Breaking up with Jesus: a phenomenological exploration of the experience of deconversion from an Evangelical Christian faith to Atheism

Abstract

This study examines the experience of deconversion from an Evangelical Christian faith to Atheism in the UK. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants and the data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The resulting superordinate themes emerged: Process of Deconversion; Post Deconversion Issues; What Helped and Did Not Help. The findings are supportive of similar research conducted on deconversion but are from a UK, rather than from a largely American, perspective. The underlying reason for deconversion is found to be cognitive dissonance and, as such, deconversion is a rational and intellectual process. Helping professionals need to convey a non-judgemental attitude, being understanding, sympathetic, supportive and kind.

Psychological changes during faith exit: A three-year prospective study.

“…This would be the prediction on the basis of the set-point theory (Lykken, 1999) and its variants. Many of the 25 former Protestant ministers whom Lee (2015) interviewed reported that shortly after the disaffiliation there was a decline in happiness and well-being, probably due to tension in familial and social relationships. However, as time went by, a heightened sense of intellectual freedom, peace, empowerment, and autonomy developed.…”

Born again: Narrating the mental health journeys of religious exiters

“…Current literature is heavily skewed towards exit from Christian traditions. Of the studies describing narratives of religious exit that were utilized for this synthesis, almost half focused on exiters of HC3 Christian groups (Babinski, 1995; Coates, 2010; Collins, 2016; Fazzino, 2014; Gillette, 2015; Gull, 2022; Ineichen, 2019; Lee & Gubi, 2019; Lougheed, 2015; Nica, 2018; Smull, 2002). The data are also geographically biased; most of these narratives came from the United States (however, this paper also incorporates studies from Israel, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, and Australia).…”

“…Many can point to a specific moment when their self‐concept and the religious role they occupied became incompatible. They view that moment as a “breakthrough” (Babinski, 1995, p. 187), “the straw that broke the camel's back” (Babinski, 1995, p. 122), or the “final crack” (Lee & Gubi, 2019, p. 175). One interviewee provided a striking visual metaphor – “it's like you're riding down a slope and you see ahead of you that the path splits into two and you have time, but you have to choose” (Davidman & Greil, 2007, p. 210).…”

“…One interviewee provided a striking visual metaphor – “it's like you're riding down a slope and you see ahead of you that the path splits into two and you have time, but you have to choose” (Davidman & Greil, 2007, p. 210). This metaphor highlights the agency of the exiter in choosing the correct path, but many exiters view the “decision” as less of a choice than an inevitability or an unstoppable “realization” which they are compelled to follow (Lee & Gubi, 2019, p. 174; Ormsbee, 2020, p. 305).…”

Kobe Bryant: Consent and the Carceral Shadow of a Life Incomplete

“…Due to the circumstances of the months that have followed your death, it seems longer ago than January 2020. From the outpouring of other's grief presented by media outlets after your helicopter crash, you remain a public figure of profound dissonance, a spiritual dissonance, or tension of contrasting pulls that resonate in ways that are much more than "cognitive" alone (Lee & Gubi, 2019;Price-Spratlen, 2015). You resonate with emotion and belief, in who I/we understood you to be, and most vitally, who you were becoming.…”