Mathew Taylor, co-host of Still Unbelievable!, returns to the podcast to discuss why we podcast.Links

Matthew on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/vteclimey

Confessions of a YEC blog:
https://confessionsofayec.wordpress.com/

"God takes the good people early” post:
https://confessionsofayec.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/god-takes-the-good-people-early/

Reason Press:
https://reasonpress.net/

"Still Unbelievable!” the book:
https://reasonpress.net/SU1EPodcasts:

Still Unbelievable!
https://anchor.fm/still-unbelievable

Ask An Atheist Anything
https://anchor.fm/reasonpress

Previous episode
https://gracefulatheist.com/2019/06/20/matthew-taylor-confessions-of-a-young-earth-creationist/

Interact

For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/12/30/matthew-taylor-why-we-podcast/

Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion

Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch!
https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast

Support the podcast on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist

Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/

Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/

Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/

Attribution

"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s guest is Sara. Sara grew up in a Canadian Mennonite community and embraced it wholeheartedly. She was surrounded by evangelical Christianity and she thrived.

As a young adult, she married and followed her husband into ministry. While he led, she helped as was expected of her. It didn’t occur to her until years later how little her own leadership skills had to be set aside.

Sara’s husband started deconstructing his beliefs before she did, but as he was learning, she was also learning. Years later, she knew he’d become an atheist before he did.

It wasn’t easy, but they made space for one another to learn and grow and move down their own paths. Today, Sara is a spiritual director for others and doesn’t have a specific label for herself, and it works just fine.

“There’s a whole host of ways of being in the world…”

Links

Sara’s website
https://prairiethistle.ca/

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/prairiethistle

Interact

For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/12/17/sara-christian-humanism/

Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion

Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch!
https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast

Support the podcast on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist

Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/

Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/

Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/

Attribution

"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s guest is Jeremy Schumacher. Jeremy’s story begins in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and it was as culty as it sounds. He started questioning the beliefs when he was ten, but it took twenty more years before he was able to leave.

“Two things really kept me in [Christianity] longer than I needed to stay or wanted to stay: fear of hell…and everyone I knew and interacted with was Lutheran, just not having any sense of community outside of the church…”

Jeremy is currently a “licensed marriage & family therapist with additional specialties in religious trauma and sports performance.” See his complete bio here.

Links

Wellness With Jer
https://wellnesswithjer.com/

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/wellnesswithjer/

Interact

For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/10/15/jeremy-schumacher-wellness-with-jer/

Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion

Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch!
https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast

Support the podcast on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist

Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/

Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/

Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/

Attribution

"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s guest is Jose Ramos, Hannah’s husband from her episode two weeks ago. Jose’s family converted to Independent Fundamentalist Baptist and his father became a pastor. They were taught that the IFB had the “pure word of God,” and it was their purpose to evangelize and change the world. Throughout his teens, Jose’s only rebellion was, “like a month partying with [his] brothers.” Later, he went to Bible College, and then started preaching. He met Hannah and took over his father’s Spanish speaking church. Studying the Bible for ministry, however, brought more questions and doubts. Over the next year, he continued preaching but knew he didn’t believe. He left the ministry and later told Hannah why. After another hard and depressive year, he knew he was agnostic. Jose gave Hannah the space to go on her own journey. They still attended church as a family, but he did not try to change her. Today, their stories can give comfort to other couples facing religious doubts and uncertainties. Jose’s honesty and vulnerability show the grace and goodness in his own human heart. No more looking forward to heaven or fearing hell, simply being present in each movement and looking for the beauty that’s found there. Recommendations Books #PaidLinks Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
https://amzn.to/3xuaddv (Also available in graphic novel form)
https://amzn.to/319PbEF
https://amzn.to/3E93tV2 Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari
https://amzn.to/3CXUNiF Podcasts Sam Harris’ Making Sense
https://www.samharris.org/ Links Hannah’s episode
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/11/14/hannah-ramos-unequally-yoked-to-deconverted/ Clergy Project
https://clergyproject.org/ Interact Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

“Good afternoon. Good evening. And good night.” This week’s episode is a compelling discussion between David and past podcast guests Jimmy and Colin. They take a deep dive into how The Truman Show mirrors the long, painful journey of deconstruction—realizing the story you’ve been told isn’t quite what it seems, pushing back little by little, and then sometimes leaving completely, walking out the door and into the darkness. “You never had a camera in my head.” They consider it all:

• The trauma and fears induced
• Infantilization
• The constant gaslighting
• The creation and controlling of relationships
• And the lies, a completely fabricated life.

