#exvangelical — Public Fediverse posts

RE: https://lgbtqia.space/@rainbowrodeomag/117322658781824950

Grateful to write another album review for @rainbowrodeomag. As a fellow #exvangelical queer, I connected quite deeply with this new Maddie Zahm record, which comes out tomorrow. :)

https://musicians.today/@rainbowrodeom[email protected]/117322659009960800

#newMusic #queerMusic

RE: https://lgbtqia.space/@rainbowrodeomag/117322658781824950

Grateful to write another album review for @rainbowrodeomag. As a fellow #exvangelical queer, I connected quite deeply with this new Maddie Zahm record, which comes out tomorrow. :)

https://musicians.today/@rainbowrodeom[email protected]/117322659009960800

#newMusic #queerMusic

RE: https://lgbtqia.space/@rainbowrodeomag/117322658781824950

Grateful to write another album review for @rainbowrodeomag. As a fellow #exvangelical queer, I connected quite deeply with this new Maddie Zahm record, which comes out tomorrow. :)

https://musicians.today/@rainbowrodeom[email protected]/117322659009960800

#newMusic #queerMusic

RE: https://lgbtqia.space/@rainbowrodeomag/117322658781824950

Grateful to write another album review for @rainbowrodeomag. As a fellow #exvangelical queer, I connected quite deeply with this new Maddie Zahm record, which comes out tomorrow. :)

https://musicians.today/@rainbowrodeom[email protected]/117322659009960800

#newMusic #queerMusic

RE: https://lgbtqia.space/@rainbowrodeomag/117322658781824950

Grateful to write another album review for @rainbowrodeomag. As a fellow #exvangelical queer, I connected quite deeply with this new Maddie Zahm record, which comes out tomorrow. :)

https://musicians.today/@rainbowrodeom[email protected]/117322659009960800

#newMusic #queerMusic

REVIEW: @arendleejessurun reviews Everything All the Time -- the stunning new queer exvangelical album from Maddie Zahm, which teaches us that living is an art, not a dogma.

https://rainbowrodeomag.com/p/29b707f8-0cc9-4d74-ae21-ba631ef83597/

#QueerCountry #Americana #CountryMusic #RootsMusic #LGBTQMusic #QueerMusic #LGBTQMusician #lgbtq #exvangelical

REVIEW: @arendleejessurun reviews Everything All the Time -- the stunning new queer exvangelical album from Maddie Zahm, which teaches us that living is an art, not a dogma.

https://rainbowrodeomag.com/p/29b707f8-0cc9-4d74-ae21-ba631ef83597/

#QueerCountry #Americana #CountryMusic #RootsMusic #LGBTQMusic #QueerMusic #LGBTQMusician #lgbtq #exvangelical

REVIEW: @arendleejessurun reviews Everything All the Time -- the stunning new queer exvangelical album from Maddie Zahm, which teaches us that living is an art, not a dogma.

https://rainbowrodeomag.com/p/29b707f8-0cc9-4d74-ae21-ba631ef83597/

#QueerCountry #Americana #CountryMusic #RootsMusic #LGBTQMusic #QueerMusic #LGBTQMusician #lgbtq #exvangelical

REVIEW: @arendleejessurun reviews Everything All the Time -- the stunning new queer exvangelical album from Maddie Zahm, which teaches us that living is an art, not a dogma.

https://rainbowrodeomag.com/p/29b707f8-0cc9-4d74-ae21-ba631ef83597/

#QueerCountry #Americana #CountryMusic #RootsMusic #LGBTQMusic #QueerMusic #LGBTQMusician #lgbtq #exvangelical

REVIEW: @arendleejessurun reviews Everything All the Time -- the stunning new queer exvangelical album from Maddie Zahm, which teaches us that living is an art, not a dogma.

https://rainbowrodeomag.com/p/29b707f8-0cc9-4d74-ae21-ba631ef83597/

#QueerCountry #Americana #CountryMusic #RootsMusic #LGBTQMusic #QueerMusic #LGBTQMusician #lgbtq #exvangelical

Talking with a friend about damning and damaging systems within the American Church™️

I've noticed that a lot with southern parents. They get really reactive after subjecting their kids to the people and institutions they react against. The important lesson isn't learned. They just assume it was personal.

