Cults, Culture & Coercion with Dr. Steve Hassan Identifying and Healing Religious Trauma, with Darren M. Slade, Ph.D.
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Aug 14, 2023 
Dr. Darren M. Slade, a historian and director of the North American Committee on Religious Trauma Research, shares his journey from fundamentalism to skepticism. He discusses his unsettling experiences at Liberty University and the dangers of confirmation bias within seminary training. The conversation dives into how religion intertwines with politics, the tactics used by high-control groups, and the impact of betrayal trauma after leaving faith. Slade also offers insights for survivors and highlights the work of the Global Center for Religious Research.
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From Zealot To Questioner
- Darren Slade described converting to Christianity at 18 and rapidly becoming a zealous fundamentalist who rose into ministry roles.
- He credits seminary education for both deepening and then undermining his fundamentalist beliefs as he applied critical tools inward.
Use Scholarship To Test Beliefs
- Darren used academic tools like falsification and skepticism to test his beliefs, which produced overwhelming counter-evidence.
- The flood of legitimate scholarly critique produced a profound crisis of faith and spiritual silence he called betrayal trauma.
Living Without God, Then Being Shunned
- Darren lived as if God didn't exist for months and found no meaningful change in his behavior or morality.
- When he publicly announced atheism, his community and family abandoned and persecuted him as an apostate.