All done to “love him, protect him.” They each bring their own stories to the table, stories of courage and uncertainty and a desire for truth, stories that resonate with many people. Like Truman, we can lean in when what we’ve believed no longer lines up with what we’re experiencing. We can be curious, ask questions and see where that journey takes us. Links Where to stream The Truman Show
https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-truman-show Final scene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn5kuDdeGzs Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/11/21/movie-review-the-truman-show/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is Hannah Ramos. Hannah grew up in an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist family, one of ten homeschooled children. Dissuaded from going to bible college, she waited for her Prince Charming. When Jose showed up to speak at her church, she knew he was “God’s choice” for her as a husband. Very early in their marriage, Jose took over as pastor of a Spanish speaking church. Everything seemed to be going according to God’s plan, until three years later when Jose admitted to Hannah that he no longer believed. Suddenly, she found herself in an unequally yoked relationship. For six years, Hannah focused on her own faith and raising their three children as believers, and they loved one other through this time. Jose supported Hannah’s faith, and Hannah had given up on changing Jose’s mind. Hannah had the space to begin to question her own faith. Her children innocently asked her to explain the Trinity, and they were not satisfied with her answers. She read through the Bible, asking, “But is this true?” She no longer could assume that it was. Finally the pat answers Hannah received no longer satisfied her, and she admitted to herself that she also no longer believed. To Jose’s amazement (and slight disbelief), Hannah revealed that she was no longer a Christian. Today, they are closer than ever, and their children are free to decide for themselves what they believe. Hannah has found a peace she did not think was possible. Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/11/14/hannah-ramos-unequally-yoked-to-deconverted/ Lars and Christie episode
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/09/26/lars-and-christie-deconverted-family/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is Phil Quagliariello who blogs at Phil Q Musings. Phil grew up as a PK in Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Churches which, of course, were the one true Church. He moved around often as a kids and saw the dark side of ministry when his father was removed from a church by the board for being too “new fangled.” He went through the entirety of his education including college in Christian schools. Phil eventually found himself in Calvary Chapel churches were they were more exegetical, focused on the Bible. He got married and they both were worship leaders. Eventually, the concept of the “Emergent Church” came to their church and Phil lead the worship for that service. Unfortunately, that marriage did not last. Phil found himself seeking a church experience that was more authentic and “that did not suck.” He found a faith community that met in the basement of a bar that at first he found satisfying. Phil remarried to a women with two children. These children and the children they have together became the light of his life. Phil began to recognize the trauma of his upbringing: the fear of punishment and the fear of Hell. And he focused on being parent who does not use fear as a weapon. Phil began to seriously doubt Evangelicalism during the 2016 election. But he still hung on to the church experience until the Jan 6th election when he could no longer call himself an Evangelical, a Christian or a believer. Phil has a particularly good answer to how he finds meaning in his life. Links Phil Q Musings Blog
https://philqmusings.wordpress.com/ Interact Ginna’s Episode
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/10/10/ginna-deconversion-anonymous/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is Jack Robertson, host of the Musings of an ADD mind podcast. He grew up with a super Evangelical Southern Baptist mother and always went to church. As a teenager he became super religious himself until a confidant let the whole youth group know he was having sex with his girlfriend. Then he stopped going to church for a while. Then late in his 30s Jack got heavily involved in an Oklahoma City based megachurch. He read through the bible three times. But, jack always had questions. “In the Exodus story god is the bad guy, not Pharaoh. If man was created in god’s image then wicked pre-flood people that were so evil he needed to destroy the world would be a reflection of him.” Jack asks himself if he really believed or if it was his ADD hyper focus on Christianity that kept him in for so long. After a friend asked for prayer for a job interview it hit him, “how would god decide? Go with whoever had the most friends pray? The person who’s friends prayed the most? Use a prayer version of comment winner generator?” After a deep dive into Mesopotamian history he realized it was all just stories. The 2016 election and then his son coming out as bi-sexual finalized his decision. He no longer believes Links Musings of an ADD Mind
https://open.spotify.com/show/0ebZTxuf9YUOrT58H4TvRK?si=DpVTS3YwSU-BuyGTEyy5lw&utm_source=copy-link Website
https://www.podpage.com/musings-of-an-add-mind/ Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/musngsofanaddmind/ Interact Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversionJon Steingard
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/01/03/jon-steingard-the-wonder-and-the-mystery-of-being/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is Mark Landes, a former Army officer who is working toward becoming a humanist chaplain. Mark grew up in the United Methodist tradition. He went to West Point and became an officer in the Army. He wanted to become an Army chaplain. Mark’s army career is a fascinating tale in itself. He was stationed in West Berlin shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Then during the Gulf War he volunteered to go to Kuwait and experienced the first air raid of the Gulf War. Mark was also a gay man in the military before the time of “don’t ask don’t tell” when there were witch hunts to remove gay military members. He was investigated and removed with an “other than honorable” discharge. Understandably, Mark went through time of deep depression. To make maters worse when he returned to the states he joined a 12 step group that was in effect a group conversion therapy. It is during this dark time of his life that Mark began to question the reality of god. Through a years long process Mark deconverted eventually admitting to himself he no longer believed. Mark has since become a humanist celebrant and has made an attempt to get a Masters in Divinity to become a humanist chaplain. In this process he began his “theological anthropology” which has led him to tell his story. He now wants to get a Masters in Pastoral care and is hoping to create an “institutional chaplaincy” in the business world. This humanist journey began with him asking the question, “how can I make the world a better place?” Links Mark’s Blog
https://humanistchaplainjourney.blogspot.com/Captain Cassidy
https://gracefulatheist.com/2019/10/17/captain-cassidy-roll-to-disbelieve/Sasha Sagan
https://gracefulatheist.com/2020/02/06/sasha-sagan-for-small-creatures-such-as-we/ Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/10/24/mark-landes-military-deconversion-and-humanism/ Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/ Thanks to Logan Thomas for the new Graceful Atheist Podcast art work

This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is Emily. Emily grew up in an Evangelical Free Church in the rural Midwest. She was on the Cubbies-Sparks-AWANA track. Around age 10, she became a pastor’s kid when her dad switched careers and went into ministry. Her early childhood experiences of church were fairly positive, but she struggled with severe fear of hell and the rapture from a young age. The youth group setting was horribly unsuited to a sensitive introvert like. She was miserable being forced to attend churches where she didn’t know anyone except her parents.This discomfort in Christian circles continued through college. After college, Emily spent a year in London doing a master’s degree. She immersed myself in the city’s amazing performing arts scene and met a lot of people with totally different backgrounds and beliefs to hers. That year really expanded her horizons, and when she moved back to the US, she pursued a career in performing arts administration. For the first few years after grad school, Emily wasn’t ready to reject everything and say that she didn’t believe in God, but she had no interest in going to church, praying, reading the Bible, etc. Then the 2016 election happened, and she watched with horror as Christians whom she loved and admired went all-in for Trump. At that point, her indifference turned to disgust, and she wanted nothing to do with Christianity at all. In the past 2-3 years Emily has really done the hard work of figuring out what she believes now and addressing the harm that her Christian background has caused. Emily has had to work through the baggage of purity culture as she is in her first long term relationship. Therapy with a focus on religious trauma has been helpful. Emily is discovering who she is, relish the arts and experiencing the joy of being a human being. Interact We are very excited to announce the new private Deconversion Anonymous Facebook Group. The group will be administered by Arline from episode 71. Please join us in building a community of graceful human beings. Deconversion Anonymous Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/10/17/emily-deconversion-anonymous/ Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/ Thanks to Logan Thomas for the new Graceful Atheist Podcast art work

This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is Ginna. Ginna is a software developer in her 30’s. She went through deconversion in her 20’s after suffering depression during her college years. Even though there were Christians around her who were on medication for their depressions no one was public about it. The implied stigma kept her from reaching out for help and kept her from finding the right treatment when she did. After college she went to a ” shelter for honest questions” called L`Abri to find answers to her questions. Her questions were pointed and personal. The questions of theodicy, divine hiddenness and theological evil. She “had a really good time, but [she] didn’t get answers to the questions that [she] had.” After a brief stint in a liturgical church, which she loved, she stopped going to church and gained some perspective. She realized she could no longer believe in a god where there was no practical difference between non-existence and said god being evil. Ginna eventually received the help she needed for her mental health. She had to try multiple different doctors and therapies until she found the right combination. Today she is excited about exploring secular community and growing as a human being. Interact We are very excited to announce the new private Deconversion Anonymous Facebook Group. The group will be administered by Arline from episode 71. Please join us in building a community of graceful human beings. Deconversion Anonymous Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Full show notes with quotes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/10/10/ginna-deconversion-anonymous/?gaid=gap92Magic Feathers and Sugar Pills
https://gracefulatheist.com/2018/03/21/magic-feathers-and-suger-pills/?gaid=gap92Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap92Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap92 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is Monique. Monique grew up a cultural Christian until the family of her boyfriend “made it known they were Southern Baptists.” She married that boyfriend and had kids. He became abusive. First psychologically, then spiritually and eventually physically. He gas lit her, told her she was not worthy and that she was not following god, and called her purity culture epithets we won't recount here. After years of isolation and spiritual abuse, Monique left after executing a cloak and dagger level plan to serve divorce papers and a restraining order simultaneously. Eventually, her kids were taken from her as he had lawyers and she did not. She was estranged from them for years. Monique went through a deconstruction and deconversion that began to give her some peace. Her youngest son reached out to her to tell her he is gay. She opened up her arms and showed grace, love and respect. She and her daughter attempted to reunite but this was ruined when the daughter took offence to a passing joke about prayer. Today, Monique is free and loving learning true things. Her and her new husband (who happens to be a believer) have respect and love for each other. Monique is telling her story to give hope to others so they may know they are not alone. Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/10/03/monique-deconversion-anonymous/?gaid=gap91 Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap91Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap91 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guests this week are Lars, Christie, Teddy, Amy and Eleanor, a whole family who deconverted around the same time. Lars felt a sense of duty to be a Christian all his life because he believed it was true. Christie felt there was “good evidence” for parts of the Bible and accepted that the rest was true. This worked until both of them came to the conclusion there was not enough evidence to believe. During the pandemic with Church on screen rather than in person, both Lars and Christie began to feel the freedom from Church. They eventually admitted to each other that they no longer believed. A few months later they asked the kids, “do you notice anything we are not doing any longer?” To which they responded, “church.” None of them seemed to miss it too much other than friends and the snacks! Lars and Christie also share about Lars’ demi-sexuality and the difficult early conversations around sex when they were first getting married. This highlights the destructive aspects of purity culture on everyone. Today the whole family is feeling free, intellectually honest and relieved after admitting to themselves they no longer believe and stopped going to church. Links Answers To Answers In Genesis FB group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/answers2aig/ William Lane Craig admitting it is the witness of the holy spirit not evidence