It's not, primarily (there's always a personal victim bearing personal cost).

1/2

#ChurchHurt #Deconstruction #exvangelical #Matthew18

Talking with a friend about damning and damaging systems within the American Church™️

I've noticed that a lot with southern parents. They get really reactive after subjecting their kids to the people and institutions they react against. The important lesson isn't learned. They just assume it was personal.

It's not, primarily (there's always a personal victim bearing personal cost).

1/2

#ChurchHurt #Deconstruction #exvangelical #Matthew18

Talking with a friend about damning and damaging systems within the American Church™️

I've noticed that a lot with southern parents. They get really reactive after subjecting their kids to the people and institutions they react against. The important lesson isn't learned. They just assume it was personal.

It's not, primarily (there's always a personal victim bearing personal cost).

1/2

#ChurchHurt #Deconstruction #exvangelical #Matthew18

Talking with a friend about damning and damaging systems within the American Church™️

I've noticed that a lot with southern parents. They get really reactive after subjecting their kids to the people and institutions they react against. The important lesson isn't learned. They just assume it was personal.

It's not, primarily (there's always a personal victim bearing personal cost).

1/2

#ChurchHurt #Deconstruction #exvangelical #Matthew18

Talking with a friend about damning and damaging systems within the American Church™️

I've noticed that a lot with southern parents. They get really reactive after subjecting their kids to the people and institutions they react against. The important lesson isn't learned. They just assume it was personal.

It's not, primarily (there's always a personal victim bearing personal cost).

1/2

#ChurchHurt #Deconstruction #exvangelical #Matthew18

What readers think of my books:
1 star. “Woke agenda”
1 star. “LGBQAEIOU”
1 star. “Lesbian lifestyle”
1 star. “Contains swears”

Find all my books at https://whitehartfiction.co.uk/

#intro #author #exvangelical

What readers think of my books:
1 star. “Woke agenda”
1 star. “LGBQAEIOU”
1 star. “Lesbian lifestyle”
1 star. “Contains swears”

Find all my books at https://whitehartfiction.co.uk/

#intro #author #exvangelical

What readers think of my books:
1 star. “Woke agenda”
1 star. “LGBQAEIOU”
1 star. “Lesbian lifestyle”
1 star. “Contains swears”

Find all my books at https://whitehartfiction.co.uk/

#intro #author #exvangelical

What readers think of my books:
1 star. “Woke agenda”
1 star. “LGBQAEIOU”
1 star. “Lesbian lifestyle”
1 star. “Contains swears”

Find all my books at https://whitehartfiction.co.uk/

#intro #author #exvangelical

What readers think of my books:
1 star. “Woke agenda”
1 star. “LGBQAEIOU”
1 star. “Lesbian lifestyle”
1 star. “Contains swears”

Find all my books at https://whitehartfiction.co.uk/

#intro #author #exvangelical

What you’ll find in my books:
Si Clarke – Sci-fi without the pew-pew 🚀
Elliott Hay – Women who k!ll 🔪
Casey Shepherd – Queer exvangelicals ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
All three – Dogs 🐶

#intro #author #exvangelical

What you’ll find in my books:
Si Clarke – Sci-fi without the pew-pew 🚀
Elliott Hay – Women who k!ll 🔪
Casey Shepherd – Queer exvangelicals ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
All three – Dogs 🐶

#intro #author #exvangelical

What you’ll find in my books:
Si Clarke – Sci-fi without the pew-pew 🚀
Elliott Hay – Women who k!ll 🔪
Casey Shepherd – Queer exvangelicals ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
All three – Dogs 🐶

