Walk Away from Fundamentalism

Welcome to Walkawayers.org, the sister site to the Walk Away from Fundamentalism discussion forum. This web site will be the flagship site of the Walk Away community. We want to build up the Walk Away community to be more than just a discussion forum. From this site one can link to our popular Walk Away forum as well as articles, advice and help on questioning and/or leaving fundamentalism, first-hand accounts of such experiences, and resources such as web sites, journal articles, or web sites. We are working to provide even more resources and access in the future.

In 1989, the Institute for First Amendment Studies launched a newsletter to support ex-fundamentalists. They stopped publishing the newsletter shortly after, but posted online their past newsletter articles as well managed a small discussion board to support those walking away from fundamentalist Christianity. In the summer of 2001 the host company for this discussion board dissolved and the board ownership was taken over by the current management of the Walk Away forum and hosted by aimoo.org.

Unfortunately, IFAS closed its doors sometime in 2003. IFAS provided badly needed support for those leaving fundamentalist Christianity, and their effort is missed.

The current Walk Away from Fundamentalism grew from the original IFAS site, and many of our veteran members drew inspiration from the posted articles. Walkawayers.org’s goal is to be a growing source of support for former fundamentalist Christians and fill the void left by the now-defunct IFAS.

I myself was once a fundamentalist Christian and understand first-hand the psychological damage that can result from the close-mindedness, black-and-white thinking, controlling behavior, and anti-intellectual bent that characterizes fundamentalism.

We are not an anti-Christian or anti- religion organization. Our goal is to offer support and resources to those who are trying to leave an oppressive affiliation (albeit intellectual, psychological, or physical) with fundamentalism. We recognize that any organization or movement taken to extremes - especially religious ones that claim authority from divine sources - tend to demonize “unbelievers” and exert an unhealthy, painful control over their followers’ lives. Many members of the Walk Away forum can well attest to the psychological - and often times physical - damage such an affiliation can cause.

The forum and web site associated with Walk Away from Fundamentalism is dedicated to offering support, advice, and direction to those who have left fundamentalist Christianity or are contemplating their current association with fundamentalist Christianity. We welcome all and hope we can help as you continue in your walk toward a better future.

If you would like to participate in the growth of Walkawayers.org, we welcome original articles, essays, and testimonials. Please contact us if you are interested in contributing. We welcome all contributions no matter your current religious affiliation or lack thereof.

Update: A researcher with the University of Queensland, Australia is undertaking a project on deconversion and apostacy from Muslim and Christian fundamentalist religions. If you are interested in participating, you may take the survey at the Apostacy from Fundamentalism Survey website. The project is not sponsored or affiliated with Walkawayers.org, but the link is provided here as a courtesy to the researcher.

– Jared Seay (St Thomas) - Forum Owner

– thewebguy - Web Master & Host Manager

– We have received additional help with links and ideas from many other people. Among them the web community committee (in no particular order):

• Foxmaiden (whose web designs and links started it all)
• Voltaire
• rhiana
• Blue Fox
• Dok
• paginity2
• Waynus
• Drummond
• nologoboy
• bhoff1356
• Chirpy