058 Janice Selbie of Divorcing Religion: Raised Evangelical. Showed Submission w/a Head Covering. She's now Agnostic Atheist.

Voices of Deconversion

Janice was an all-or-nothing kind of Christian.

Her life takes a turn toward fundamentalism when her husband is going to school to be a pastor. She chooses to show her submission to her husband by wearing a head covering and not wearing jewelry or make-up. She went through some tremendously difficult experiences: Her daughter's illness, difficulties in her marriage and a family member jailed for murder.

Janice brings amazing insight regarding how we see faith through the lens of our personality. She talks about how as Christians, there was always the danger of fundamentalism becoming our identity. As fundamentalist Christians, if faith is questioned it can be interpreted as a threat to our personhood. Now an Agnostic-Atheist Janice has focused her time and energy into helping others.

Check out her Divorcing Religion Workshop at: http://www.divorcingreligion.com

Find her on Social Media:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/DivorcingReligion/

Twitter:

@divorcereligion https://twitter.com/divorcereligion

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeO8lUJyR0k

Full Bio http://www.divorcingreligion.com/contact/

Janice was born and raised in a charismatic Christian home, attending Pentecostal, Vineyard, and other evangelical churches before eventually marrying a pastor. In her 30s, Janice became ultraconservative, donning a head-covering, homeschooling her children, and rejecting any vestiges of secular life (TV, radio, music, newspapers, magazines, etc.).“I referred to myself as ‘Mennocostal,’ frequently attending closed Mennonite churches run by the Holdemann Mennonites.” It wasn’t until her 40s that Janice began experiencing doubts about her deeply held faith. As her marriage unraveled, her questions grew. “I felt like a beach ball held beneath the water for too long. My sadness, confusion, and anger became so intense that I knew I had to leave it all behind.”

After ending her decades-long marriage, Janice went back to school to attain her Diploma of Applied Psychology and Counselling.“My passion is to help others who are experiencing the tremendous losses associated with religious de-conversion. My own journey could have been easier if I had been able to connect with even one other person who had walked away from their faith and built a healthy life afterward.” These painful experiences influenced Janice to develop the Divorcing Religion workshop so that others can gain knowledge and tools to help with their own journey out of fundamentalist religions. In the workshop, she helps participants gain perspective about their journey, build supportive communities, and learn how to avoid being ensnared by other forms of fundamentalism in the future.