Breaking Free: My Journey from Religious Indoctrination to Self-Discovery
How Escaping the Grip of Religion Led Me to Happiness, Love, and Life
Discovering My Voice in the Irish Freethinker
Hi there,
My first memoir is being serialized in the Irish Freethinker magazine. It had its origin in that publication. My column there helped me discover my voice and my audience. It showed my personal indoctrination into, and emancipation from, religion; and my horror at lives yet to be born that will be thwarted by being sucked into, and controlled by, religion.
Had I not freed my mind from the mental control of religious thinking, I might never have known the adventure of a happy marriage, deciding and taking risks together, like quitting our permanent pensionable jobs in the UK and returning to Ireland with our firstborn baby, our hopes and our dreams.
The Path Not Taken: A Life in the Priesthood
I could have remained on my priestly path, got ordained, fooled myself and others with the mind-melting shared Big Lie of religion. Might it all have come crashing down as it has for so many clerics who can’t maintain the façade, needing intimacy and companionship, living a double life?
The Goldfish Bowl of Religious Belief
People make their bed and lie in it. It’s not my aim to persuade priests to leave. But it is my aim to prevent young children’s minds being warped by religious thinking, leading them to live lives within a glass jar of untruth and constraint.
If they’re happy living there, in their goldfish bowl, what harm are they doing? Don’t some people need their belief in an Avenging God to be good? Or mightn’t some people need to believe their life has some metaphysical meaning, a pre-ordained purpose to help cope with suffering in their life?
Marx famously said religion was the ‘sigh of the oppressed’, the ‘heart of a heartless world, the soul of soulless conditions’, the ‘opium of the people’.
‘The Lord hears the cry of the poor.’ ‘Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.’ ‘Soul of my Saviour!’ bears out the sigh, heart, and soul bit.
But it isn’t ‘the Lord’ who hears the cry of the poor. It’s professional religious people who earn their living on the donations of the poor who hear it. And placing one’s trust in an imaginary heart deemed to be sacred is weird. And its our own inner workings and essence we should concern ourselves with, not the made-up ‘soul’ of an imagined deity.
The False Comfort of Religion: A Numbing Escape
Like opium, religion offers false comfort, an imagined escape from suffering and the trials of life. It numbs the brain. It prevents people from tackling the causes of their oppression, disadvantage, or isolation in the real world.
It’s irresponsible to give drugs to children.
Trusting Myself: The Courage to Walk Through Glass Walls
Daring to set religious ideas aside was the hardest and bravest thing I’ve ever done. Trusting my doubt. Trusting myself. Trusting my gut. Walking through the glass walls of my self-confinement, discovering the boundary to be imaginary, put there from a lifetime of society-approved indoctrination in State-funded schools.
Few religions would survive a decade if their ideas were first introduced to mature adults who can think for themselves.
So Glad I Married You: A Song of Love and Liberation
The lyrics of our new song, So Glad I Married You, express how very difficult it was for me to extract myself from religious thinking and to take control of my life. No child should have to do this. No child should be indoctrinated into religion. No child should be given drugs.
Verse 1 Built myself a house of glass Searching for the divine Thought I don’t need anyone else I’ve got God on my side Freedom, money, or love, they could never be mine, But deep inside my heart I knew I was living a lie. Chorus Happiness started when I first went with you, Ruthie Words can’t say all that you mean to me, my Ruthie So glad I married you You took me as I am Accepted all of me Glad I asked - so happy you said ‘I do’. Verse 2: Broke free from that house of glass Took control of my life Then one day I saw your face I needed you by my side. Freedom, and the riches of love, these could be yours and mine, From deep inside my heart I asked Would you be my bride. Chorus Happiness started when I first went with you, Ruthie Words can’t say all that you mean to me, my Ruthie So Glad I married you You took me as I am, accepted all of me Glad I asked - so happy you said ‘I do’. Bridge: Everything I’m proud of we created together, I loved you then, I love you still, I love you forever Chorus Coz happiness started when I first went with you, Ruthie Words can’t say all that you mean to me, my Ruthie So glad I married you You took me as I am accepted all of me Glad I asked – so happy you said ‘I do’. Glad I asked so happy you said ‘I do’. So glad I asked, so happy you said ‘I do’.
Written by The Rayne, Andrea Patron and myself, you can listen to the song here on Spotify or listen watching the video with lyrics here on YouTube:
Saved by a Woman is available on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, and Hardback editions.
In My Gut, I Don’t Believe is available on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, Hardback and Audible editions.
If you go to Amazon and it says a particular edition isn’t available, simply change the domain name or territory in the URL or address bar. For instance, change "Amazon.co.uk" to "Amazon.com" or "Amazon.de" etc.
You can listen to fascinating questions about godlessness at the launch of the first memoir, In My Gut, I Don’t Believe, on the Losing My Religion Podcast or watch it on YouTube.
You can listen to more fascinating questions at the launch of Saved by a Woman on the Losing My Religion Podcast or the Joe the Human post and Podcast.
Everyone on my Substack has access to all posts, podcasts, the entire archive, and can comment and join the conversation, regardless of subscriber status. That aligns with my values.
Free Subscription Benefits (https://joearmstrong.substack.com)
You will:
· Get access to unique insights, stories, and content that you won’t find anywhere else.
· Be able to engage directly with me, the creator, through comments and discussions.
· Receive early or exclusive access to new posts before the general public.
· Stay updated with the latest posts and news, delivered straight to your inbox or your Substack app.
· Support my work, which encourages me as a writer and creator.
· Unlike social media, there’s no algorithm deciding what you see. You will have access to anything I publish on my Substack.
· The clean and user-friendly interface makes reading posts a pleasure, without the distractions of ads or pop-ups.
You are invited to be part of the community I’m building on Substack. If you haven’t already done so, you can subscribe for free here.
And a hearty welcome and thanks to our new subscribers, whether free or paid! Thank you.
Happy days,
Joe