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   Ricki Yasha Tarr (rickitarr@beige.party)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:31:47 JST Ricki Yasha Tarr

   I went to a church youth group for awhile that had a husband and wife leading it. The woman was the pastor's daughter. At some point, I realized he was significantly older than her, and did some math. He had to have started dating her when she was 16 and he was in his late 20's. Fucking gross, I told my parents I would no longer be going shortly after. I saw her later, and found out he was pretty abusive, which wasn't surprising, but still very sad. Luckily, she had left him.

   Anyway, feel free to vent a church story if you'd like.

   • GreenSkyOverMe (Monika) repeated this.
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     Toast, Anonymous Fedi Fungus (shiitaketoast@beige.party)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:31:49 JST Toast, Anonymous Fedi Fungus

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr I asked my parents how that could be just, and they said that if he couldn’t lead his kid straight, how could he lead a congregation.

   • Embed this notice
     Ricki Yasha Tarr (rickitarr@beige.party)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:31:51 JST Ricki Yasha Tarr

     in reply to

     • Toast, Anonymous Fedi Fungus

     @ShiitakeToast My dad was terrified this would happen to him, and they told my brother to think of my dad's ministry when he came out at 14.

     GreenSkyOverMe (Monika) repeated this.
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     Toast, Anonymous Fedi Fungus (shiitaketoast@beige.party)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:31:52 JST Toast, Anonymous Fedi Fungus

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr The church my parents go to fired a minister in 1997 when his adult son came out as gay.

     GreenSkyOverMe (Monika) repeated this.
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     Laura "Tegan" Gjovaag ⛈ 🐸 (realtegan@wandering.shop)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:35:32 JST Laura "Tegan" Gjovaag ⛈ 🐸

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr
     When I was a teen, I went to a church girls' camp. We had a group of counselors who were just great. Strong women, with almost no men along - it was always a wonderful week.

     One counselor was unmarried, intelligent, funny and told folk stories. She and another unmarried woman teased each other, to some disapproval.

     I told the storyteller I wanted to be just like her. She told me I really didn't. I didn't realize why until this year.

     It must have been hell to be an LDS lesbian.

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     Eric Bono (ericbono@beige.party)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:35:36 JST Eric Bono

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr

     The kids at the Catholic school I was forced to attend in 6th grade were the worst-behaved, rudest, dumbest fucking kids I ever was in a classroom with.

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     RRB (rrb@infosec.exchange)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:37:50 JST RRB

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr Kid in our neighborhood beat me up because I did not go to the Baptist Church. While pounding me he kept repeating that he was better because he was a devout Christian.

     I also had an uncle who was ordained, spoke in tongues, and would bless his car each morning to banish the demons.

     If you have not guessed thus far, we lived in the South.

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     Lulu Helle :partyparrot: (luluhelle@ohai.social)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:40:38 JST Lulu Helle :partyparrot:

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr I was screamed at and told I was going to hell as a child for asking what is apparently a forbidden question in Sunday school.
     This asshat was also the local dentist. Guess who now has dentist phobias?

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     GreenSkyOverMe (Monika) (greenskyoverme@ohai.social)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:42:18 JST GreenSkyOverMe (Monika)

     in reply to

     • zedaardv

     @zedaardv That’s horrible :-(((

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     zedaardv (zedaardv@mastodon.world)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:42:19 JST zedaardv

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr
     My dad pimped me out to guys in the church.
     I'm male
     (first time saying this public)

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     violet :heart_bi: (thecrushedviolet@mstdn.games)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:42:56 JST violet :heart_bi:

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr
     My aunt and her husband were both pastors, she still is. I always knew he was much older than her, but I recently did the math on some of the dates in his obituary and her social media.

     They married when she was 18 and he was 41.

     And the family mythology is mostly about what a great guy he was for marrying a teen mom and raising 'her' daughter 'as his own' and it's only recently occurred to me how bizarre it is that main fact I know about my cousin, from a very young age, is that she's 'not his' and how wonderful that makes him.

     I learned from the obit that he had 3 older children I've literally never heard of. 🤷🏻♀️

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     dazfuller :rickwhoah: (dazfuller@mstdn.social)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:43:09 JST dazfuller :rickwhoah:

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr church was really not a big thing where I grew up, but a few kids went, a friend of mine being one of them.

     For years it was just a thing he did with his parents, but still just a thing. Then he joined the church youth group and overnight gave away all of his metal CDs, a lot of his clothing, and just completely changed. It was so sudden it was shocking. Last I heard he moved to the US to go live in some commune.

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     NormanDunbar (normandunbar@mastodon.scot)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:44:04 JST NormanDunbar

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr My parents were quietly asked not to send me back to Sunday School as I was "disruptive". When asked, I told them that I merely asked questions about something in the bible that didn't make sense. They couldn't answer me properly, so I kept asking.

