Skylar Camp is an angry feminist who lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her two young kids, who describe themselves as her best friends. They have one cat and three nearly-dead plants. She writes creative non-fiction that mostly focuses on deconverting from Evangelical Christianity. You can connect with Skylar on Instagram @skylarcampwrites. Support the show
I know you've been clamoring for more of Jessica's beauty and badassery! You're in luck! Here's more of her story! #findingfreedom #onestoryatatime #womenspeakup #womenspeakout #dysautonomia #eosinophilicesophagitis #chronicillness #deconvert #emptythepews #exvangelical #psalm34:14 Jessica grew up swimming in christian fundamentalism. Despite the christian education, life at home was hard -- raised by a single dad and an abusive bipolar manic depressive mother who was in and out of her life. A r...
Jessica grew up swimming in christian fundamentalism. Despite the christian education, life at home was hard -- raised by a single dad and an abusive bipolar manic depressive mother who was in and out of her life. A revolving door of blended families, domestic violence, sexual assault, neglect, and mental and emotional abuse were the norm. The christian schools grounded her and offered structure and stability. She found an identity and safe space to find refuge from the instability at home. But ...
Whew! It's been a hot minute since we've chatted. Here's a brief update of what's been going on over the last few months recorded at a lovely riverside cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Interviews with badass women starting back up in the very near future. You can get in touch with us on FB and Instagram @WomenBeyondFaith. Or via email at WomenBeyondFaith@gmail.com. Support the show
We welcome back Bethany, 26 years old, married mom of two, to the Women Beyond Faith podcast! In this episode the conversation moves to pornography, marital relationships, working through tough stuff, isolation, misguided christian counsel, sex in marriage after receiving the Purity Culture narrative, pregnancy, parenting during deconversion, forgiveness, second chances, secular higher ed institutions, finding freedom, autonomy as women, and working hard to become the best version of oneself! Be...
Former conservative homeschooled good girl turns into outspoken liberal feminist. Bethany, 26 years old, is a married mom of two young boys. Currently enrolled in college with a 4.0 GPA, Bethany also loves painting, yoga, music, movies and reading. After rejecting the faith she was raised in, she's now embracing the beauty within. Bethany has found a peace filled freedom this side of faith. We talk Purity Culture, homeschooling, failing to fit in to the christian cultural norms, giving up on dre...
Here's an opportunity to meet a few of the phenomenal women in my local circle; Kellie, Jillian & Dara. They briefly talk life under quarantine. Prompts were provided to get the conversation started -- if they so chose. We've attempted to keep it apolitical (for the most part). No bashing. No shaming. And do our best to rise above all of that negativity and offer some positive energy to the world. Basically - we wanted to know how women are surviving the pandemic this side of faith? If you, ...
Meet Dana, a former missionary who took evangelicalism as far as she could. She grew up in a baptist church and family in California. Homeschooled for 6 years, she dedicated her youth to saving non-believers from the torment of “hell”. To prepare for full time ministry, she attended the New Tribes and Moody Bible Institutes and earned degrees in Biblical Studies and Linguistics. Dana fully left Christianity shortly after her final mission trip in Thailand in 2010 after concluding that mission wo...
Former fundie Proverbs 31 homeschool mama, Melissa, just graduated with a degree in Women's Studies. She has an expansive resume; author, childbirth educator, doula, belly dancer, mom to 5 and grandma to 8 (just to name a few). Searching at the tender age of 17 for the best way to raise her baby, Melissa found church. Today at 50, Melissa's unabashed ambition to be a life long learner and question everything led her in to uncharted territories. This perpetual hunger for knowledge and understandi...
Former fundie Proverbs 31 homeschool mama, Melissa, graduates this May with a degree in Women's Studies. She has an expansive resume; author, childbirth educator, doula, belly dancer, mom to 5 and grandma to 8 (just to name a few). Searching at the tender age of 17 for the best way to raise her baby, Melissa found church. Today at 50, Melissa's unabashed ambition to be a life long learner and question everything led her in to uncharted territories. This perpetual hunger for knowledge and underst...
