Holy Heretics: Losing Religion and Finding Jesus – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Episode Summary:

Growing up evangelical required a preoccupation with external behaviors and moral performance, or what I now understand as sin management. My spiritual life was fear based. Behaviors like sexuality, masturbation, swearing, or drinking were litmus tests of spiritual maturity. The more you controlled, hid, or projected your external behaviors onto others, the closer you were to God. Behavior modification, external conformity, and the avoidance of sin was my ticket out of Hell. In evangelicalism, I was a problem to be fixed, not a person to be loved. What an anemic and harmful understanding of spirituality.

Leaving white evangelicalism meant finding deeper streams of spiritual wisdom. Instead of this hyper-fixation on what I was doing, inner Christianity helped me recognize God’s eternal presence at the core of my being, no matter what I was doing. God isn’t some external deity I need to placate, God is the lover of my soul. As I spiritually mature, I’m coming to realize the importance of cultivating my inner life instead of worrying about external behaviors. Or as Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, “The only journey is the one within."

External Christianity is about salvation in the afterlife. Inner Christianity is about personal transformation in this life. Contemplative or inner spirituality doesn’t ignore sin—it just approaches it differently. Instead of managing sin, it invites us to be still, to listen, and to let God transform us at the root. “Christ did not preach a mere ethical or social gospel but an uncompromisingly spiritual one. He declared that God can be seen, that Divine perfection can be achieved,” writes Swami Prabhavananda in his seminal work The Sermon on the Mount According to Vedanta.

Where does this leave us? How do we cultivate our interior life instead of focusing so much on externals? How do we focus on roots instead of fruits? I rarely quote Augustine, but he’s on point about this. "Do not look outside; return to yourself. In our interior the truth resides.” I’ll give that an amen.

In this final episode in season five, I’m honored to be joined by psychotherapist, philosopher, and mystic Dr. Mark Vernon. Mark is a writer, psychotherapist and former Anglican priest. He contributes to programs on BBC radio, writes and reviews for newspapers and magazines, gives talks and frequently podcasts. His books cover themes including friendship and God, William Blake and Dante, ancient Greek philosophy and wellbeing. He has a PhD in ancient Greek philosophy, and other degrees in physics and in theology. Dr. Vernon’s writings and teachings are deeply rooted in the inner life, exploring how we can cultivate spiritual depth and meaning in the modern world. You can connect with Dr. Vernon here!

Thanks for listening!

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Show notes:

http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/inner-christianity-mark-vernon

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This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:

Today is June 14, 2025, a day that will live in infamy.

A sitting United States president is hosting a military-style parade in Washington D.C. that every crack-pot dictator from Adolf Hitler to Vladimir Putin would admire. Making matters worse, since re-gaining power in January, Trump’s regime has dismantled democracy, extended the power of the presidency, suspended habeas corpus, and unlawfully detained and deported thousands of immigrants. Trump’s manufactured chaos is designed to evoke a violent response. “Following the example of other authoritarians, Donald Trump wants us to burn cars. He wants us to throw rocks. He wants images of chaos — especially violence against police or National Guard troops — to flood the evening news,” writes In These Times. He wants blood in the streets. We can’t give it to him or he wins.

In response to Trump’s daily attack on democracy and his disgusting display of military might, a coalition of over 200 progressive organizations—including the ACLU, Indivisible, and the American Federation of Teachers—has organized a nationwide protest movement called “No Kings.” Millions of Americans are expected to turn out today at over 1,800 locations across the country, deliberately avoiding Washington, D.C., to emphasize grassroots, nonviolent resistance.

Speaking truth to power and resisting the principalities and rulers of this world is the faithful response to empire. As God’s people, resistance is in our DNA. According to pastor Robin Meyers in his book Spiritual Defiance, “Our Gospel was birthed in resistance to the brutal normalcy of the Roman Empire.” The more things change, the more they stay the same. Like the founder of our faith, we find ourselves living under the boot of an evil empire. How do we respond? What forms of resistance are available to us? Is violence ever justified?

