The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian Podcast

Today we’re chatting with Katie! Katie’s story is an eye-opening account of the harms and pressure of sexism in Christadelphian culture on young girls. As a child, Katie was pulled out of the public school system in order to spend her time primarily caring for her brothers and taking care of the household tasks. As she grew older, was pressured to find a husband and begin to follow a “timeline” which would lead to staying home and having children while being told that she shouldn’t get an education at university. Despite the lack of encouragement and guidance, Katie escaped the Christadelphians, explored life as an independent woman, and attended university. In this episode, Katie also shares what it was like to join the Christadelphians as a child with her family, about Christadelphian dating culture, and about the poor behavior of the “brothers” in her former ecclesia that ultimately lead to her leaving Christadelphia once and for all. Please join us for yet another episode of fellowship among the heathens!  

Listener discretion advised.

 

If you’re interested in coming on the podcast or have comments or questions, you can contact Zinnia at ⁠[email protected]⁠

 

⁠Follow us on Instagram⁠⁠ or⁠ ⁠Facebook⁠⁠!

 

References:

Corinthians 11:8-9 "For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man made for woman, but woman for man"

 

⁠Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell⁠

 

Meghantschanz on IG ⁠“The Role of a Godly Husband (if women butchered the Bible the way men have)”⁠

 

Clarabelltoks on IG 

⁠Flipping Vacation Bible School⁠

⁠If we spoke to men the way we speak to women⁠

⁠If we spoke to boys the way we speak to girls⁠

⁠If we spoke to boys the way we speak to girls (2)⁠

⁠If we spoke to boys the way we speak to girls (3)⁠

⁠Flipping misogyny and homophobia in the church⁠

⁠Flipping misogyny in the church⁠

Today we’re chatting with Bec! In this episode, Bec shares her experience growing up as a “Logos” Christadelphian in Australia and trying to follow the ‘straight and narrow’ path until she made the difficult decision to leave her marriage and embrace her identity as a lesbian! Bec shares some vulnerable stories of life inside the ecclesia. From trying to be a good daughter and getting baptized as her mom was dying, to learning about her mother’s hidden heartbreak which had become fodder for gossip at their ecclesia, and to growing up and meeting Christadelphian men who wanted to marry her… if they could control her. Despite some heavy topics, we also enjoyed a few laughs as we asked, what did Solomon’s wives really do together while he was busy? If Christadelphian brothers see rainbows and assume it’s a queer symbol then have they voluntarily given “God’s symbol” to the gay community? And does sage really work to get rid of ghosts in your house??

Please join us for yet another episode of fellowship among the heathens!  

 

TW: Domestic violence, coercive rape, postpartum depression, suicidal ideation

 

Listener discretion advised.

 

If you’re interested in coming on the podcast or have comments or questions, you can contact Zinnia at [email protected]

 

Follow us on Instagram⁠ or ⁠Facebook⁠!

 

References:

 

⁠Underworld with Kate Beckinsale (2003)⁠

 

Proverbs 3:15 “She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.”

 

Forced Adoptions in Australia:

⁠SBS News: “I was told my baby had died. Decades later, I learned that was a lie”⁠

⁠“Social worker tells of forced adoptions”⁠

⁠“Catholic Hospitals Apologize for Forced Adoptions” ⁠

 

⁠From God to Gay Podcast⁠ 

 

⁠Will I ever be good enough by Dr. Karyl McBride⁠

 

⁠Joyce Meyer (Author)⁠

 

⁠Lee-Ann Cipri (Medium)⁠

Today we’re learning about the history of hands-on energy healing in the early Christadelphian community! In this episode, Zinnia discusses the founding of an ecclesia in Edinburgh, Scotland that quickly became interested in practicing hands-on energy healing. These new believers were radical free thinkers who offered sassy -but scriptural- retorts to the demands of Robert Roberts and John Thomas around the validity of baptisms. They also hosted lectures and classes for anyone interested in learning the art of “curative mesmerism”. The Edinburgh ecclesia not only became practitioners of “curative mesmerism” themselves, but also became involved in creating and supporting a local mesmerism organization and promoted the practice as part of the “doctrine of health” to other ecclesias while attributing their healing abilities to God. We also discuss the attitudes that attracted these early believers to Mesmerism and the various theories around what may have contributed to the decline of the practice of mesmerism in this ecclesia. We also learn about Robert Roberts “irresistible” experience with another man, the reason why Robert’s wife was re-baptized after their marriage, and hear about Zinnia’s experiences with hands-on energy healing in the modern day. Please join us for another fun blast to the past learning more forgotten history about the Christadelphians! 

 

Listener discretion advised.

