Hello, FreeThought Blogs!

To those of you who are meeting me for the first time, greetings! And to readers who are following me here from my blogger site, well met, old friend! In this, my first post on FreeThought Blogs, I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself and my blog.

I grew up in an evangelical family, was involved in the religious right, and was homeschooled. I learned from creationist textbooks and was taught to embrace courtship in place of dating. My family was influenced by the Quiverfull and Christian Patriarchy movements, which urge raising large numbers of children as an “army” for Christ and hold that women must always be under male authority and headship. College set off a chain of events that shook my life and beliefs to their core. By the time I graduated, I was an atheist, a feminist, and a political progressive.

I first started blogging as a way to address the tenets of the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements and how they affected my life, but my subject matter soon expanded as I began to address authoritarian parenting, what I call “the purity culture,” the trials and joys of leaving religion, and the intricacies of conservative politics. Because I was once myself an evangelical, a religious right activist, and an antifeminist, I try to address these issues with empathy rather than snark. It doesn’t mean I don’t call it like I see it, but rather that I try to operate out of understanding rather than derision.

Ever since I started blogging, I have had a diversity of commenters, including both atheists and Christians of a variety of stripes, as well as some individuals from other religious traditions. I don’t mind lively debate taking place in my comments sections, but I would ask that those commenting lean more toward respectful disagreement than mockery. I see exchanging ideas as more productive than name calling. I may or may not respond to comments as time permits.

For more information on me and my background, feel free to take a look around my blogger site. I am currently in the process of moving most of my past posts and archives here, but that may take some time.

Thanks everyone, and I look forward to a future of happy blogging!

Libby Anne