Contrary to what many assume, nonviolent resistance isn’t meekness in the face of evil. It is the courageous and oftentimes creative task of disarmament. Nonviolent resistance is a way to fight against injustice without using violence. It is using the transformative force of love to resist oppression. The first Christians understood nonviolence to be the sin qua non of discipleship. So much so that there wasn’t even a word for pacifism during the first four centuries of Christianity. To call yourself Christian meant you were universally nonviolent. Following Jesus then and following Jesus now means we will find ourselves in opposition to empire.

In the following weeks and months, the need to confront Trump’s evil regime will continue. But how we resist is just as important as the resistance itself. As tempting as it will be, returning evil for evil will only result in greater oppression.

To help us better understand the transformative power of nonviolence, I’m joined on the show today by Dr. Jesse Nickel. Jesse gives a clear and convincing argument that the gospels present Jesus as a nonviolent revolutionary. What can we learn from the way Jesus resisted and confronting the empire of his day? Unlike his prophetic movement, will we return evil for evil? Will we fall into the imperial trap of fight or flight? Or, will we learn how to tap into the ancient model of nonviolent resistance to topple Trump’s regime?

As you go out today with courage to confront Trumpism, take this episode along with you. Listen to the plea for nonviolent resistance. Understand the power of taking on suffering rather than inflicting suffering. And rest in the peace and power that God has been dismantling empires for over 6,000 years.

Amen.

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Show notes:

http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/the-resistance-is-alive-and-well

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This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:

John Philip Newell is best described as “a wandering teacher with the heart of a Celtic bard and the mind of a Celtic scholar.” Formerly the Warden of Iona Abbey in the Western Isles of Scotland, John Philip joined me from his home in Edinburgh to offer a new, yet ancient way forward in a time when the empire has once again wedded and bedded Christianity.

Long before the colonizing forces of imperial Christianity made their way to the British Isles, an indigenous form of spirituality nourished those sacred souls living in the borderlands of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. The Celts believed divinity pervaded every aspect of life. There was no distinction between secular and sacred, human and divine. The Celtic vision of the world is essentially sacramental, perceiving God’s presence in ordinary things like rocks, forests, springs, groves, hills, and meadows. “The Celtic approach to God opens up a world in which nothing is too common to be exalted and nothing is so exalted that it cannot be made common,” writes Esther De Waal. For them, the natural world is the container of the sacred and a gateway to the luminous—the holy intersection between mortals and the supernatural. These tribes bewildered the Roman church because they were relational rather than rational, inspirational rather than institutional, and indigenous instead of imperial.

In this modern age, when we find ourselves divorced from the natural world, addicted to technology, controlled by institutional religion, and victims of an empire of our own making, there is a great deal to learn from the ancient Celts. We need nothing less than a reclamation of our humanity, a rekindling of the Beltaine Fire burning in every human heart.

Most of us are still reeling from the recent presidential election. The dark forces of authoritarianism, patriarchy, and white supremacy are chronically ingrained in the highest levels of government, blessed and absolved by white Christianity. But here’s what I’m slowly starting to believe—every dark ending births a new beginning. Evil never has the last word. We’ve been given a dark gift, a chance to resist and re-imagine the world as it should be. We are living in liminal time, “when we can’t go back but we can’t see the way forward,” writes my friend Melanie Mudge.

What better time to wake up, “dream new dreams,” and rekindle the sacred flame in every human soul. As John Philip reminds us:

“We live in a threshold moment. We are waking up to the earth again. We are awakening to the feminine and the desire to faithfully tend the interrelationship of all things. In this moment, politically, culturally, and religiously, we are witnessing the death throes of a shadow form of masculine power that has arrayed itself over against the earth and over against the sacredness of the feminine. This shadow form of power, however, has no ultimate future, for it is essentially false in its betrayal of the earth and the feminine. So in fear it is lashing out with unprecedented force. But it is not the deep spirit of this moment in time. Something else is trying to be born.”

