I grew up in an evangelical church, but I have the tendency of downplaying how much religious trauma I carry. I mean, we stopped going to services when I was 12, and by the time I was in my early 20s, I had more or less become comfortable saying that I was not a Christian, right? Which of course downplays the literal years that I spent unable to sleep without first saying a perfunctory prayer, and the time I was threatened with Christian school and conversion therapy for being queer...

So I was a bit surprised to listen to Heretic and find myself really knowing where Kadlec was coming from, and to recognize how much anxiety I carried when I was younger, and how undoubtedly that anxiety influenced my life long after I no longer spent every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening in a Baptist church pew. There wasn't much of an "aha!" moment for me, because the information was just very, very familiar. It might be a more revelatory text to someone who did not grow up evangelical, but the fact that I wasn't shocked did not mean that I didn't find this to be an interesting and empowering read.

Also, because this was a recommendation from Lucy Dacus, when she was mentioned in the text I became the living embodiment of that Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme.