Welcome to Deculting
You've found your way onto a blog with a name that's not a word. If you're thinking, "Where in the world am I?" then you're in luck. I practically live here, so I can be your tour guide.
A Safe Place
Deculting is a blog dedicated to those who are deconstructing or disentangling their Christian faith from the lies and falsehoods they were taught. The content comes from the context of spiritual abuse through the "Christian" cult called the Institute of Basic Life Principles (as seen in Amazon's Shiny Happy People docuseries) but applies to many Fundamentalist denominations/experiences. This is a safe place to process your faith (or what's left of it). It's not easy, it's like trudging through a swamp.
De - Cult - Ing
Deculting is a word made up by me (Julz) and my best friend because we're weird like that. It means:
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The process of finding freedom and healing from the untrue, harmful teachings of Fundamentalist Christianity.
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My hope is that Deculting will help you on your journey of healing. The goal is not to convince you to believe one way or another. That's a decision you have to make. But my personal hope is that you will be able to separate the narcissistic, Satanic, false god you heard about from IBLP (or whoever lied to you) and get to know God for real.
Who Deculting is For?
This journey ain't for the faint of heart. If I've learned anything in the more than 10 years since I started disentangling, it's that there are no easy answers. (And if someone claims to have easy answers, may I humbly suggest you be more than a little suspicious? Life just doesn't work that way, and neither do we).
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The content on this site applies to a wide range of individuals, whether you grew up in IBLP or another extremist fundamentalist group. True, the content is tailored to those who grew up under Bill Gothard's teaching, but you don’t have to be ex-IBLP, questioning IBLP, die-hard IBLP (or anything IBLP) to be welcome here. Even if you didn’t grow up in an organized cult like I did, you may still benefit from the things we talk about here.
If you’re not sure this applies to you, but you’re curious, welcome! Stick around. It probably applies to someone you know if you run (or ran) in any Christian circles.
The only people who aren’t welcome here are those who wish to pick a fight, ridicule those who disagree with them, or disrupt the healing journey of others. So basically, if you’re a polite, respectful person…you belong here.
Hi, I'm Julz
Also known as Julia Duncan
When Shiny Happy People first came out, I was shocked at how many of my old IBLP friends came out of the woodwork to talk about their experiences. Realizing I wasn't the only one sorting through this steaming pile of @#$% was a relief. The conversations I had - and all the posts and articles I read - made me realize that the things I've learned while wrestling with my worldview, God, and mental health are sorely needed.
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I'm not a therapist. I'm not even an apologist. But what I do have is the ability to put words to my experiences and the things that have helped me, and I thought some of it might help you too.