Celtic spirituality is needed now more than ever. Allow John Philip to lead you into deeper streams of indigenous wisdom where action and contemplation, vision and profound mystery light our collective way forward. His latest book, The Great Search, is out now.

Bio:

John Philip Newell (b 1953) is an internationally renowned Celtic teacher and author of spirituality who calls the modern world to reawaken to the sacredness of Earth and every human being.

Canadian by birth, and also Scottish, he resides with his wife Ali in the ecovillage of Findhorn in Scotland. In 2016 he began the Earth & Soul initiative and teaches regularly in the United States and Canada as well as leading international pilgrimage weeks on Iona in the Western Isles of Scotland.

His PhD is from the University of Edinburgh and he has authored over fifteen books, including his award-winning publication, Sacred Earth Sacred Soul, which was the 2022 Gold Winner of the Nautilus Book Award for Spirituality and Religious Thought of the West. His new book, also with HarperOne (and published in the UK by Wild Goose), is The Great Search (August 2024), in which he looks at the great spiritual yearnings of humanity today in the context of the decline of religion as we have known it.

Newell speaks of himself as ‘a wandering teacher’ following the ancient path of many lone teachers before him in the Celtic world, ‘wandering Scots’ (or scotus vagans as they were called) seeking the wellbeing of the world. He has been described as having ‘the heart of a Celtic bard and the mind of a Celtic scholar’, combining in his teachings the poetic and the intellectual, the head as well as the heart, and spiritual awareness as well as political and ecological concern. His writings have been translated into seven languages. In 2020 he relinquished his ordination as a minister of the Church of Scotland as no longer reflecting the heart of his belief in the sacredness of Earth and every human being. He continues, however, to see himself as ‘a grateful son of the Christian household’ seeking to be in relationship with the wisdom of humanity’s other great spiritual traditions.

In 2011 John Philip was awarded the first-ever Contemplative Voices Award from the Shalem Institute in Washington DC for his prophetic work in the field of spirituality and compassion. In 2022 he received the Sacred Universe Award from the Well Center for Spirituality in Chicago, IL in recognition of his significant work in furthering humanity's relationship with the sacredness of Earth.

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Show notes:

http://www.sophiasociety.org/celtic-spirituality

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This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:

Like a dog returning to her vomit, America chose the sexual predator, white nationalist, pathological liar, and criminal instead of an educated, compassionate Black woman to lead this nation into our collective future. This feels more sinister than 2016 because Trump and his henchmen now have a plan in Project 2025 and I promise you, people are going to suffer.

How do we sit with suffering and respond with compassion? How do we continue to seek justice without demonizing the Christians who willfully voted for this madness? How do we implement a politic of compassion in an era of cruelty?

Bekah McNeel joins me today on Holy Heretics to reset this new normal, to offer a way forward through the solidarity of suffering.

In her career as a journalist, Bekah has encountered a lot of suffering. After all, the most polarizing topics in US politics all revolve around suffering (gun violence, immigration, Covid-19, sexual violence, and white supremacy). She’s sat with migrants seeking asylum. She’s stood outside the school in Uvalde, Texas weeping with parents. She’s been to Detroit and shared space with Iraqi immigrants. As she says in this conversation, “I have zero tolerance for political justifications for suffering.”

Bekah’s ability to break down complex political and ethical arguments through the lens of compassion is a starting point for those of us who refuse to give up the fight for justice.

In this timely conversation, we discuss the following:

How for-profit journalism failed the American people

The media’s role in electing Trump

The power of compassion and the limits to our compassion

How to respond to disinformation with questions and compassion

How to distinguish between political and ethical issues

How to cultivate healthy relationships with friends and family with whom we vehemently disagree with

The issues behind the issues that turn political disagreements into personal attacks, i.e. the conversations about politics with your parents

Bio:

Bekah Stolhandske McNeel is a native of San Antonio, Texas, where she works as a journalist. Her work has appeared in Texas Monthly, Sojourners, The Guardian, The Trace, The Texas Tribune, The 74 Million, Christianity Today, Texas Public Radio, Relevant, Andscape, The Hechinger Report, and the Christian Science Monitor, among others. She published her first book, Bringing Up Kids When Church Lets You Down: A Guide for Parents Questioning their Faith with Eerdmans in 2022. 