#intro #author #exvangelical

What you’ll find in my books:
Si Clarke – Sci-fi without the pew-pew 🚀
Elliott Hay – Women who k!ll 🔪
Casey Shepherd – Queer exvangelicals ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
All three – Dogs 🐶

#intro #author #exvangelical

What you’ll find in my books:
Si Clarke – Sci-fi without the pew-pew 🚀
Elliott Hay – Women who k!ll 🔪
Casey Shepherd – Queer exvangelicals ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
All three – Dogs 🐶

#intro #author #exvangelical

Hi. Have we met? I’m sci-fi author Si Clarke. I’m also crime fiction author Elliott Hay. And now I’m adding a new pen name to my arsenal. Casey Shepherd writes about queer people finding love as they recover from evangelicalism and purity culture.

I’m a Canadian living in the UK.

#intro #author #exvangelical

Hi. Have we met? I’m sci-fi author Si Clarke. I’m also crime fiction author Elliott Hay. And now I’m adding a new pen name to my arsenal. Casey Shepherd writes about queer people finding love as they recover from evangelicalism and purity culture.

I’m a Canadian living in the UK.

#intro #author #exvangelical

Hi. Have we met? I’m sci-fi author Si Clarke. I’m also crime fiction author Elliott Hay. And now I’m adding a new pen name to my arsenal. Casey Shepherd writes about queer people finding love as they recover from evangelicalism and purity culture.

I’m a Canadian living in the UK.

#intro #author #exvangelical

Hi. Have we met? I’m sci-fi author Si Clarke. I’m also crime fiction author Elliott Hay. And now I’m adding a new pen name to my arsenal. Casey Shepherd writes about queer people finding love as they recover from evangelicalism and purity culture.

I’m a Canadian living in the UK.

#intro #author #exvangelical

Hi. Have we met? I’m sci-fi author Si Clarke. I’m also crime fiction author Elliott Hay. And now I’m adding a new pen name to my arsenal. Casey Shepherd writes about queer people finding love as they recover from evangelicalism and purity culture.

I’m a Canadian living in the UK.

#intro #author #exvangelical

This started as notes for my defense in a hypothetical conversation with my dad, but I've fleshed it out as a blog post. #dispensationalism #creationism #fundamentalism #exvangelical

https://blog.devlord.io/2026/09/20/suffering-servant-creation-dispensationalism-mythicism/

This started as notes for my defense in a hypothetical conversation with my dad, but I've fleshed it out as a blog post. #dispensationalism #creationism #fundamentalism #exvangelical

https://blog.devlord.io/2026/09/20/suffering-servant-creation-dispensationalism-mythicism/

This started as notes for my defense in a hypothetical conversation with my dad, but I've fleshed it out as a blog post. #dispensationalism #creationism #fundamentalism #exvangelical

https://blog.devlord.io/2026/09/20/suffering-servant-creation-dispensationalism-mythicism/

This started as notes for my defense in a hypothetical conversation with my dad, but I've fleshed it out as a blog post. #dispensationalism #creationism #fundamentalism #exvangelical

https://blog.devlord.io/2026/09/20/suffering-servant-creation-dispensationalism-mythicism/

This started as notes for my defense in a hypothetical conversation with my dad, but I've fleshed it out as a blog post. #dispensationalism #creationism #fundamentalism #exvangelical

https://blog.devlord.io/2026/09/20/suffering-servant-creation-dispensationalism-mythicism/

Biblical Literalism leads to some odd contortions. I look at one of them in today's short, Good God, Bad God.

#Exvangelical #ShortVideo

Biblical Literalism leads to some odd contortions. I look at one of them in today's short, Good God, Bad God.

#Exvangelical #ShortVideo

Biblical Literalism leads to some odd contortions. I look at one of them in today's short, Good God, Bad God.

#Exvangelical #ShortVideo

> There is so much goodness when you leave, of course. That makes it all worth it. I have found that the integrity of embracing reality is much better than even the most comforting lie. But often, freedom feels a lot like loneliness. A lot like being on an island.