 

If you’re interested in coming on the podcast or have comments or questions, you can contact Zinnia at [email protected]

 

References:

 

The Early History of the Kingdom of God in Britain" by William Norrie 

Part one

Pg. 128 “The Edinburgh Church of Baptised Believers of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God”

Pg 167 Sassy Rebuttals

Pg 178 Edinburgh Church

Page 202 Curative Mesmerism

Pg 245 On Jane Norrie’s rebaptism

 

The Life after Leaving Podcast Episodes:

S1 Ep 8 Robert Roberts and the Fandom of John Thomas

S1 Ep 10. The Bearded Wisdom of the Christadelphians

S1 Ep. 13 Hypnosis, Telepathy, and Ghosts

S1. Ep 4 Fellowship with Rob

S2. Ep 16. Fellowship with Steve

S3. Ep 32 Fellowship with Ben

 

‘John Thomas: His Friends and His Faith’ by Peter Hemingray 

P 131-132 Declaration of Beliefs in 1847

P 127-129 John Thomas’ Rebaptism

P 192-194 The Marturion Magazine

 

My Days and My Ways by Robert Roberts 

Mesmerism story pages 78-79

 

“Dr. John Thomas: His Life and Work” by Robert Roberts

 

Mesmer (1994) 

 

Alan Rickman

 

The Brief and Strange History of Mesmerism and Surgery

 

The phony health craze that inspired hypnotism (Youtube)

 

The Mesmerist by Wendy Moore 

 

Drake-Kendrick Lamar Feud

 

Referenced by William Norrie: “Messenger of the Churches” issued in July 1858 No. 2

 

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come by John Thomas, May 1858

 

The Zoist: A Journal of Cerebral Physiology & Mesmerism and Their Applications to Human Welfare Volume 12 Christadelphians named as members of the Scottish Curative Mesmeric Association

 

Reiki

 

Prana 

 

Qi 

 

The Astrological Roots of Mesmerism

 

Mesmerising Science: The Franklin Commission and the Modern Clinical Trial

 

Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism

 

Mesmerism (History of Hypnosis Documentary Series - Episode 02)

 

The History of Bad Ideas: Mesmerism (Podcast)

Today we’re chatting with Rebecca! In this episode, we hear from a former Christadelphian who had no intention of leaving the community until the day she walked out the door. Rebecca shares how she was raised in a small ecclesia in a rural area with the expectation that she would get baptized, become a wife and mother, and play piano for the Sunday memorial services. Despite asking a lot of questions during her childhood, she generally conformed to the traditional Christadelphian path for a woman, married a Christadelphian “brother”, and even raised her children to be Christadelphians. But as her children reached adolescence and began to grow into their identities, she was faced with a choice between accepting her children or allowing them to be harmed by the community she loved and served. Unlike most of our guests, Rebecca hadn’t been preparing to leave mentally or emotionally. But motivated by her love for her family, she navigated the unexpected turbulence of leaving the Christadelphian community and shares both the positives and negatives of life outside the group. We also talk about the guilt of recognizing the harms of authoritarian parenting, raising sensitive children in an environment focused on doomsday theology, and about deconstructing Christadelphian views on the LGBTQ community.

 

Listener discretion advised.

 

If you’re interested in coming on the podcast or have comments or questions, you can contact Zinnia at [email protected]

 

References:

 

Shippensburg/ Mid-Atlantic Christadelphian Bible School

 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone- Mailbox Scene (Youtube)

Today we’re chatting with Kate! In this episode, Kate begins by discussing her childhood in religious education where she grew up attending a Seventh Day Adventist School before later commuting over an hour to a Christadelphian Heritage College in Australia. We also discuss her family’s religious split over a relatives’ divorce and about the high expectations for “appropriate dress” for a “sister in Christ”- even outside the meeting. We discuss questions like, how much hair does a head covering need to cover in order to be an acceptable head covering? Do hoodies count as a head covering? And how can we style floor length denim skirts without a head covering or hat now that we’ve left?? We also chat about religious opinions on the Harry Potter series, the perils of Christadelphian relationships, and the name of a touch rugby team that was right on the [bottle]nose- the “Crystal Dolphins”!

 

Listener discretion advised.

 

If you’re interested in coming on the podcast or have comments or questions, you can contact Zinnia at [email protected]

 

References:

 

Seventh Day Adventists

 

Life After Leaving Podcast, Episode 21

(The Millerites split and many became Seventh Day Adventists while a small number became Christadelphians)

 

Christadelphian Heritage Colleges

 

Charlie Chaplin

 

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto

 

The Christian Dolphin’s website is no longer available to view

 

The Religious Trauma Collective

 

God to Gay podcast