Known for her ability to communicate the high stakes of politics and policy and bring clarity to complex systems, Bekah keeps the human beings most affected at the front of her coverage.

Bekah is a graduate of the London School of Economics, where she earned a MSc in Media Studies. She is married to Lewis McNeel, an architect with Lake | Flato. They have two young children who, while they do not yet have careers, are very busy.

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Show notes:

http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/this-is-going-to-hurt-Bekah-Mcneel

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This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:

We are less than two weeks away from election day here in the United States. The question is - will America get its first female president or a second Donald Trump term? A more pressing question is - will America remain a democracy or will our constitutional republic deteriorate further into a Christo-fascist Trump family dynasty?

Kamala Harris has a slight lead over Trump in the national polls, but in the seven battleground states, Trump holds a narrow margin of victory.

How is this possible? Why is this race so close? How, after all the lies, conspiracy theories, federal crimes, sexual assaults, authoritarian ideology, attempts to overthrow the government, white supremacy, and hatred of ‘the other’ does Donald Trump still hold sway in the hearts of 46% of the voting population? Even more damning, why are 82% of white evangelicals poised to vote for Trump a third time? In a speech in Pittsburg, former President Barack Obama asks similar questions. “When did lying become Ok? Why would we go along with that?”

I will be even more direct. When did supporting someone so vile, so evil, so bereft of any moral compass become OK for Christians? The answer? White evangelical Christians really are this cruel, this racist, this fearful, and this easy to manipulate. In short, the propaganda is working.

In today’s podcast interview on Holy Heretics, I sit down with Professor Scott Coley from Mount St. Mary’s University to discuss his latest book Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right.

According to Coley, “American evangelicalism is beset by two distinct yet related scandals, one intellectual and the other social. In the decades since Mark Noll published The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, evangelical anti-intellectualism has only grown more pronounced: white evangelicals are overrepresented among skeptics of public health officials and scientific experts; and white evangelicals are more likely than other Americans to embrace conspiracy theories that threaten public health and weaken our nation’s democratic institutions.”

This timely conversation brings a “philosophical scalpel to evangelical truth claims. Coley demonstrates with devastating precision how much of what passes as ‘biblical’ can better be understood as propaganda, as the deliberate obfuscation of reality,” writes New York Times bestselling author Kristin Du Mez.

In this episode, we discuss:

How biblical literalism leads to white supremacy.

Why 82% of white evangelicals supporting Trump might actually be a good thing.

The connection between Creation Science and Right Wing Propaganda.

How evangelical ministers have been corrupted by Republican Party ideology.

How to have conversations with your friends and family about evangelical propaganda.

How to be political without being partisan.

What happens next regardless of who wins the election.

Bio:

Scott M. Coley holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Purdue University, a Master’s degree in systematic theology from the University of Notre Dame, and a B.A. in philosophy and English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests include philosophy of religion, moral epistemology and political philosophy. He serves on the philosophy faculty at Mount St. Mary’s University, where he teaches courses in moral and political philosophy, history of philosophy and logic. Grab his book Ministers of Propaganda today!

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Show notes:

http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/evangelical-ministers-of-propaganda

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Support our work on Patreon or Substack and get early access to episodes and premium content like our online class on deconstruction!

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This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:

In this captivating conversation with mythologist and psychologist Dr. Sharon Blackie, we explore the mythic imagination, the reclaiming of indigenous Western spiritual traditions, and the relevance of our native myths, fairy tales, and folk traditions.

