Apostasy isn’t easy. I grew up in a rural community in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains. We attended a backwoods United Methodist church which, as far as backwoods religion goes, was not the worst. While I was not barraged every Sunday with hellfire, brimstone, speaking in tongues, or snake handling, our church services were characterized by oppressive silence both literally and philosophically. Alienation and gossip were the means by which order was enforced. All are condemned to whatever degree one cannot conform.
Filtering by Author: Audrey Hall
Be You Not Afraid: Redeeming the Most Feared Major Arcana
As I was offering tarot card readings at a local flea market, I was approached by a woman of 75 years who said she’d never received a reading before. I told her I’d be happy to be her first, and she said, “Just as long as you don’t pull the death card.” Lo and behold, she shuffled the cards, and Death was the first card I pulled.
Stalker: A Spiritual Film in the Eyes of an Atheist
My son, an enthusiastic fan of classic cinema, once tried to convince my mother to let him watch a movie called Stalker before he went to bed. Being a sensible woman, she refused to allow her eight-year-old grandson to watch a film with such a foreboding title. He tried to explain to her that “stalker” in this context didn’t mean a dangerous and unwanted follower, but instead described a guide through a magical area called the Zone wherein lies a room that grants wishes. My poor mother again refused him as this explanation made little sense and sounded made up on the spot.
