struggles in life.
• Going "soul-winning" and being told that not sharing the Gospel with people meant he was partly guilty for their damnation.
• Living by a daily checklist of things to do to be holy, but at the cost of being judgmental toward those who didn't live that way and being obsessively driven to be an over-achiever.
• Fearing the possibility of "missing out" on the will of god.
• Feeling like he was being groomed to be a "soldier for Christ" from a very young age.
• Being told to always put others first and himself last.
• Facing mental health trauma and a severe depression from being told he was an awful and sinful person in general, but even more so when he struggled with homosexuality and wondered if he was an abomination to god.
• Feeling so sheltered that there was no way to express his concerns and doubts or to distance himself from his community and from fundamentalism.
• Starting to question authority and realize he'd been in a very harmful environment.
• Realizing that Christianity creates a problem (sin/hell) and then sells you the solution (salvation/heaven).
• Never feeling secure in his salvation, even though he was told that eternal security was a key piece of his Christian experience.
• The subtle ways that cults indoctrinate you and slowly shift your mindset so that they can control you, including keeping people extremely busy and tired.
• Starting to claim his own autonomy and recognize his own needs for the first time in his life.
• Reaching out to the "world" for community and experiencing much more love and peace than in fundamentalist Christianity.
• Starting to move past the "Us vs. Them" / "Ingroup vs. Outgroup" mentality.
• Realizing that there are truly good and loving people outside of the cult, even though "phobia indoctrination" had taught otherwise.
• Critically examining the Bible for the first time.
• Making the intentional choice to escape Christianity.
• Learning to be okay with uncertainty and with not having answers to "ultimate" questions.
• The importance of learning to enjoy life here and now.

Many thanks to Andrew for sharing his story!
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Connect with Andrew!

https://lnk.bio/survivingbjupod

IndoctriNation Podcast with Rachel Bernstein
https://www.facebook.com/indoctrinationpodcast

Andrew's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@4ndrewpledger/videos

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Tim may be reached by email at: harmonicatheist@yahoo.com
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--Tim
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Ending music by Eyal Raz, "Friends"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qbqNO6DdAQ

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Видео I was willing to lose everyone and everything to live an authentic life - Andrew Pledger канала Harmonic Atheist