     Genesis 1. Adam & Eve, created together from the dust.

     Genesis 2. Adam first. Asleep after a hard day naming things. Rib out, Eve created.

     Same book. Two chapters. Two stories. Nothing computes. Why so different? They couldn't explain.

     GreenSkyOverMe (Monika) repeated this.
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     Sean Lynch (seanplynch@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:44:37 JST Sean Lynch

     in reply to

     • NormanDunbar

     @NormanDunbar @RickiTarr

     Also check out the order of creation in chapters 1 and 2. When were humans created, and when were the animals created? Both can't be true

     GreenSkyOverMe (Monika) repeated this.
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     NormanDunbar (normandunbar@mastodon.scot)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:49:07 JST NormanDunbar

     in reply to

     • Sean Lynch

     @SeanPLynch @RickiTarr if I remember correctly, there's a problem with the light and dark too. I think the heavens (aka stars) were created "before" the bit about "Let there be light."

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     Lumen (myrialux@chaosfem.tw)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:49:22 JST Lumen

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr raised Catholic and went to Catholic school K-12. (All-boys for 9-12, which is amusing given I’m trans, but I digress…)

     I was pushed into getting Confirmed, even through I’d abandoned the church by then. A class once every Wednesday night, where lay people covered stuff I’d learned years back.
     I complained. This was a waste of my time. There was eventually a shouting match with the woman who ran the program. Still, my parents made me stay.

     Eventually we’re made to write letters to the bishop, gushing about how we’re so excited for this. I chose to air my grievances about the program, and to excoriate him about the church’s policies on women and its protection of pedophiles. We addressed and sealed the envelopes.

     Next week I’m called in to see the director. She has my letter open on her desk. First words out of my mouth were “how does it feel to be a felon?”
     (Sure the letter had no stamp and wasn’t mailed, but high school me wasn’t going to let that stop me)
     Cue another shouting match.

     I eventually went through with being confirmed, mostly out of spite. During the ceremony, as I received my blessing or whatever from the bishop, I locked eyes with the program director in the front pew and pushed my glasses up with my middle finger.

     Petty? Yep. But they could’ve kicked me out and didn’t.

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     Cookiefiend (lperry2@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:50:48 JST Cookiefiend

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr I was pretty lucky in my church-going childhood. Nice priest, nice nuns (I know!), good grade school education, no horror stories. But when I was 14, I took a good long look at Catholicism and realized that, as a female, I could either consider myself a good Catholic or a full-fledged human being. I've been an atheist ever since.

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     The Sleight Doctor 🃏🍉 (apostateenglishman@mastodon.world)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:52:00 JST The Sleight Doctor 🃏🍉

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr I wasn't raised in a religious family, but my best mate and I refused to sing hymns in school, a culturally diverse state comprehensive. This eventually led to us being hauled before the deputy head mistress and chided for our "disrespect".

     I said I couldn't see the sense in forcing non-Christians to sing hymns - especially those of other faiths such as Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, etc. My pal's mum later wrote an official letter of complaint.

     We were allowed not to sing after that. 🤷🏻♂️

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     Joseph (josephmeyer@c.im)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:53:17 JST Joseph

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr As a parent of a child, now an adult, with early onset schizophrenia my son’s behavior did not align with typical expectations in a church. It was progressive for a Catholic Church—no one suggested an exorcism—but it was not accommodating of uncontrollable behavior. With time, the creed parishioners repeated each Sunday about a virgin birth and other dogma began to strike me as trivial when set alongside my daily challenges. I quit believing the dogma. There is a meme of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz sitting next to Alice from Wonderland with one of them saying to the other, “I’ve seen some weird shit.” Well, that sums up my parenting experiences. When my life was more typical, before serious psychiatric illness reared its head, church was a comfortable and affirming place. Now, as an atheist, I find the philosophy of science far more comforting. The pursuit of knowledge and understanding over religious dogma is especially appealing to me now at a time when many of those in control of my country’s government hold such ignorant and anti-science beliefs.

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     Craig Stewart (pmb00cs@mastodon.online)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:54:49 JST Craig Stewart

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr when I was about 12 I was told why my grandma wouldn't go to church. She was very religious, but made the mistake of marrying the wrong religion. She was Catholic, he was protestant. Before my mum was born my grandma's priest told her she'd burn in hell for eternity for that sin. I became quite militantly atheist after learning that.

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     Mary Holstege (mathling@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 19-Jun-2026 06:56:12 JST Mary Holstege

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr My father in law was from a large Irish Catholic family. He was all-in, altar boy, the whole bit. His older brother married a Protestant woman. When he was killed in WWII, the priest refused to hold the funeral for him, and Curt was told it would be a sin to go to the funeral at the "wrong" church. That's when Curt decided he was done with that institution.