Your life is a story, and your story is one small part of a larger cultural story. For good and bad, your individual story is shaped by the larger cultural story of which you are a part. Culture shapes the way we think; it tells us what “makes sense.” In a way, culture is a cult. It holds people together by providing us with a shared set of customs, values, ideas, and beliefs. We live enmeshed in this cultural web: it influences the way we relate to others, the way we look, our tastes, our habits; it enters our dreams and desires. But as culture binds us together it also selectively blinds us. As we grow up, we accept ways of looking at the world, ways of thinking and being that might best be characterized as cultural frames of reference or cultural myths. These myths help us understand our place in the world. But what if these myths are harmful? What if the guiding cultural narratives that shape our lives today in the West are killing us?

By questioning the myths that dominate our culture and shape our personal stories, we can begin to resist the limits they impose on our vision of reality. What might it look like to trade in the cultural myths of progress, greed, conquest, and individuality with cultural narratives that encourage reciprocity, relationships, compassion, connectivity, and wonder?

Dr. Blackie speaks to those of us who feel lost in a sick, vampiric culture. If you long for a more enchanted life filled with wonder, beauty, and mystery, this episode will encourage you to find meaning through ancient wisdom, Celtic Spirituality, folklore, and indigenous tales of subversive wisdom.

Bio:

Dr. Sharon Blackie is an award-winning and internationally bestselling author, and a psychologist with a background in mythology and folklore. Her highly acclaimed books, lectures and teaching programs are focused on reimagining women’s stories, and on the relevance of myth and fairy tales  to the personal, cultural and environmental issues we face today.

As well as writing six books of fiction and nonfiction, including the bestselling If Women Rose Rooted, her writing has appeared in anthologies, collections and in several international media outlets – among them the Guardian, the Irish Times, the i and the Scotsman. Her books have been translated into several languages, and she has featured in programs by the BBC, US public radio and independent filmmakers. Her awards include the Society of Authors’ Roger Deakin Award, and a Creative Scotland Writer’s Award. Her next book, Wise Women: Myths and Stories for Midlife and Beyond will be published by Virago in October 2024.

Sharon is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and an Honorary Member of the UK Association of Jungian Analysts, awarded ‘in recognition of the importance of lifetime achievement and contribution to Jungian ideas in the world’. She has taught and lectured at several academic institutions, Jungian organisations, retreat centres and cultural festivals around the world. She is online faculty for Pacifica Graduate Institute, California, where she teaches a Graduate Certificate Course on ‘Narrative Psychological Approaches to Finding Ourselves in Fairy Tales’ and other programs.

Sharon lives in Cumbria, in the north of England, with her husband, dogs, hens and sheep. She is represented by Jane Graham Maw, at Graham Maw Christie Agency.

Sharon’s TEDx talk on the mythic imagination can be viewed here. Her publication ‘The Art of Enchantment’ is in the Top Ten Literature Substacks.

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Show notes:

http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/finding-your-place-in-this-world

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Support our work on Patreon or Substack and get early access to episodes and premium content like our online class on deconstruction!

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This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:

[TW: sexual assault and sexual harm language]

I am joined today by Rev. Dr. Danielle Tumminio Hansen to speak about the unspeakable. A theologian and Episcopal priest focusing on pastoral approaches to trauma, Hansen addresses the persistent crisis of sexual harm in the U.S., and the “haunting silence” of survivors. Why do most victims remain silent? Why don’t we trust women? Why do we assume perpetrators of sexual harm are strangers who jump out of bushes instead of trusted boyfriends, pastors, teachers, or family members? How does our society’s rape myths further silence victims of sexual harm?

In this unflinching conversation, we discuss the difficulty of coming up with the right language to describe sexual harm, how the words we use often cause even more harm, how our legal system, churches, media, and culture are complicit in rape culture, and the practical steps you can take to recover.

