Andrew Pledger grew up in a Christian fundamentalist cult (IFB) that led him to attend Bob Jones University. He knew he was gay, and he knew things were not right with the faith that criminalized his very existence. But as a young man, he had no options to escape his family's control or the bizarre, abusive rules of BJU. At first, Andrew tried to put his head down, follow the rules, and get out with a degree. But BJU, a global pandemic, and his own development as a human made that impossible. He pushed back, got expelled, and has been speaking out ever since. Through it all, Andrew found his voice, and he's using it to help bring healing to survivors and attention to the dangers of these christian institutions that harm so many people.
Andrew is the creator and host of Surviving BJU, which is set to premier on August 23. You can also listen to Andrew's previous podcast, Speaking Up.
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Scott's book, Asian-American-Apostate- Losing Religion and Finding Myself at an Evangelical University is available now!
Music by Scott Okamoto, Jenyi, Azeem Khan, and Shin Kawasaki and Wingo Shackleford
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