About ExFish

ExFish is a comic about leaving a high-demand religion. Sorry about the art. I'm still learning.

My hope with this strip is to show ex-believers in general (and ex-Christians in particular) that they're not alone. The journey out of Plato's Cave is a hard one, but there is so much joy to be had once you've left. Is everything super-rosy? Eh. I don't think so; I just think things are better. I'm happier than I ever was as a devout believer.

I also hope to show current believers that we "apostates" aren't degenerates, or devoid of charity, or looking to break every commandment we ever believed in. Most of my believing friends and family already know this, but I'd still like to drive the point home. :)

There's a lot to deconstruct after you change your core beliefs. Like, a whole lot. I'm drawing on my experiences as I write the strip, but our main character, Xavier, is not based on anyone in particular, myself included.

I'm Randy Tayler, a former member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). I served a mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the 1990s; I worked in the Provo Temple as an ordinance worker a few years after that. I graduated from BYU. I was an active member of the church until 2020, when my now ex-wife and I concluded that we had been wrong all our lives. (It's less fun than it sounds.) Our teen children followed our exit soon after.

If you like the strip, please share it! And if you'd like a decal of the ExFish logo, let me know - I may do a kickstarter to fund a small run of vinyl decals or stickers or something. Man, I love that logo.

-Randy Tayler, February 23, 2024