> You mourn what was thought to be true but never was and never will be. This grief is normal and healthy, if you befriend it. It's the evidence of how true you were then and how true you are now. A god may not have shown up, but your grief is proof that you were always fully there.

_Gospel of Lies_ by Promise Backlund #atheism #exvangelical

> There is so much goodness when you leave, of course. That makes it all worth it. I have found that the integrity of embracing reality is much better than even the most comforting lie. But often, freedom feels a lot like loneliness. A lot like being on an island.

> You mourn what was thought to be true but never was and never will be. This grief is normal and healthy, if you befriend it. It's the evidence of how true you were then and how true you are now. A god may not have shown up, but your grief is proof that you were always fully there.

_Gospel of Lies_ by Promise Backlund #atheism #exvangelical

> There is so much goodness when you leave, of course. That makes it all worth it. I have found that the integrity of embracing reality is much better than even the most comforting lie. But often, freedom feels a lot like loneliness. A lot like being on an island.

> You mourn what was thought to be true but never was and never will be. This grief is normal and healthy, if you befriend it. It's the evidence of how true you were then and how true you are now. A god may not have shown up, but your grief is proof that you were always fully there.

_Gospel of Lies_ by Promise Backlund #atheism #exvangelical

> There is so much goodness when you leave, of course. That makes it all worth it. I have found that the integrity of embracing reality is much better than even the most comforting lie. But often, freedom feels a lot like loneliness. A lot like being on an island.

> You mourn what was thought to be true but never was and never will be. This grief is normal and healthy, if you befriend it. It's the evidence of how true you were then and how true you are now. A god may not have shown up, but your grief is proof that you were always fully there.

_Gospel of Lies_ by Promise Backlund #atheism #exvangelical

> There is so much goodness when you leave, of course. That makes it all worth it. I have found that the integrity of embracing reality is much better than even the most comforting lie. But often, freedom feels a lot like loneliness. A lot like being on an island.

> You mourn what was thought to be true but never was and never will be. This grief is normal and healthy, if you befriend it. It's the evidence of how true you were then and how true you are now. A god may not have shown up, but your grief is proof that you were always fully there.

_Gospel of Lies_ by Promise Backlund #atheism #exvangelical

I wrote a short thing about religious trauma and hymns.

https://courtcan.com/2026/09/11/worm-child-wretched/

#ReligiousTrauma
#hymns
#ChurchOfChrist
#exvangelical

I wrote a short thing about religious trauma and hymns.

https://courtcan.com/2026/09/11/worm-child-wretched/

#ReligiousTrauma
#hymns
#ChurchOfChrist
#exvangelical

I wrote a short thing about religious trauma and hymns.

https://courtcan.com/2026/09/11/worm-child-wretched/

#ReligiousTrauma
#hymns
#ChurchOfChrist
#exvangelical

I wrote a short thing about religious trauma and hymns.

https://courtcan.com/2026/09/11/worm-child-wretched/

#ReligiousTrauma
#hymns
#ChurchOfChrist
#exvangelical

I wrote a short thing about religious trauma and hymns.

https://courtcan.com/2026/09/11/worm-child-wretched/

#ReligiousTrauma
#hymns
#ChurchOfChrist
#exvangelical

Study shows similarities between cult and trafficking survivors.

"While high-control groups and sex trafficking are usually treated as distinct social and legal problems, this comparative framework establishes that their underlying mechanisms of coercive control are functionally equivalent. Identifying these deep structural similarities addresses a historical gap in academic literature, providing a foundation for cross-disciplinary intervention models, updated legal definitions of psychological captivity, and unified trauma treatment strategies for survivors of both settings."

Via the ICSA.

#AbuseCulture #CoerciveControl #ReligiousTrauma #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical #ICSA

https://icsatoday.substack.com/p/study-shows-psychological-similarities

Study shows similarities between cult and trafficking survivors.

