Fkd Up By Faith Jude Mills

Here it is - the second episode of UNFKD. The bonus series to FKD UP BY FAITH in which I explore theological (& related) ideas. Specifically, those which are harmful or misunderstood or just plain wrong!

Here, I tackle the contentious topic of spiritual abuse. Content warnings apply for the subject matter, although I do not discuss any specific cases.

If you are a Fkd Up By Faith listener, you will know that the podcast explores ways in which people have been harmed in religious, spiritual or faith contexts. This kind of harm often spills over into what we might call spiritual abuse. So if you'd like to know more about why I bang on about this subject, have a listen!!!

References

Diederich, F. Remy. “What Is Spiritual Abuse?” F. Remy Diederich, 28 Feb. 2015, www.readingremy.com/blog/2015/02/28/what-is-spiritual-abuse.

Johnson, David, and Jeff VanVonderen. The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse. Baker Books, 1 Oct. 2005.

Living Without Abuse. “Religious and Spiritual Abuse | Lwa.org.uk.” LWA, lwa.org.uk/understanding-abuse/abusive-relationships/spiritual-abuse/.

Oakley, Lisa, et al. Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse : Creating Healthy Christian Cultures. London, Society Of Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2019.

Oakley, Lisa, and Kathryn Kinmond. Breaking the Silence of Spiritual Abuse. Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

The Church of England. “4.2 Spiritual Abuse.” The Church of England, 2021, www.churchofengland.org/safeguarding/safeguarding-e-manual/safeguarding-children-young-people-and-vulnerable-adults/42.

Thirtyone:eight. “Spiritual Abuse - a Position Paper.” Thirtyoneeight, 2018, thirtyoneeight.org/media/4upcux21/spiritual-abuse-position-statement.pdf.



Music

"Better Day" and "Chill Lofi Beat" from Penguinmusic on Pixabay

https://pixabay.com/users/penguinmusic-24940186/



Sources of Support - UK

https://thirtyoneeight.org/blogs/supporting-survivors

In this episode I had a wonderful and wide-ranging conversation with Gary Alan Taylor, who is co-founder of The Sophia Society & Co-Host of the Holy Heretics podcast. Gary Alan is also an international speaker, content creator, and writer. He describes himself as being in recovery from fundamentalist Christianity and his passion is to see others free themselves from toxic expressions of faith. His dream is to help spiritual seekers move beyond some of the corrosive manifestations of evangelicalism and to embody the radical way of Jesus.


https://www.sophiasociety.org

https://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast

This is the first in the new bonus series which I am calling UnFkd. Along with some guests, I will be examining and deconstructing theological ideas - the harmful, the misunderstood and the just plain wrong!

In this first episode, I didn't choose one of the more obvious ones - like hell, sin or the devil ( we'll get there, I promise) Instead, I tackled something which is very close to my own 'Fkd Up By Faith' experience - Clericalism.

Works Cited

Cuff, Simon. Priesthood for All Believers - Clericalism and How to Avoid It. London, SCM Press, 31 Mar. 2022.

Quotes from Pope Francis cited are in this book.


Independent Inquiry Child Sexual Abuse. “The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.” 2023, www.iicsa.org.uk.
B.6.2: Concerns regarding the culture of the Church of England .


Music - https://pixabay.com/music/beats-better-day-186374/

I had a wonderful conversation with Mike Maeshiro for this episode. Mike is the founder of Numa, an organization that supports people recovering from religious toxicity. Mike is gay, an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, and a queer theology enthusiast. Mike is a former instructor at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, best known for his class, “Discerning of Spirits.” He now teaches on emotional health and redemptive deconstruction. He is a consultant and coach for gay men recovering from evangelicalism.

WEBSITE https://www.mikemaeshiro.com

INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/mikemaeshiro

YOUTUBE CHANNEL https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH5vGo6yRl6Gay-wbJ7F6og

PODCAST https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mike-maeshiro

I had a great conversation with queer, neurodivergent speaker, preacher, teacher, worship leader, coach, and consultant, Erin Mieskowki. We spoke about being Queer and evangelical, about inclusive worship spaces, and about her wonderful "ADHDevotional."

Erin uses their intersecting marginalizations to help support her clients in creating mutually-inclusive cross-cultural spaces. Erin is a Qualified Administrator for the Intercultural Development Inventory and uses this tool in her work.


Erin's Website: https://faithxwtf.com/links

The "Jesus & Justice & Cussing Too Much" T-Shirts: https://faithxwtf.com/shop

This episode, the first in... quite a while... is the start of a new Fkd Up By Faith season, and also a tribute. Very sadly, on 27th September this year, my dear (and oldest) friend David Goodall died. David, as you may know, is the composer of the theme music for the podcast. He was an actor, composer, musician and award-winning director of theatre and film.

You can find out more about him - while the website is still there at https://www.soundsmove.com

He also did a wonderful food blog at https://www.foodopolis.org and I encourage you to try one of his recipes.