Letter from Shane

January 30 at 7:26pm

First I would like to say I really enjoy the “into the wild podcast”. I have been listening for a few months and new the unperverted Grace filled and perfomance free message.

Religion stole my child hood. I spent at least 4 days a week in church that told us unworthy and worthless we were as humans. And as children

we were open game to dysfunctional adults in the church who would scold us about everything from what we looked like, or if we did not live up to

behavioral standards. We would tell out parents, but our parents did not care..they had a religious image to live up to, and our job as kids

were to not do anything to make our parents "look" bad. Everything was "what people think" so I grew up self couscous, full of shame, guilt

and fear and dream of making a mistake and shameful and regretful about each past mistake. As far back as I can remember when other kids were

carefree, I was worried, fearful and walking on eggshell. My nonchristian friends parents took them to do fun stuff during the week and on the weekends<

we had to be in church where we could not be kids and had to watch every move we made so not to get in trouble, which could be something as little as giggling.

My self and my 2 brothers have either been diagnosed with anxiety disorder or moderate to severe depression. The times when we felt most anxious or depressed

were either in church or before or after church. I believe that the beliefs, attitudes, from the church not to mention always feeling like we were tied down in an institution, had a lot to do

with these disorders.

For years I have lived in resentment and regret of how much I had lost due to literally feeling like a prisoner to religion and all the things I missed out to in being

a kid.

When you said” The level of the religious bondage is what determines the level of the beauty of the freedom that comes with the revelation

of truth” it brought me to a new level of freedom and has given me a tool to live free from the regret from a loss childhood due to religious bondage.

Thank you for your tranparency and loving people instead of trying to preserve your reputaion with the instutional church and living a lie.

Love you all,

Shane