Talking about rape and sexual assault is difficult for a number of reasons. Victims often feel ashamed or stigmatized by society's attitudes towards sexual violence. There's a pervasive culture of victim-blaming, where survivors may fear they won't be believed or will be judged for what happened to them. Sexual violence can cause profound emotional and psychological trauma. Discussing the experience may trigger intense emotions, flashbacks, or other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), making it incredibly challenging for survivors to talk about what happened.

So, why this book and why this episode on rape? Because talking about rape and sexual assault breaks down layers of stigma, trauma, fear, and systemic barriers. It also has a direct impact on how we process trauma. Creating safe spaces for survivors to share their experiences, offer support, and challenge societal norms are crucial steps towards fostering open and meaningful conversations about sexual violence.

Like many individuals, Hansen’s story of sexual violence didn’t come at the hands of a stranger, but rather by someone she knew, causing her to wonder if what happened to her really was sexual assault. “Statistically, you would be more likely to believe me if I said this person was someone I’d never met,” she writes. “Raised to believe stereotypes of what constituted ‘real rape’—forced intercourse in a physically violent attack by a male stranger—I did not have a word to express what had happened to me.” Now she does.

In this episode we discuss:

The rape myths of the “ideal” victim and “stranger perpetrator”

How purity culture and porn perpetuate rape culture

Why telling your story is liberating and healing

Moving beyond stigma and shame

The road to recovery—how art, contemplation, meditation, community, and therapy can restore your sense of self, trust, and agency.

Pick up Danielle’s book here. It is an amazing read.

Bio:

Danielle Tumminio Hansen is Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Spiritual Care at Emory’s Candler School of Theology, where she researches at the intersection of trauma, theology, narrative, and philosophy. Her book publications include Speaking of Rape: The Limits of Language in Sexual Violations and Conceiving Family: A Practical Theology of Surrogacy and Self. She has written on the intersection of religion and culture for a variety of national and international news outlets, including CNN, The Guardian, and Huffington Post. She is also an Episcopal priest.

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Show notes:

http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/speaking-of-rape

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Support our work on Patreon or Substack and get early access to episodes and premium content like our online class on deconstruction!

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This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:

Liberation theology is a theological movement that emerged primarily in Latin America in the late 20th century, although its principles and ideas have influenced theological discourse worldwide for millennia. It seeks to address the social, economic, sexual, gendered, and political oppression experienced by marginalized and disadvantaged individuals and communities. Liberation theology actually dates all the way back to the Old Testament prophets, and can be witnessed in almost every spiritual tradition.

At its core, liberation theology emphasizes the gospel's message of liberation and justice for the oppressed and marginalized. It announces God’s preferential treatment of the poor, marginalized, and oppressed. God loves the margins because God was marginalized. It was Jesus’ second-rate existence that allowed him to see and feel what those at the center of society were sheltered from and thus callously indifferent to. Seeking liberation and justice is the sine qua non of Christian discipleship. Standing in solidarity with the oppressed is one of the more practical ways to live out our faith in a cruel world.

People on the periphery, those victims of our forced conformity, have the ‘eyes to see’ what many of us at the center simply cannot see without their guidance. “To be in the margin is to be part of the whole but outside the main body,” writes Bell Hooks. Which gives those on the outside a different vantage point, as well as the power to create change. Today, we’re having a conversation about change, injustice, liberation, and salvation and I can think of no one more perfect to address these issues than Kalie May Hargrove from The Center For Prophetic Imagination.

In this episode we’ll address:

The systematic rights violations LGBTQIA students face at Christian colleges

Why liberation is more biblical than eternal salvation

What you can do to work for justice in your community

How to stand against the genocide in Gaza

Subverting the empires we find ourselves living in and benefiting from

Bio:

Kalie May Hargrove (she/her) is a writer, theologian, and activist. She lives in the greater-Atlanta area with her partner and two kids. Kalie has been part of LGBTQ+ activism bringing awareness of the legalized discrimination queer and trans students face at religious universities. She received her Master of Divinity from United Theological Seminary of Twin Cities. 

Kalie is Director of Digital Outreach at the Center for Prophetic Imagination, which seeks to connect spirituality with intersectional social justice in our world.