So we've had a hard time knowing how to move forward with the WBF podcast during this time of crisis. We finally came up with what we believe to be is a not so terrible idea -- and -- we're hoping it helps in some way to keep us connected during this time of pandemic. We invited people to offer a 5, 10 or even 15 minute update of what life is looking like at their house. Some daily quarantine prompts were provided to get the conversation started. And, we encouraged those with kiddos to try and g...
She's back!! Join us for more of April's Journey as we talk managing unequally yoked marriage, parenting this side of faith, adoption, her incredible mom and dad -- #heroes. I actually had the extreme privilege of asking April a few lively questions from the Proust Questionnaire. If you didn't fall in love with April last episode, you're surely going to do so today. Lace up those running shoes (or not), grab those headphones (or not), and pull up Meet April Part 2 on your favorite podcast app! S...
April, maker of cult charts, was born in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. Raised in a Southern Baptist home, April took the teachings preached from the pulpit more seriously than did her parents. April believes the doctrine of Hell, was the primary catalyst of her nervous breakdown shortly after 9/11. April is married with 3 children. Support the show
She's baaaaaack!! Godless Mama -- our first guest in 2020 -- will titillate the senses! We talk trauma and therapy, LGBTQ advocacy, fighting on behalf of our kids, contentment, the 2020 election, and getting out the Vote. "I'll be goddamned if this crappy world is the one that gets foisted on my kid and I will fight that battle on whatever fronts necessary." Tracey in her own words - "I believe that the only hope for humanity lies in the embrace of evidence-based thinking. Whether the subject is...
"I'll be goddamned if this crappy world is the one that gets foisted on my kid and I will fight that battle on whatever fronts necessary." Tracey in her own words - "I believe that the only hope for humanity lies in the embrace of evidence-based thinking. Whether the subject is religion or science or politics or anything in between, an earnest desire to ascertain reality demands that we seek the best available evidence, acknowledge our biases, do our best to compensate for them, and be willing t...
And -- we're back with Bekah! You don't want to miss the second half of her story as Bekah continues to WOW and amaze with her maturity and badassery. Sit back, get those feet up, grab a glass (or mug) of your favorite beverage and be prepared to be blown away by this awe-inspiring female apostate! Bekah was shaped by many things, places and identities she would now categorize as "formerly." The last 3 years have been an intensive process of learning who she is currently . Labels aren't popular ...
Bekah was shaped by many things, places and identities she would now categorize as "formerly." The last 3 years have been an intensive process of learning who she is currently . Labels aren't popular these days but they can be helpful to give you an expedient snapshot of someone. This is a short list of Bekah's former and current "labels." She is formerly: A Louisianian a fundamentalist, charismatic christian an executive assistant a recreational nudist a sexually repressed dater-of-men a cake d...
Bethany Angstadt grew up as a pastor's daughter and youth group superstar in suburban Ohio. Her conservative evangelical upbringing was shattered when she began to discover her queer identity in high school. After working through years of shame and fear, her coming out story doubles as her coming out of faith journey. Support the show
Megan, a Canadian now living in New Zealand with her husband and young daughter, is no stranger to change. Having a strong faith, Megan fought hard to understand her Christian identity in a close-knit, non-religious family. But after having her daughter and reading a mountain of books that were supposed to strengthen her faith, it unraveled. She is now living abroad, picking up the pieces of her identity, and discovering freedom from dogmatic religion, freedom to be her fullest and truest self. ...
Meet Emma - Emma, our middle child, was born in to our uber religious family in 1998. She was always a compliant, easy to parent kid with an innocent wide-eyed demeanor. Emma trusted us absolutely as parents to lead her in the way she should go (Proverbs 22:6). During Emma's senior year of high school, I finally felt the courage to share the god's honest truth with her -- no longer did I believe said god was REAL and the master over our destiny! This led Emma on her own journey of self-discovery...