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VWEFY4JuGk
• http://www.reasonablefaith.org/videos/other-videos/what-is-the-inner-witness-of-the-holy-spirit
• https://youtu.be/wRm3PFFg97I?t=128
• https://youtu.be/cYq-xNpokEs?t=37

Interact Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap90Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap90 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week is a solo episode with David talking about the state of the podcast.

Interact

For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/10/08/graceful-atheist-solo-october-2023/

Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion

Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch!
https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast

Support the podcast on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist

Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/

Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/

Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/

Attribution

"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My returning guest this week is Jimmy. Jimmy and I review Julia Galef’s book Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don’t. We explore the book from two lenses: Deconversion and Secular Grace. Jimmy brings an intense focus on humility, self-honesty and truth seeking to the conversation. The perfect complement to Julia’s book. Julia GalefThe best description of motivated reasoning I’ve ever seen comes from psychologist Tom Gilovich. When we want something to be true, he said, we ask ourselves, “Can I believe this?,” searching for an excuse to accept it. When we don’t want something to be true, we instead ask ourselves, “Must I believe this?,” searching for an excuse to reject it.
...
In contrast to directionally motivated reasoning, which evaluates ideas through the lenses of “Can I believe it?” and “Must I believe it?,” accuracy motivated reasoning evaluates ideas through the lens of “Is it true?” Links Jimmy’s first appearance on the podcast
https://gracefulatheist.com/2020/09/20/jimmy-deconversion-anonymous/ Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don’t
https://amzn.to/3nFCKd9 Soldiers and Scouts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfRC8ZgBXZw Why Buddhism is True
https://amzn.to/3nGnXyM Humanist Ten Commitments
https://americanhumanistcenterforeducation.org/ten-commitments

Daryl Davis, who attends KKK rallies and has helped many leave:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daryl_Davis Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/09/19/book-review-scout-mindset-with-jimmy/ Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is Sara. Sara is “a musician from a home of musicians.” She grew up in an Assemblies of God church in a “vibrantly faithful home.” She spent her teen years in a “cool” Southern Baptist Church. She then spent some time in Acts 29 churches and Reformed theology. To round things out she attended a Presbyterian (PCA) church. Sara started having doubts in college, but she was able to ignore them for some time. They eventually wore her down. Parenthood was the last straw. She realized she loved her son more than God loved anyone. God’s “hiddenness” was neglect that any parent could recognize. Sara had been a worship leader. This usefulness kept her in the church longer than she would have otherwise. It also contributed to her deconversion as she saw what church was like “back stage.” Now Sara writes on her blog, Former Protagonist, about her deconversion experience. She is also exploring Humanism and loving her family. Links Former Protagonist Blog
https://formerprotagonist.blogspot.com/ Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/09/12/sara-deconversion-anonymous/?gaid=gap88 Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap88Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap88 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is Joel. Joel grew up in the WELS Lutheran church. He met his wife at a Christian group during college. They attended a few churches, one of which was Mars Hill, Mark Driscoll’s church. Joel began to question what he had been taught. He began noticing discrepancies in scripture. He began to see the way the Church handled LGBTQ rights and the role of women was wrong. He was able to reconnect with his sister as they grieved the loss of his grandfather. He discovered that she had deconstructed as well. He began to see atheism as not just reductionist and evil but as a viable option. Today he is making his unequally yoked relationship work with mutual respect and love. And he is experiencing “absolute joy that the shackles are off.” Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/08/29/joel-deconversion-anonymous/ Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap87Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap87 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is Stephanie, the host of the StephUp Podcast where she “delve[s] into different topics to learn more about the world and more about ourselves.” Stephanie had me on her podcast to delve into atheism. In this episode, Stephanie describes her journey of deconstruction of Christianity, politics and conservative culture. She is focused on caring for people and shedding racism, sexism and abusive behavior within and without the Church. Stephanie lives up to the honesty contest while describing: the burden of a “relationship with God,” purity culture and being single in the Church, and her disappointments with Church leadership. Ultimately, I believe Stephanie is an important voice of change within the Church. Links StephUp Podcast
https://stephuppodcast.com/ What should Dragon Do
https://www.stephanieannwebb.com/ Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/stephup_podcast/ Twitter
https://twitter.com/steph_ann_webb My interview on the StephUp podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-talk-about-atheism-with-the-graceful-atheist/id1527866039?i=1000530710497 Interact Jon Steingard interview
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/01/03/jon-steingard-the-wonder-and-the-mystery-of-being/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is Eli Fuhrmler-Wheeler. Eli grew up going to Awanas at an Evangelical Free church. Eventually, he attended an Assemblies of God church and spoke in tongues. His parents forbade him from going to that church and “of course I felt they were keeping me from the gates of heaven and pulling me into hell.” Eli’s childhood was traumatic in many ways. He experienced sexual abuse, neglect, his mom was very sick her whole life, her boyfriends were abusive, his father had an antisocial personality disorder, and he lived on and off in foster homes. Eli sought the comfort of drugs and alcohol. He discovered he was a lesbian. He was told he was going to hell by his family. As an adult, he began a relationship with his now-wife. At 30 he realized he was a man and began transition. Eli has faced rejection by family and some friends. However, his gracefulness through it all has won some of them over. Eli deconstructed from Christianity through the years. He has explored various world religions including Norse Heathenry and various mystic traditions. Transition and therapy have given Eli the wholeness he deserves. Eli and his wife show unconditional love for one another. This is the relationship that Eli has experienced grace for himself. Links Secular Therapy
https://www.seculartherapy.org/ Religious Trauma Institute
https://www.religioustraumainstitute.com/ Interact Thank you for nominating the podcast for the People’s Choice award in the Religion and Spirituality category
https://www.podcastawards.com/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap85Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap85 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is Jason, the son of a pastor. He grew up in the independent Christian Churches, an offshoot of the Church of Christ that allows music. He grew up doing “sword drills” and was a devout teenage believer. He participated in Bible memorization contests. He became a musician and participated in worship bands for years. In Jason’s young adulthood he began to question his own interpretation of the Bible. Why was bad language bad? Why the limited role of women in the church? How could a loving god send people to Hell? Eventually, the disparity between the idea of a loving god and the reality of the world and the suffering of innocent children led to his deconversion. Jason’s wife is still a believer though they both deconstructed from Evangelicalism and started participating in an Episcopal church. They are making an “unequally yoked” relationship work based on love, equality and mutual respect. Links Captain Cassidy interview
https://gracefulatheist.com/2019/10/17/captain-cassidy-roll-to-disbelieve/?gaid=gap84 Roll To Disbelieve
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/rolltodisbelieve/ Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/08/08/jason-deconversion-anonymous/?gaid=gap84 Deconversion Anonymous
https://gracefulatheist.com/category/podcast/deconversion-anonymous/?gaid=gap84Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap84Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap84 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is Geoffrey Wallis, author of A Voice From Inside: Notes on Religious Trauma in a Captive Organization. Geoffrey is Physically In but Mentally Out (PIMO) of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. After recognizing the religious trauma and the cognitive dissonance he was experiencing he found help through therapy. He remains within the Watchtower organization because it is a “captive organization” which enforces shunning by family members and friends. Geoffrey’s book, A Voice From Inside: Notes on Religious Trauma in a Captive Organization, is an evenhanded look at life inside a High Demand Religious Group. Geoffrey shows Secular Grace in his documenting his personal experience. It is incredibly well written and interesting to read. Links A Voice From Inside: Notes on Religious Trauma in a Captive Organization
https://amzn.to/3BRvmjv Website
https://www.wallisbooks.com/ Interact Nominate and Vote for the Graceful Atheist Podcast on the Podcast Awards
https://www.podcastawards.com/app/nominationsDeconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap83Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap83 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is David. David is the son and grandson of pastors. He does has have good memories of growing up in the church and he credits his parents with restraint. As an adult, he became more fundamentalist. He was a Southern Baptist and went through a very strong Calvinist phase. David taught apologetics classes. He delved into apologetics to qualm his own questions. But teaching apologetics on topics like the Trinity led to more doubt not less. It was a re-read through the Bible where he began to recognize the god of the Bible is not a loving one. The full implications of Reformed theology began to have horrifying implications. Ultimately, David deconverted and now calls himself agnostic. Today David is the co-host of the That’s Questionable podcast Links Website
http://thatsquestionable.net/ Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/thatsquestionablepodcast/ Twitter
https://twitter.com/thatsquestiona1 Interact Nominate and Vote for the Graceful Atheist Podcast on the Podcast Awards
https://www.podcastawards.com/app/nominations Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/07/25/david-thats-questionable/?gaid=gap82 Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap82Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap82 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is Daniel Kelly, the new co-host of When Belief Dies. Daniel began as a Charismatic Christian, moved to an Orthodox Christian church, and eventually was at a Bible church that preached through every verse in the bible. Daniel was a dedicated Christian working in a Christian non-profit helping those with disabilities. His mother had MS when he grew up so he was focused on helping his family through difficult times and did not always get to be a kid. Daniel’s feminism and belief in the humanity of the LGBTQ community led to moral objections to some of the harder Biblical passages that do not uphold the humanity and full autonomy of everyone. His serious investigations into theology and the Bible were some of the early seeds that led to deconversion. The grief Daniel experienced leaving the faith and the loss were profound. He lost his faith, his community, the health of his relationship and on top of that the pandemic hit. He was isolated and alone. He experienced “Hell Anxiety” and worried he was a “vessel of wrath.” The first year after deconversion was one of the most difficult of his life. He made it through and today he is the co-host of the When Belief Dies podcast. He is building healthy relationships and restoring family relations. He is experiencing the freedom to love people unconditionally. Links When Belief Dies Podcast
https://whenbeliefdies.com/ Recovering From Religion
https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ Secular Therapy
https://www.seculartherapy.org/ Interact Sam and Daniel interview me
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/05/23/sam-and-daniel-interview-david-ames-the-graceful-atheist/?gaid=gap81 Daniel and I interview Sam
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/when-belief-dies-bonus-inquisition-daniel-kelly-david/id1516058806?i=1000522850337 Tris Mamone’s Finding Faith in Secular Grace
https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/finding-faith-in-secular-graceDeconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap81Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap81 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is Thomas. Thomas is a Missionary Kid. He was very close to his mother who passed away in her 40s when he was in middle school. Thomas went through real depression for years after losing his mother and losing his faith. We discuss the hardships of grieving a loved one without comforting beliefs. He went through bouts of self-medication including being immersed in the massively multiplayer online game, World of Warcraft. Thomas went on to become a professional scientist. The meditative nature of running was helpful. He also discovered actual meditation gave him peace. A rich and varied diet of podcasts also helped him along the way. He says he now experiences real joy that was only promised to him as a Christian. Interact Nominate and Vote for the Graceful Atheist Podcast on the Podcast Awards
https://www.podcastawards.com/app/nominations Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/07/11/thomas-deconversion-anonymous/?gaid=gap80 Deconversion Anonymous
https://gracefulatheist.com/category/podcast/deconversion-anonymous/?gaid=gap80 Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap80Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap80 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s guest is Mandi. Mandi grew up in a mixed Jewish and Christian home, attending a Messianic temple. She loved every minute of it as a kid and cherishes her memories.

In high school and as a young adult, though, she began to ask questions, and as we’ve seen in religion time and time again, her questions were dismissed.

After incredible and full years of life—moving to Israel, returning to Georgia, joining an Orthodox Jewish community, getting married, and having children—she identifies as an agnostic atheist.

“It’s been so good for my mental health, to not believe, to stop praying.”

Interact

For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/10/01/mandi-deconversion-from-messianic-judaism/

Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion

Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch!
https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast

Support the podcast on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist

Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/

Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/

Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/

Attribution

"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is Brette. Brette was so serious about her Christianity in junior high her goal was martyrdom. In her young adulthood, she followed her pastor’s advice and attended Master’s Commission, similar to a discipleship training program. Her experience there was nothing short of psychological torture. Her faith began breaking down as did her physical and psychological health at Master’s Commission. It included deliverance sessions and enumerating her demons. It wasn’t until she saw her younger brother being treated poorly that she began to question. She and her brother left: “leaving was the BEST feeling!” After a brief stint in “spiritual but not religious” land, she finally admitted she no longer believed in god. She let go of “trying to make it be true.” Brette has since discovered naturalistic and psychological explanations of her experiences that have given her more closure and comfort. Interact Sam (When Belief Dies) GoFundMe for a laptop
https://gofund.me/9bed67a7 Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap72Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap72Deconversion Anonymous
https://gracefulatheist.com/category/podcast/deconversion-anonymous/?gaid=gap72 Attribution Picture by Brette’s daughter A. "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is Arline. Arline became a Christian in early adulthood. She went to a Christian college where she met her now-husband. Her faith tradition was a severe version of Calvinism. She taught complementarianism. The roles allowed for women and complementarianism were not a good fit for Arline’s inquisitive personality. Her husband went through an emotional deconversion first. Arline did not take this as well as she would now like. Alongside this was the long slow deterioration of her mother’s health. She slowly began to deconstruct. First by exploring other versions of Christianity. Eventually exploring other faith traditions including meditation from a Buddhist perspective. In short. she was letting her curiosity and intelligence explore all the areas of interest that were previously prohibited. In the end, for her own personal intellectual integrity, she admitted to herself she no longer believed. She has since discovered natural human habits that have helped her far more than her faith ever had. Interact Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap71Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap71 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

Janice Selbie on the Conference on Religious Trauma (CORT) The Conference on Religious Trauma
(#CORT) online
May 11 to 16, 2021
Links Conference on Religious Trauma
https://pheedloop.com/CORT/site/home/ Twitter
https://twitter.com/cometocort Face Book
https://www.facebook.com/ConferenceOnReligiousTrauma Godless Moms Podcast
https://www.godlessmom.com/podcast Friends of the podcast presenting at CORT

• Janice Selbie
  https://gracefulatheist.com/2019/11/27/janice-selbie-divorcing-religion/?gaid=cort2021
  
• Alice Greczyn
  https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/01/31/alice-greczyn-wayward/?gaid=cort2021
  
• Dave Warnock
  https://gracefulatheist.com/2019/08/08/dave-warnock-dying-out-loud/?gaid=cort2021
  
• Clint Heacock
  https://gracefulatheist.com/2020/04/30/dr-clint-heacock-reconstruction-after-deconstruction/?gaid=cort2021
  

Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/04/29/?gaid=cort2021 Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=cort2021Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=cort2021 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is Michael Marvosh. Michael is the podcast host of Dead Man’s Forest and is working on his book Reality Knows the Truth: The Art and Artifice of Being Human. Michael and I discuss what it means to be human and the human experience of spirituality. Michael tells us his deconversion story that he no longer sees as deconversion. He describes his rediscovery of a rational spirituality. Michael and I hit a broad range of conversation topics including having conversations that matter, models vs reality, A.I., Death Cafes, vision quests, blind spots and podcasting. It was truly a conversation that mattered. Links Contact Michael
mm@michaelmarvosh.com Website
https://www.michaelmarvosh.com/projectsDead Man’s Forest
https://www.deadmansforest.org/ Reality Knows the Truth: The Art and Artifice of Being Human
About Rational Spirituality–a way of looking at the world with a balance between ancient wisdom and modern reason.
https://michael.ck.page/d36a3d2338 Death Cafe
https://deathcafe.com/ Interact Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap70Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap70 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is Sarah. Sarah says she may have one of the “longest deconstruction stories. She grew up in a fundamentalist Baptist church in an area where there were not that many Baptist churches. So she felt different from an early age. She was constantly attempting to live in the “will of God” but struggled to determine what that was. She knew from an early age that she was a doubter which equates to “backslider.” Sarah was never comfortable with the limited roles allowed for women in the Church. Fortunately, her mother encouraged her to do and become whatever she wanted. Sarah was smart and interested in science. Studying science and biology did not fit the Young Earth Creationism she was taught at church. Sarah and her husband were the one couple who were egalitarian while the young married couples group were all complementarian. Sarah was vocal about her thoughts on complemntarianism. Sarah spent a long time outside the United States. When she returned to the United States she was shocked by the Christian Nationalism she heard from the pulpit. Rachael Held Evens, Mike McHargue and David Hayward helped Sarah through her deconstruction. Today post-deconstruction she is interested in finding her “deconstructing friends” in real life. Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/04/18/sarah-deconstruction-anonymous/?gaid=gap69 Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap69Deconversion Anonymous
https://gracefulatheist.com/category/podcast/deconversion-anonymous/?gaid=gap69Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap69 Promotions Conference on Religious Trauma
https://pheedloop.com/CORT/site/home/ #ReligionShouldntHurt
https://www.instagram.com/religion.shouldnt.hurt/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is Carly. Carly shares her story with a great deal of vulnerability and emotion. Carly was a Christian Scientist. While studying philosophy and the Bible Carly was introduced to Christian Science. She was impressed with its logical arguments and internal consistency. Carly was more evangelistic than the church she attended. She wanted to use the Christian Science reading room during SXSW as an outreach. She was shot down. When she pointed out that prohibited alcohol would be consumed by renting the space out she was shot down again. The juxtaposition of what Christian Science promised and the reality of life led her to doubt. Carly eventually found what she was looking for in more secular matters like work, exercise and therapy. Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/04/11/carly-christian-science-deconversion/?gaid=gap68 Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap68Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap68Deconversion Anonymous
https://gracefulatheist.com/category/podcast/deconversion-anonymous/?gaid=gap68 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s show is a Deconversion not so Anonymous episode. My guest this week is Rachael Parsons Svendsen. Rachael is a Licensed Marriage and Family Counselor at RCPS Therapy. Rachael became a Christian at three years old. She went to Biola University and studied philosophy. Later in life, she experienced the effects of Religious Trauma: just setting foot in a Church she would break down in tears. Honesty is an important value for Rachael and part of what led her to deconversion. She talks about the difficulty of relationships with believers in her life while attempting to maintain honesty. Rachael and I investigate the experience of cognitive dissonance and religious trauma. We discuss the importance of the Easter story to Western thought, what is like to parent post-deconversion and the loss of the (false) sense of control after deconversion when difficult life events occur. Rachael points out that she does not have it all together post-deconversion. We agree we are all winging it. Links RCPS Therapy
https://rcpstherapy.com/ Small Words Big Stories
https://www.instagram.com/smallwords_bigstories/ Interact Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap67Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/secular-grace/?gaid=gap67Adverse Religious Experiences
https://gracefulatheist.com/category/adverse-religious-experiences/?gaid=gap67 Promos Religion Shouldn’t Hurt
https://www.instagram.com/religion.shouldnt.hurt/Conference on Religious Trauma
https://pheedloop.com/CORT/site/home/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is G.A.P. editor, Mike T. Mike grew up in the South and went to a Catholic church. Everyone in the South went to one church or another and this was just in the background for Mike. After a charismatic Evangelical friend encouraged him he began to explore charismatic churches. The big draw was the opportunity to play music, his life-long passion. Later in life, married with kids, he had normal financial stresses in his life. When he compared the reality of both his life and the life of those around him to the promises of his more material success-oriented faith tradition he could not help but question. When a financial advisor suggested he hold off on his charitable giving, the mandated tithe, he expected consequences. Those consequences never occurred. Things were not adding up. His first mistake was doing research on evangelists that would come to town. These fantastical claims must have generated news stories somewhere, right? His second mistake was re-reading the bible (and Bart Ehrman). Eventually, he discovered science and a new way of determining what is true. His faith fell apart. Mike is the editor of the Graceful Atheist Podcast. Beyond editing, Mike wants to start a local community for those who are going through doubt, deconstruction and deconversion. Music continues to be the great passion of his life. Links Clergy Project
https://clergyproject.org/ Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/03/28/mike-t-deconversion-anonymous/?gaid=gap66 Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap66Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap66Deconversion Anonymous episodes
https://gracefulatheist.com/category/podcast/deconversion-anonymous/?gaid=gap66 Attribution "Dawg Biscuits on the Moon" and "Restless Regions"
John Monson and the Galaxy Brothers "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is Ian Redfearn. Ian deconverted over 12 years ago. Since then he has continued to obsess over his deconversion. He is still asking the why? and how? questions. Ian is concerned with the deep questions of life and continuing to find ways to make meaning. Ian has experienced the full force of the chaotic world we live in. His 24-year-old son has Cystic Fibrosis which is particularly frightening during an airborne pandemic. His father is experiencing Alzheimer’s Disease. All of this is happening during the time of Covid 19. In spite of the difficulties of life, Ian has a joy and a sense of purpose. He is a committed father, husband, son, and community member. He takes time to wonder at the beauty in the world. He recognizes that relationships are what give us our most valued meaning in life. He is now attending the Manchester Sunday Assembly and becoming an active member of the Secular community. Links Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ian.redfearn1/ Sunday Assembly Manchester
https://www.facebook.com/sunassemblymcr
Zoom 11 am (GMT) Sunday mornings  https://zoom.us/j/2472709402 What is your favorite #DeconversionSong? Music is important to Ian and it influenced his deconversion and how he talks and feels about it now. See the full show notes link below to find Ian's deconversion-related musical recommendations including Spotify and YouTube links. Use the hashtag #DeconversionSong to tell us your favorite deconversion song. Interact Full Show Notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/03/21/?gaid=gap65ian-redfearn-meaning-making/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap65Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap65 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is Leah Helbling. Leah is the host of the Women Beyond Faith podcast and an incredibly important voice in the secular community. Leah has a long history of secular community building. Post-deconversion she started a chapter of Women Beyond Belief. She now is a team leader of Bart Campolo‘s Cincinnati Caravan. “Leah is often referred to as ‘The Great Connector‘” Leah and I discuss the gift of being present when someone tells their deconversion story. Leah shares her deconversion story which includes overcoming the purity culture and complementarianism of Evangelicalism. It also includes the unwelcoming atmosphere in the secular community for women and what she is doing about it. We talk about podcasting and what motivates us to do the work. Finally, we talk about building secular community. Links Women Beyond Faith
https://womenbeyondfaith.buzzsprout.com/ Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/womenbeyondfaith Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/womenbeyondfaith/ Cincinnati Caravan
https://www.cincinnaticaravan.org/ Recovering From Religion
https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ Search for secular community on meetup.com
https://www.meetup.com/ Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/03/14/leah-helbling-women-beyond-faith/?gaid=gap64Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap64Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap64 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s guest is Jordon. Jordon comes from a long family line of Mennonites but Jordon was bookish and musical and never quite fit in.

He grew up in the church, but with two older brothers already having left the church, by 21 he was also out. He’d never had a television, gone to public school, or really knew anything beyond the small bubble he was in. University changed all of that.

“The sense of community I was getting from the friendships I was making outside of these church communities…was really kind of gratifying.”

Over years of therapy and some world-traveling, Jordon has come to terms with his upbringing. He’s found fulfillment as a professor, discussing philosophy with students and continuing to learn and grow.

Interact

For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/09/24/jordon-mennonite-to-philosopher/

Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion

Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch!
https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast

Support the podcast on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist

Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/

Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/

Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/

Attribution
"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is Anna Hummel. Anna became a Christian at 16 after growing up in a nominal culturally German Christian home. She was attracted to the community, the love of the people and the sense of belonging. Before long she found herself at a Youth With A Mission Discipleship Training School where things were a bit more intense. At DTS Anna began to have Adverse Religious Experiences. The cumulative stress and lack of privacy began to wear on her. She had trauma around the fear of Hell both for her loved ones and for herself. It was not until she got home and experienced the Secular Grace of her non-Christian friends, that she recognized the harm she was experiencing and the loss of her normally care-free attitude. Today Anna has compassion, understanding and Secular Grace for those who succumb to the peer pressure of conformity to the group. She wants people to experience the freedom from religious trauma that she now thrives in. Links Secular Therapy Project
https://www.seculartherapy.org/ Religious Trauma Institute
https://www.religioustraumainstitute.com/ Interact Deconversion How To
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap63Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/secular-grace/?gaid=gap63You are not broken, you are human
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/12/06/you-are-not-broken-you-are-human/?gaid=gap63 Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/03/07/anna-hummel-ywam-dts-deconversion/?gaid=gap63 Attribution "You Are Not Alone" image
Anna Hummel "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is Brian Blais, professor at Bryant University and IBNS, Brown University. He is the author of A Measure of Faith – Probability in Religious Thought and Statistical Inference For Everyone. Brian is an expert in Bayes’ Theorem and how it applies to philosophy, theology, and apologetics. In this episode, I take the restraints off myself and express the reasons why I think apologetics is faulty. Brian is the perfect guest for this. We bounce ideas off one another to articulate good epistemology. We discuss how mathematics and Bayes can be abused by injecting unstated information which changes the probabilities and ultimately the conclusions one comes to. We also discuss how beliefs have consequences. The current rash of conspiracy theories has had real-world effects. Brian explains how decision theory can be used to make difficult choices. Links Brian’s website
https://bblais.github.io/ Twitter
https://twitter.com/bblais Statistical Inference For Everyone (Free Version)
https://bblais.github.io/posts/2019/Jan/14/stats-for-everyone/
Amazon Version
https://amzn.to/2O2onzQA Measure of Faith: Probability in Religious Thought
https://amzn.to/37QzEKt Bayes’ Theorem
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayes%27_theorem The Monty Hall Problem
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem Interact Full Show Notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/02/28/brian-blais-bayes-vs-apologetics/?gaid=gap62 Deconversion How To
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Critique of Apologetics
https://gracefulatheist.com/critique-of-apologetics/Apologetics Epistemology and Moving On
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/10/02/apologetics-epistemology-and-moving-on/ Previous episodes referred to in this episode
https://gracefulatheist.com/2020/10/04/randal-rauser-conversation-with-my-inner-atheist/
https://gracefulatheist.com/2020/11/01/ian-mills-new-testament-review/
https://gracefulatheist.com/2020/11/15/barrett-evans-the-contemplative-skeptic/ Attribution Transition Music and Dawg Biscuits on the moon
John Monson and the Brothers Galaxy "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/<

CG grew up in strict religious home in Nigeria, where everything was banned except
Christian media. His family was heavily influenced by the Pentecostal Word-Of-
Faith/Prosperity movement. CG attended a tyrannical, authoritarian, and punitive college in Nigeria. CG, later on, moved to London, UK. In London, he saw that the world was bigger than
the Christian bubble that he had been raised in his whole life. He attended a popular
charismatic church where he met people from different cultures, beliefs, and denominations.
However, some of his friends challenged his Word-Of-Faith/Prosperity beliefs. He started
theological beliefs started changing as a result. CG, subsequently, moved to the USA to get a graduate degree at a Christian college. He
lived in the American south where, as an immigrant, he felt isolated and disconnected from the
Christian culture around him. This drove him to a personal intellectual journey, where he spent
hours reading books, listening to podcasts, and watching videos. After graduating with his master’s degree, CG came to the point where he could not
ignore the damage that Christianity was inflicting on his mental health and personal
development. He realised that he had to choose between completely losing his sanity &
freedom by remaining a slave to religion or abandoning his beliefs and accepting his
freedom/autonomy. A few days later, he became an Agnostic, and, subsequently, an Atheist. CG has been on the path of freedom, healing, and recovery ever since. He is
deconstructing sexual shame, self-hatred, misogyny, white supremacy, colonization, and
western imperialism (and other forms of injustice). He also seeks to heal the havoc that religion
has inflicted in Nigeria (and other African countries) through evangelism, cultural imperialism,
and colonization. Religion, significantly, contributes to the apathy and passivity of Nigerians,
which prevents them from fighting for their freedom and justice. CG is very passionate about humanism. He believes humanism is what our generation
needs to help make the world (especially Africa) a better place. He is an existential humanist, a
cosmopolitan humanist, and a planetary humanist. He believes that humanists need to have
freedom (autonomy), humility, compassion, hope, love for learning, curiosity, and open-
mindedness. Links African Polymath Blog
https://africanpolymath.wordpress.com/ Twitter
https://twitter.com/AfricanPolymath Reading list and resources
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/193EJcKRNIxAftLb6daW9f_blMaJ2QwrQ?usp=sharing Email
AfricanPolymath@gmail.com Interact Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/deconversion/?gaid=gap61Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/secular-grace/?gaid=gap61Graceful Atheist Podcast
https://gracefulatheist.com/podcast/?gaid=gap61 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

My guest this week is Troy Moore-Heart. Troy grew up in an Evangelical family in Texas and described his childhood self as a “true-believing born-again Christian” who was baptized by his father at 6 in his grandmother’s church. Troy experienced religious trauma, the natural childhood fears given the purported reality of a spiritual realm all around him. Later in life, when he acknowledged his sexuality he “fervently believed [he] was going to hell.” When he eventually came out to his family he needed to put up healthy boundaries. Troy started to call himself an agnostic and not an atheist for fear of losing his relationship with his family. After marrying as an adult, he came to terms with his religious trauma and anti-queer shame. He discovered secular humanism as “an ideological and moral home.” Today, troy calls himself a progressive humanist, and he is focused on transformative justice. He is becoming a humanist celebrant. He supports projects like the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Y’all Means All and the Trevor Project. Troy also supports the thriving secular therapy community that is growing around trauma-informed therapy, including the Religious Trauma Institute and the Reclamation Collective. Troy requests that you consider signing the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Y’all Means All” pledge. “It’s become a galvanizing slogan to promote LGBTQ inclusion and advocacy in rural Southern communities.” Links Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/troy.moore.heart/Y’all Means All
http://www.yallmeansall.comThe Trevor Project
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/Religious Trauma Institute
https://www.religioustraumainstitute.com/Reclamation Collective
https://www.reclamationcollective.com/American Humanist Association
https://americanhumanist.org/ Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/02/14/troy-moore-heart-yall-means-all/Deconversion How To
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

My guest this week is Meir-Simchah. Meir-Simchah Panzer lives in Jerusalem with his wife and their four children. He co-hosts the podcasts Two Christians And A Jew, with Frank M. Taylor and Dr. Jennifer Brown Jones, where the team dives into how Christians and Jews read the Hebrew Scriptures differently and what difference it makes for our lives, and the Artifact Podcast with Nachliel Selavan where ordinary objects become portals into the history, ideas, and existential mystery behind them. Formerly, he co-hosted Holy Madness – The Show, with Tzvi Zucker. Meir-Simchah is a student of Rabbi Matis Weinberg. He is a co-founder and executive at Ohalecha Arts and Events Center; he writes essays, poems, and stories; and he teaches the Hebrew language and Hebrew Scriptures for individuals and groups. Meir and I discuss his work on Two Christians and Jew, how he interacts with the Christians, what he actually thinks about Jesus and the NT, and the influence of secular Judaism on secular humanism. Links Two Christians and a Jew
http://twochristiansandajew.com/ Twitter
https://twitter.com/MeirSimchah Facebook Two Christians and a Jew discussion group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/215152216739045Artifact page
https://www.facebook.com/ArtifactPodcastArtifact discussion group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/397213411493038 Email meirsimchah@gmail.com. Interact Full show notes and book recommendations
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/02/07/meir-simchah-on-orthodox-judaism/ Rate and Review the Graceful Atheist Podcast
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/graceful-atheist-podcast-1136736Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution “Waves” track written and produced by Makaih Beats
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

My returning guest this week is Alice Greczyn. Alice has written a new memoir called Wayward: Spiritual Warfare & Sexual Purity. In it, Alice tells the harrowing story of growing up in an Evangelical family that attempted to live by faith. They moved from place to place believing the “Lord would provide.” Alice describes it as being “homeless.” Alice came of age under the oppressive sexual and purity mores of the “Kiss Dating Goodbye” era. She tells the story of being shamed while on a mission trip to India for being “flirty.” As an adult in her 20s, in a desperate but final act of faith, Alice tests God. God fails. And Alice begins the difficult process of letting go of faith. This is a dark time of panic attacks, depression, and self-harm. With the help of secular therapy and the discovery of the term, Religious Trauma Syndrome, Alice began her recovery process. She studied the science of faith, neurotheology, and began to understand herself and those around her who still believed. In this new freedom, she rebuilt her life reclaiming her autonomy and discovering what real love feels like. On top of being an author, Alice is an advocate for those questioning their faith. Her organization, Dare to Doubt, is a resource for those who are no longer satisfied with their faith tradition’s explanations and demands. Links Wayward: Spiritual Warfare & Sexual Purity Limited supply of signed copies
https://www.alicegreczyn.com/wayward-limited-signed-copy Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1632993546/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1632993546&linkCode=as2&tag=gracefula-20&linkId=cce5b264f1fe651344a691f03654a7f5 Dare To Doubt
https://www.daretodoubt.org/ Interact Alice’s first appearance on the Graceful Atheist Podcast
https://gracefulatheist.com/2019/07/25/alice-greczyn-dare-to-doubt/ Full Show Notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/01/31/alice-greczyn-wayward/ Rate and Review
https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/graceful-atheist-podcast-1136736 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

My guest this week is Logan Thomas who blogs at Beyond Belief. Logan interned at St. Andrews, a famous church in the UK. He went on to Bible college and eventually perused a Master’s degree in theology where he studied biblical studies, biblical languages, history and textual criticism where he began to question. After discovering his sexuality, Logan came out during his internship at St. Andrews. He discusses coming out twice. He started with a more progressive view on homosexuality. But between the Church’s stances and the biblical texts, he realized these things could not be reconciled. We discuss the differences between UK and US churches handling of the LGBTQ community. Logan cares about the truth. As he was deconstructing what he believed about the bible based on what he was being taught at Bible college he came to a point where he could no longer believe. Logan tells his story with a great deal of honesty and self-reflection on his former faith. Now Logan has a social media presence where he blogs and creates videos asking questions about faith and doubt. Links Beyond Belief Blog
https://www.beyondbelief-blog.com/ Twitter
https://twitter.com/itsbeyondbelief Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/its_beyondbelief/ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw-jiLmRFSpxKuSldp7bzEQ/ Interact Full Show Notes
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2021/01/24/logan-beyond-belief/ Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/A Humanist Podcast
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/podcast/ Rate and Review the Graceful Atheist Podcast
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/graceful-atheist-podcast-1136736 Attribution
"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

