Leaving Religion

In the movie “Born Again”, the lives of those who are engulfed in fundamental and conservative Christianity is shown. To them, their religion is not only the guide to navigate their lives, but it is also makes up the world that surrounds them. In “A Moment That Changed Me: Quitting the Jehovah’s Witnesses”, published in The Guardian, an anonymous writer recounts what it was like to leave her faith. Like the movie, the writer describes her religion and the boundaries that were set for everyone who was a part of it. They had their own schools that taught their own curriculum and were not encouraged to learn more than the bare minimum. They are all taught that, “once you leave you will become corrupted by the outside world and inevitably descend into selfishness, meanness and false happiness” (The Guardian). However, because her parents allowed her to make friends outside of the church and continue her studies at a public university, giving her a peep hole to the outside world, she realized that she simply did not believe in the religion anymore. Her mother was very hurt and she lost her closest friends, but she is happy with her decision because she, “began a life where [she] could decide what to believe for [herself], and [she] wasn’t afraid of someone telling [her] [she] couldn’t” (The Guardian).