Vyckie Garrison: How to talk to a fundamentalist

The "fundamentalist" of the title was Vyckie Garrison herself, who used to be very active in the Quiverfull movement. She talks about her life and her deconversion, which happened during an extensive email correspondence with her uncle.

It's very interesting. And it seems especially relevant to me, because Garrison was born and raised in northeast Nebraska.

She became so active in the Quiverfull movement (and the homeschool movement) that they were named "Family of the Year" in 2003 by the Nebraska Family Council, a non-profit group here in Lincoln which works "to uphold biblical principles in society."

Now? Vyckie Garrison was recently named the 2014 "Atheist of the Year" by the American Atheists.

This was her talk at the 2015 Oklahoma Freethought Convention. It's fascinating. It's also inspiring, in that she had to overcome not just religion, but a difficult childhood and a very patriarchal form of that religion.

It's clear that she was devout, too. She was devoted to Jesus. She believed - she really believed - and she worked to bring God's word to everyone (while she was also busy pumping out children in obedience to that God).

It's frightening and inspiring, both, I guess.