Reddit reviews Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future

tl;dr: brainwashing

If anyone is interested in a great narrative about how a woman like the one who wrote this article managed to escape her cult, there is a great book called Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future by a woman named Elizabeth Esther.

You might really enjoy the book Girl at the End of the World; your stories have much in common, I think. Thank you for sharing. Leaving that stuff behind takes a lot of courage.

Wow...you might really enjoy this book I recently read. I know it isnt the same thing, as the author grew up in a fundamentalist christian cult, but I feel like it is an amazing story of one person's eventual escape from an ideological prison.

It's by a woman named Elizabeth Esther, and it's called Girl at the End of the World. I feel like it has so much to say to anyone who grew up under any kind of powerful and destructive -ism or ideology. I found it really thought-provoking and a beautiful personal exploration of what it means to create a value system from the ashes of the wrong one that you were raised with.

My wife too came from a charismatic non-denominational church background. The process for her took a bit of time, and I think it was mostly accomplished through introduction to and then love of the liturgy. In college, we attended a non-denom church that did communion every week and did passing of the peace every week. After college, we were at a Presbyterian church for 7 years that had weekly communion, passing of the peace, confession of sin, and an OT reading. These were steps in a liturgical direction, which made the transition easier.

Have you guys been to mass yet? That definitely would be a good thing to do. I would read up about what goes on at the mass so you'll know what to expect, and then don't hesitate to participate (everything that's said and done is orthodox). Most of the responses should be in the front cover of the missal in the back of the pews. The order of the mass is also in the Missal, so you can follow along.

In terms of books, my wife loved Evangelical is Not Enough. She also liked Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic. Both of those books really helped her overcome the Catholic prejudices she had from growing up (Catholics worship Mary, etc).

I've also heard good things, but have not read, Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future. The author, Elizabeth Esther, comes from a very fundamentalist upbringing. She also has a blog you might be interested in checking out.

Can't recommend any videos, but I've heard Fr Robert Barron's Catholicism series is good - but expensive. Maybe your local Catholic church has a DVD you could check out? Here a preview.

Don't hesitate to PM me if you have any questions! I did a ton of research and would be happy to point you toward resources I found helpful.