"While high-control groups and sex trafficking are usually treated as distinct social and legal problems, this comparative framework establishes that their underlying mechanisms of coercive control are functionally equivalent. Identifying these deep structural similarities addresses a historical gap in academic literature, providing a foundation for cross-disciplinary intervention models, updated legal definitions of psychological captivity, and unified trauma treatment strategies for survivors of both settings."

Via the ICSA.

#AbuseCulture #CoerciveControl #ReligiousTrauma #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical #ICSA

https://icsatoday.substack.com/p/study-shows-psychological-similarities

Study shows similarities between cult and trafficking survivors.

"While high-control groups and sex trafficking are usually treated as distinct social and legal problems, this comparative framework establishes that their underlying mechanisms of coercive control are functionally equivalent. Identifying these deep structural similarities addresses a historical gap in academic literature, providing a foundation for cross-disciplinary intervention models, updated legal definitions of psychological captivity, and unified trauma treatment strategies for survivors of both settings."

Via the ICSA.

#AbuseCulture #CoerciveControl #ReligiousTrauma #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical #ICSA

https://icsatoday.substack.com/p/study-shows-psychological-similarities

Study shows similarities between cult and trafficking survivors.

"While high-control groups and sex trafficking are usually treated as distinct social and legal problems, this comparative framework establishes that their underlying mechanisms of coercive control are functionally equivalent. Identifying these deep structural similarities addresses a historical gap in academic literature, providing a foundation for cross-disciplinary intervention models, updated legal definitions of psychological captivity, and unified trauma treatment strategies for survivors of both settings."

Via the ICSA.

#AbuseCulture #CoerciveControl #ReligiousTrauma #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical #ICSA

https://icsatoday.substack.com/p/study-shows-psychological-similarities

Study shows similarities between cult and trafficking survivors.

"While high-control groups and sex trafficking are usually treated as distinct social and legal problems, this comparative framework establishes that their underlying mechanisms of coercive control are functionally equivalent. Identifying these deep structural similarities addresses a historical gap in academic literature, providing a foundation for cross-disciplinary intervention models, updated legal definitions of psychological captivity, and unified trauma treatment strategies for survivors of both settings."

Via the ICSA.

#AbuseCulture #CoerciveControl #ReligiousTrauma #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical #ICSA

https://icsatoday.substack.com/p/study-shows-psychological-similarities

Promise Backlund (@eve_wasframed) is a former worship leader turned counter-apologist. I first heard of her on Seth Andrews’s podcast. She wrote a book called Gospel of Lies (the title sounds harsher than it actually reads).

There’s one chapter where she discusses the impact that music, architecture, mood lighting, and large gatherings can have in producing feelings of transcendence and euphoria for the human “spirit.” She writes of going to her first secular rock concert and finding it just like church. “My belief that God was as involved with a rock concert as he was with a worship service turned out to be closer to the truth than I realized. It turns out God was equally uninvolved. But my confusion was by evangelical design, as there is little difference between their worship services and a live concert. Music is already manipulative by nature; that’s why we listen to it.”

She doesn’t mean that musical manipulation is necessarily a bad thing–we listen to music to help us feel good; it’s like art or literature, where the creator of the piece is trying to evoke certain thoughts or feelings to the audience or reader. But you need to be aware that it’s human-made. Otherwise, “these emotional moments can convince you that of course there’s a god…”

“Music’s ability to impact our emotions, physical state and behavior has been widely studied and universally recognized.” Look at the minor keys for the “Imperial March” in The Empire Strikes Back or the Emperor’s theme in Return of the Jedi and contrast that with the uplifting major key of the Rebel fanfare. That’s John Williams who did that, not God.

As a worship musician myself for many years, I have experienced the manipulation from both sides. If a pastor wanted to really turn on the tears during a prayer service, he would give me the nod and I’d gradually shape the improvisational droning of my violin into an upwelling theme that sounded like something out of the Braveheart soundtrack. I didn’t see myself as doing manipulation in that moment, though; I thought I was just being “used by God.”