Please follow us on social media (use the buttons below) and help us get the word out! (Also, please don’t hesitate to use any of these channels or email to contact us with any questions, concerns, or feedback.)

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Show notes:

http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/and-justice-for-all

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This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:

In this unique, collaborative episode of Holy Heretics, I chat with Jude Mills, the creator of the FKD Up By Faith podcast. Jude created the FKD Up By Faith podcast for individuals harmed by religious fundamentalism. She hails from the Southeast of England, and is using her podcast to fuel her scholarly work at the University of Kent.

Jude and I are both hosts of our own respective shows, and this time, instead of asking the questions, Jude interviewed me about my faith deconstruction journey. It was a blast! It’s also probably the first time I’ve had the chance to fully discuss how my personal, professional, and spiritual life was “f’kd up” by evangelical Christianity. Here’s a few things we get on about in this conversation:

*Why Melanie and I created Holy Heretics

*Why it’s a good thing to be labeled a heretic these days

*How my faith deconstruction journey costs me my job

*Where I’ve landed post deconstruction

*How to move beyond the rage stage of deconstruction

*What your life and faith can look like after evangelicalism

I hope my story helps you process, heal, and continue your journey of recovery from religious fundamentalism.

Please follow us on social media (use the buttons below) and help us get the word out! (Also, please don’t hesitate to use any of these channels or email to contact us with any questions, concerns, or feedback.)

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review, or share on your socials 🙏 And check out Jude’s show FKD UP BY FAITH wherever you get your podcasts!

Show notes:

http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/fkd-up-by-faith

Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyheretics | Substack: holyheretics.substack.com

Advertising inquiries: garyalan@sophiasociety.org

Support our work on Patreon or Substack and get early access to episodes and premium content like our online class on deconstruction!

https://www.patreon.com/holyheretics or subscribe to our Substack to gain access to Holy Heretics Shorts, premium content, and our online class on faith deconstruction!

This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Jude Mills and Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:

(CW): Mental Illness, Suicidal Ideation, Depression, and Anxiety)

Anna Gazmarian’s new book Devout: A Memoir of Doubt, investigates the overlapping complexities of religious faith, mental illness, and doubt. If you grew up in religiously conservative spaces, odds are you either never talked about mental illness or you were made to believe only people with a demonic spirit could suffer from mental and behavioral disorders. According to research by the National Institutes of Health, evangelical Christians often see mental health as the outworking of a harmful spiritual condition and therefore, the solution is to just have more faith in God. This is not only completely erroneous, it’s harmful. In this deeply personal conversation, Anna shares her struggles with depression, bipolar disorder, darkness, and doubt. For those of us who have lived on the dark side of the human experience, we have gifts to give to the world that only we can give because we know what it is like to lose touch with reality, to be in pain, to question the entire human experiment, to suffer with anxiety, to struggle to get out of bed in the morning, and to fight to find meaning in an otherwise meaningless existence. I’m honored to share this space with Anna and have this needed conversation about mental health and faith.

Bio:

Anna’s debut, Devout: A Memoir of Doubt is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster in March 2024. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Bennington Writing Seminars. Her essays have been published in The Guardian, The Rumpus, Longreads, The Sun, and Quarterly West. She works for The Sun Magazine and lives in Durham, NC.

Please follow us on social media (use the buttons below) and help us get the word out! (Also, please don’t hesitate to use any of these channels or email to contact us with any questions, concerns, or feedback.)

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review, or share on your socials 🙏

Show notes:

http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/Christianity-and-mental-illness

Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyheretics | Substack: holyheretics.substack.com

Advertising inquiries: garyalan@sophiasociety.org

Support our work on Patreon or Substack and get early access to episodes and premium content like our online class on deconstruction!

https://www.patreon.com/holyheretics or subscribe to our Substack to gain access to Holy Heretics Shorts, premium content, and our online class on faith deconstruction!

This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.