Meet Catherine – Catherine lives in SE England in a little town outside of Brighton. Catherine, born a bit of a free spirit, always had questions related to life and her place in it. She ran away from home at 17 and was immediately shunned by everyone within her Jehovah Witness community. In her mid-twenties Catherine found herself in an abusive relationship, hit a depressive stage and returned home repentant to her family and former JW Community. She was allowed back in to the fold and stayed i...
Andrea grew up attending non-denominational bible churches in Texas. She cannot remember a time when church was not an integral part of family life. Heavily entrenched in Awana, youth group and Campus Crusade, Andrea became increasingly passionate about young earth creationism and faith. Andrea always considered herself one of those critically thinking churched science kids. College spring breaks were spent evangelizing other college kids. However, those critical thinking skills eventually got t...
A tough conversation with my son. Some self reflection. And talking it out with all y'all. Support the show
A casual conversation with my youngest -- Julia and I sat down to chitchat about her perspective growing up in our home -- in faith, the transition out of faith and, subsequently, life on the other side. A beautiful, free-spirited artsy young woman, Julia shares the trials and successes of being parented by a couple deconstructing their faith. Julia will be a freshman in college this year. Her dream job is traveling the world as she works as the PR person for a successful corporation. Julia enjo...
Danielle was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio by two conservative-leaning, Atheist parents. Since adolescence, Danielle’s values and beliefs have evolved in some dramatic and unexpected ways. She has gone from vehemently pro-life to passionately pro-choice, has slid from the far right end of the political spectrum to the left, and has grown from a staunch, black-and-white thinker to a Humanist with a great appreciation for nuance. Her devout heathenism has been her only constant. Danielle is ...
Gabi Maylock is a young, 20-somethings Millennial who recently moved to New Hampshire to be a part of the Free State Project (https://www.fsp.org/). Gabi moved after finishing her Masters in Education at Ohio University. Her graduate academic work focused on alternative educational philosophies including unschooling and self-direct learning. She studied Communication and Business-Marketing at the University of Pittsburgh as an undergraduate student. Gabi is originally from a small town in Pennsy...
Magen was born in Norfolk, Virginia to a Southern Baptist family. Throughout her formative years, she moved up and down the east coast due to her father’s job in the Navy. While a senior year of high school, Magen committed to Jerry Fallwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. While at Liberty, Magen was exposed to persons from contrasting christian denominations. This greatly disturbed her confidence in christianity's assurance that it owned the market on truth. Magen's time at Liberty...
Today we’re back with Marie – Join me as we dive a bit deeper into Marie’s adventure of becoming her best self – Putting herself out into the world. Challenging societal norms. Taking risks. Investing in Self reflection. Placing herself into spaces where there are opportunities to Fall in love. Again. Marie likes the way she is showing up in the world. She applauds her authenticity. She admires herself. I concur. She’s pretty fabulous. Born and raised in a Lutheran household until Junior High wh...
Born and raised in a Lutheran household until Junior High when Baptist General Conference became the faith persuasion, Marie was a neurotic, anxious kid with incredibly low self esteem. Turbulent years between the ages of 13 and her mid 20s consisted of periods of profound doubt coupled with overcompensating evangelical behaviors. Purity Culture. Missions at 17. YWAM. Therapy. Bravery. Divorce. Deconversion. Freedom. Keith. Ethical Nonmonogamy. Today Marie is in her late 30s exploring ethical no...
Welcome back to Annette’s story – In this episode you’ll find Annette back in school, maneuvering the extended family conversation and relationships – the living of the life together this side of faith. We also touch on friendship evangelism and trusting your instincts. Annette stresses the importance of finding community and setting boundaries. She and her husband, Justin along with their young son, have settled in to a space of loveliness. Annette Beitzel is a 29 year old Accounting student. S...
