This week’s guest is Ben Reed. Ben grew up in the Church of Christ with a cappella music, no clapping, no raised hands, no prophecies, no miracles, but also no demons.

“Compared to the more charismatic denominations, the Church of Christ is pretty boring…I think that’s kind of why I stayed so long because it wasn’t that exhausting.”

Ben’s years in the church were good—no cognitive dissonance or serious trauma—until 2020.

“It wasn’t until Covid hit that I really started waking up, and I saw how Christians were acting about the masking and the vaccines, and I was thinking, Do you not see the moral implications and the examples that we are supposed to set here?”

By 2022 and a chance encounter with some Mormons, too many questions were surfacing. Cheekily thanking “the gods of atheism,” Ben is now able to ask questions and expect serious evidence before he can be convinced of something.

It seems that “the promises of Christianity are found outside of it”.

Interact

For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/06/04/ben-reed-deconversion-from-church-of-christ/

Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion

Support the podcast on Patreon
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Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/

Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/

Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/

Attribution

"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/