Find her book here: https://medialabbooks.com/products/9781964487557_gospel-of-lies #atheism #exvangelical

Promise Backlund (@eve_wasframed) is a former worship leader turned counter-apologist. I first heard of her on Seth Andrews’s podcast. She wrote a book called Gospel of Lies (the title sounds harsher than it actually reads).

There’s one chapter where she discusses the impact that music, architecture, mood lighting, and large gatherings can have in producing feelings of transcendence and euphoria for the human “spirit.” She writes of going to her first secular rock concert and finding it just like church. “My belief that God was as involved with a rock concert as he was with a worship service turned out to be closer to the truth than I realized. It turns out God was equally uninvolved. But my confusion was by evangelical design, as there is little difference between their worship services and a live concert. Music is already manipulative by nature; that’s why we listen to it.”

She doesn’t mean that musical manipulation is necessarily a bad thing–we listen to music to help us feel good; it’s like art or literature, where the creator of the piece is trying to evoke certain thoughts or feelings to the audience or reader. But you need to be aware that it’s human-made. Otherwise, “these emotional moments can convince you that of course there’s a god…”

“Music’s ability to impact our emotions, physical state and behavior has been widely studied and universally recognized.” Look at the minor keys for the “Imperial March” in The Empire Strikes Back or the Emperor’s theme in Return of the Jedi and contrast that with the uplifting major key of the Rebel fanfare. That’s John Williams who did that, not God.

As a worship musician myself for many years, I have experienced the manipulation from both sides. If a pastor wanted to really turn on the tears during a prayer service, he would give me the nod and I’d gradually shape the improvisational droning of my violin into an upwelling theme that sounded like something out of the Braveheart soundtrack. I didn’t see myself as doing manipulation in that moment, though; I thought I was just being “used by God.”

Find her book here: https://medialabbooks.com/products/9781964487557_gospel-of-lies #atheism #exvangelical

Promise Backlund (@eve_wasframed) is a former worship leader turned counter-apologist. I first heard of her on Seth Andrews’s podcast. She wrote a book called Gospel of Lies (the title sounds harsher than it actually reads).

There’s one chapter where she discusses the impact that music, architecture, mood lighting, and large gatherings can have in producing feelings of transcendence and euphoria for the human “spirit.” She writes of going to her first secular rock concert and finding it just like church. “My belief that God was as involved with a rock concert as he was with a worship service turned out to be closer to the truth than I realized. It turns out God was equally uninvolved. But my confusion was by evangelical design, as there is little difference between their worship services and a live concert. Music is already manipulative by nature; that’s why we listen to it.”

She doesn’t mean that musical manipulation is necessarily a bad thing–we listen to music to help us feel good; it’s like art or literature, where the creator of the piece is trying to evoke certain thoughts or feelings to the audience or reader. But you need to be aware that it’s human-made. Otherwise, “these emotional moments can convince you that of course there’s a god…”

“Music’s ability to impact our emotions, physical state and behavior has been widely studied and universally recognized.” Look at the minor keys for the “Imperial March” in The Empire Strikes Back or the Emperor’s theme in Return of the Jedi and contrast that with the uplifting major key of the Rebel fanfare. That’s John Williams who did that, not God.

As a worship musician myself for many years, I have experienced the manipulation from both sides. If a pastor wanted to really turn on the tears during a prayer service, he would give me the nod and I’d gradually shape the improvisational droning of my violin into an upwelling theme that sounded like something out of the Braveheart soundtrack. I didn’t see myself as doing manipulation in that moment, though; I thought I was just being “used by God.”

Find her book here: https://medialabbooks.com/products/9781964487557_gospel-of-lies #atheism #exvangelical

Promise Backlund (@eve_wasframed) is a former worship leader turned counter-apologist. I first heard of her on Seth Andrews’s podcast. She wrote a book called Gospel of Lies (the title sounds harsher than it actually reads).

