A “cancelled Christian” who grew up believing in pro-life and anti-abortion has changed her stance after “deconstructing” her faith.<br /><br />Cherie Transeau, 26, was brought up as a fundamentalist Christian – which she describes as believing in “no errors in the bible” and taking it as a “literal interpretation”.<br /><br />She says she was taught about “extreme beliefs on women” – and says she didn't think a woman could be a president or take a leadership role within the church.<br /><br />Cherie says she was told abortion was “worse than the Holocaust” and protested from the age of eight with her church – something she now feels “ashamed” of.<br /><br />When Cherie started at a Christian college, she began to question her beliefs and claims the people surrounding her had “no mercy” or “empathy”.<br /><br />She began to research her stance on pro-life and realised the bible verses "didn’t match up to a view of anti-abortion". <br /><br />Cherie stopped going to church during lockdown and said it “deprogrammed” her and she now no longer believes in fundamentalism and supports pro-choice.<br /><br />She still has her faith and refers to herself as a “progressive Christian” or a “cancelled Christian”.<br /><br />Cherie, a property manager owner, from Alexandria, Virginia, US, said: “If you questioned anything you were going to hell.<br /><br />“Every Friday the churches and I would go around protesting against abortion.<br /><br />“I’m so ashamed of it now.<br /><br />“I was told abortion was worse than the Holocaust.<br /><br />“I was told a women should close their legs.<br /><br />“I was told they were mostly late term abortions.<br /><br />“Most people don’t question it.<br /><br />“Women should be able to have sex if they want to.<br /><br />"I was taught it's bad, bad, bad but when you're ok it's ok.<br /><br />"I didn't get a proper sex education. <br /><br />"I was told women are there to keep their husbands from stop cheating.<br /><br />"it was very hard to go from it's bad to ok this is good." <br /><br />Cherie grew up believing the LGBTQ+ community was a “lie” and women “didn’t have a huge role in society”.<br /><br />She said fundamentalists "really want to have an influence in politics to push their beliefs further".
