Everything changed when I chose LOVE over dogma - April Ajoy

Today I spoke with April Ajoy, who grew up in a Pentecostal family with deep evangelical roots and gave her life to share the Gospel, but heavily deconstructed her faith as she examined toxic aspects of Christianity. We touched on many topics, including: • Traveling with her family to do ministry through music and preaching, which exposed her to various global cultures. • Along with her family, being intensely focused on converting others, which caused anxiety and guilt whenever she failed to witness effectively. • Experiencing intense childhood anxiety caused by fear of being "left behind" during the Rapture. • Believing in miracles and faith healing for many years but starting to experience significant doubts after her father passed away from cancer despite prayers and expectations of healing. • Living by strict modesty rules and teachings about purity which made her feel responsible for male thoughts and behavior. • Feeling unexpected joy for LGBTQ couples when gay marriage was legalized, which conflicted with her evangelical teachings. • Shifting her theology further when her brother came out as gay, as she saw his suffering and realized that sexuality wasn't a choice. • Being disillusioned by evangelical support for Donald Trump, despite his major character flaws which contradicted the "morality-first" ideals April grew up with. • Becoming increasingly concerned as she saw how Christian nationalism seeks to create a theocracy, using scripture to oppress marginalized communities and legislate morality. • While still embracing the teachings of Jesus, holding her beliefs more loosely, embracing uncertainty, and rejecting fear-based doctrines like hell. • Aiming to raise awareness, through her book and her activism, about the dangers of Christian nationalism and promote a more inclusive society. Many thanks to April for sharing her story with us today! _________________________________________ Connect with April! https://www.amazon.com/Star-Spangled-... Tiktok:   / uc96opwaqad5ly_uiv893kcg   IG:   / aprilajoy   FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?... April & Beecher's engagement:    • Surprise Proposal in Music Video  - Best E...   _________________________________________ Your support for my channel, Harmonic Atheist, is very needed and appreciated! One-time donations: PayPal: paypal.me/harmonictim Venmo: @harmonicatheist Zelle email: [email protected] GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tim-s... Monthly donations:   / harmonicatheist   You can also "Join" the Harmonic Atheist YT channel to get access to perks, which will be coming soon:    / @harmonicatheist   Thanks! --Tim _________________________________________ Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/49177260... (FYI - using that link does help support me ) _________________________________________ If you are facing emotional distress, please call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. _________________________________________ Ending music by Kazuya / Eyal Raz, "Friends" https://artlist.io/royalty-free-music...    • Friends   _________________________________________