Leaving Christianity is a Lot Harder than it Looks

If you are in the process of deconstructing your belief system, and possibly thinking of leaving your Christian faith behind, be aware of one sobering reality: it is potentially far more difficult than you might think, for a variety of reasons.

Disentangling oneself from one’s religion can be incredibly difficult and may take — literally — a lifetime, with lasting consequences both to yourself and those around you. This is even more the case when the one who leaves is involved in a marriage or committed relationship with a partner who still believes. Involving children into the mix further exacerbates the already difficult and painful choice to walk away from it all.

For the following three reasons I lay out and explore below, leaving one’s faith or religion is fraught with potential peril and difficulties.

1. The trauma caused by deconstructing, and finally making the difficult decision to leave your former faith behind, can be traumatic and psychologically debilitating. Psychologist and author Dr Marlene Winell is an expert on religious trauma syndrome (RTS). In an article on the subject, she maintains that RTS “is a function of both the chronic abuses of harmful religion and the impact of severing one’s connection with one’s faith and faith community.” She points out that not only can religion be the…