There’s one chapter where she discusses the impact that music, architecture, mood lighting, and large gatherings can have in producing feelings of transcendence and euphoria for the human “spirit.” She writes of going to her first secular rock concert and finding it just like church. “My belief that God was as involved with a rock concert as he was with a worship service turned out to be closer to the truth than I realized. It turns out God was equally uninvolved. But my confusion was by evangelical design, as there is little difference between their worship services and a live concert. Music is already manipulative by nature; that’s why we listen to it.”

She doesn’t mean that musical manipulation is necessarily a bad thing–we listen to music to help us feel good; it’s like art or literature, where the creator of the piece is trying to evoke certain thoughts or feelings to the audience or reader. But you need to be aware that it’s human-made. Otherwise, “these emotional moments can convince you that of course there’s a god…”

“Music’s ability to impact our emotions, physical state and behavior has been widely studied and universally recognized.” Look at the minor keys for the “Imperial March” in The Empire Strikes Back or the Emperor’s theme in Return of the Jedi and contrast that with the uplifting major key of the Rebel fanfare. That’s John Williams who did that, not God.

As a worship musician myself for many years, I have experienced the manipulation from both sides. If a pastor wanted to really turn on the tears during a prayer service, he would give me the nod and I’d gradually shape the improvisational droning of my violin into an upwelling theme that sounded like something out of the Braveheart soundtrack. I didn’t see myself as doing manipulation in that moment, though; I thought I was just being “used by God.”

Find her book here: https://medialabbooks.com/products/9781964487557_gospel-of-lies #atheism #exvangelical

Promise Backlund (@eve_wasframed) is a former worship leader turned counter-apologist. I first heard of her on Seth Andrews’s podcast. She wrote a book called Gospel of Lies (the title sounds harsher than it actually reads).

There’s one chapter where she discusses the impact that music, architecture, mood lighting, and large gatherings can have in producing feelings of transcendence and euphoria for the human “spirit.” She writes of going to her first secular rock concert and finding it just like church. “My belief that God was as involved with a rock concert as he was with a worship service turned out to be closer to the truth than I realized. It turns out God was equally uninvolved. But my confusion was by evangelical design, as there is little difference between their worship services and a live concert. Music is already manipulative by nature; that’s why we listen to it.”

She doesn’t mean that musical manipulation is necessarily a bad thing–we listen to music to help us feel good; it’s like art or literature, where the creator of the piece is trying to evoke certain thoughts or feelings to the audience or reader. But you need to be aware that it’s human-made. Otherwise, “these emotional moments can convince you that of course there’s a god…”

“Music’s ability to impact our emotions, physical state and behavior has been widely studied and universally recognized.” Look at the minor keys for the “Imperial March” in The Empire Strikes Back or the Emperor’s theme in Return of the Jedi and contrast that with the uplifting major key of the Rebel fanfare. That’s John Williams who did that, not God.

As a worship musician myself for many years, I have experienced the manipulation from both sides. If a pastor wanted to really turn on the tears during a prayer service, he would give me the nod and I’d gradually shape the improvisational droning of my violin into an upwelling theme that sounded like something out of the Braveheart soundtrack. I didn’t see myself as doing manipulation in that moment, though; I thought I was just being “used by God.”

Find her book here: https://medialabbooks.com/products/9781964487557_gospel-of-lies #atheism #exvangelical

Can I interest you in a little exvangelical novelette, featuring opposites attract, a bi man, a woman discovering her inner strength, a second chance at love, found family, nineties vibes, and Canadianisms?

🩷💜💙

Free Indeed: Tim & Darlene (Queering Edmonton #0.5) by Casey Shepherd is up for pre-order.

https://whitehartfiction.co.uk/products/free-ebook

#bookstodon #bivisibility #exvangelical

Can I interest you in a little exvangelical novelette, featuring opposites attract, a bi man, a woman discovering her inner strength, a second chance at love, found family, nineties vibes, and Canadianisms?

🩷💜💙

Free Indeed: Tim & Darlene (Queering Edmonton #0.5) by Casey Shepherd is up for pre-order.

https://whitehartfiction.co.uk/products/free-ebook

#bookstodon #bivisibility #exvangelical