My guest this week is Erin. Erin is working toward her chaplaincy and her Master's degree in Practical Theology. She describes herself as “religious, but not spiritual.” Erin grew up in Northern Ireland. She was raised to respect all people. But when she was accepted by an Evangelical Presbyterian church she became in her words “the worst kind of fundamentalist.” This included deriding Catholics. At University she excelled and found herself attracted to more liberal theologies. She says she went from Evangelical to an Open Theist to a functional atheist (agnostic). Erin also happens to be on the Autism spectrum. This had an impact on her inability to accept things on faith. She needed logical consistency. But Erin still finds value in the Christian tradition. She plans to do good in the world as a chaplain. Links and recommendations Doubts and Loves by Richard Holloway
https://www.amazon.com/Doubts-Loves-What-Christianity-Canons/dp/1786893924/ Autism Faith Network
https://autismfaithnetwork.com Autism Pastor
https://autismpastor.com/ Interact Full Show Notes https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2021/01/17/erin-religious-but-not-spiritual/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Humanist Podcast
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/podcast/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Rate and Review the Graceful Atheist Podcast
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/graceful-atheist-podcast-1136736
Make audio snippet quotes of the podcast
Vurbl: https://vurbl.com/station/4hdO0KfiVRV/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is James. James is a former missionary to Haiti who was a part of the Pentecostal and Charismatic traditions. James took his Christianity very seriously and was sensitive to God speaking in his life. Through a series of realizations and life difficulties, James began to doubt what he had been taught about God matched reality. Later, exploring psychology he realized the cognitive biases and connotative dissonance he had lived under. James describes himself as more “emotional.” His story is an important one representing the way Christianity can play on emotions and “works” until real tragedy strikes. Special thanks to Mike T. for editing this episode. Links ExChristian Recovery
https://www.reddit.com/r/exchristianrecovery/ Secular Therapy Project
https://www.seculartherapy.org/ Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2021/01/10/james-deconversion-anonymous/ Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Rate and Review the Graceful Atheist Podcast
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/graceful-atheist-podcast-1136736
Make audio snippet quotes of the podcast
Vurbl: https://vurbl.com/station/4hdO0KfiVRV/A secular humanist podcast: Graceful Atheist Podcast
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/podcast/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

My guest this week is Jon Steingard, the lead singer and guitarist for Hawk Nelson. In late spring of 2020, Jon posted a gut-wrenching confession on Instagram that he no longer believed in God. He is one of the more prominent recent high profile deconverts. Jon risked more than most by publicly acknowledging his lack of faith as his career was tied to the Christian music world. This confession and the public discussion of his loss of faith has and will continue to have reverberations throughout the Christian community for some time. Jon has made himself widely available to honestly and vulnerably tell his story both to the Christian community and to the atheist humanist communities. It is Jon’s honest seeking after truth and his willingness to respectfully engage apologists and other prominent Christians that are having such a large impact. He has become a safe person for others in the Christian world to discuss their doubts. In my conversation with Jon, he describes a major turning point in his life when he saw poverty, starvation, and abandonment of the Batwa children and community in Uganda. This began a quite reasonable time of questioning: if God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and good, why are the Batwa suffering? In January of 2021, Jon started a podcast and YouTube channel called The Wonder and Mystery of Being. Links Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/jonsteingard/
Confession of his lack of belief
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAbHm10lt7w/ The Wonder and The Mystery of Being podcast
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUjFcPl10_QMxoevHL4jLXg Twitter
https://twitter.com/jonsteingard
Response to Brian Houston
https://twitter.com/jonsteingard/status/1313552919661342725 Interact Full show notes with quotes from the episode
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2021/01/03/jon-steingard-the-wonder-and-the-mystery-of-being/ Deconversion from Christianity
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Jennifer Michael Hecht’s Doubt: A History
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2019/05/16/jennifer-michael-hecht-doubt-a-history/Clergy Project
https://clergyproject.org/ Make audio snippet quotes of the podcast
Vurbl: https://vurbl.com/station/4hdO0KfiVRV/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

This week’s guest is Nora. Nora grew up in Argentina, the granddaughter of Italian immigrants, and Argentina still has her heart.

When Nora was in middle school, her father believed God wanted him to become a missionary to the US. The family’s move to California was all loss, culture shock, and homesickness for Nora.

Between church doctrine on divorce, enduring an abusive marriage, Christian Nationalism, and questions that kept coming, Nora stayed in Christianity as long as she could stand it. She truly tried to make it all work.

“I did it on my own…I can say, for sure, God was not there for me, not emotionally, not spiritually, obviously not practically.”Nora is now “allergic to spirituality.”

She’s an atheist, no longer needing any god or religion to dictate her life. She lives out secular grace, aligning her life with her deepest values.

Interact

For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/09/17/nora-mk-to-the-usa/

Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion

Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch!
https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast

Support the podcast on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist

Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/

Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/

Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/

Attribution

"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

My guest this week is my wife, Michelle. Though I have deconverted from Christianity, Michelle is very much a dedicated Christian. We still love each other and we are making it work in an “unequally yoked” relationship. We have an honest conversation about how we got to now and how we go forward in the future. Michelle does work that is social work adjacent. She is a better practicing humanist than I am. I admire her for who she is as a person. I admire her for the work she does. And, yes, I admire her for her faith. We sit down at our kitchen table for an honesty contest. You can hear the love, but you can also hear the tension and the hurt. We discuss how we met, how we have “deconstructed” over the years, when I told her I could no longer believe, and how we are making it work “unequally yoked.” In this episode, we respond to listener questions about our loving relationship when one of us believes and the other does not. Send in your questions for a potential future episode with Michelle and me. Links Unequally Yoked verse 2 Corinthians 6:14 – 15
https://www.bible.com/bible/107/2CO.6.14-15.NET Recovery From Religion has a resource page with a section entitled: Spouses/ Partners With Mixed Belief Systems (from a secular perspective) https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/religious-resources Unequally Yoked (from the Christian perspective)
https://thriveglobal.com/stories/what-does-it-mean-to-be-unequally-yoked/ Interact Chosen Family Grace
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2020/11/14/chosen-family-grace/ Michelle and I discuss her listening to the Sarah: Believing Spouse of an Atheist Deconvert episode https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2019/12/12/sarah-believing-spouse-of-an-atheist-deconvert/ Full Show Notes
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2020/12/13/michelle-a-loving-unequally-yoked-relationship/ Rate and review the podcast Podchaser
https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/graceful-atheist-podcast-1136736 Vurbl
https://vurbl.com/station/4hdO0KfiVRV/ Attribution Photo Sneha ss, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons Music"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
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This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is Colin. Colin absorbed his mother’s Evangelical Christianity. He has mostly good memories of the people in church. He bounced from his mother’s to his father’s families never quite fitting in. He hung on to his Christianity long after he recognized it no longer brought him “positive results” out of fear of losing everything: salvation, community, and identity. My first and only real religion is inclusion.
Colin’s doubts began young with a dynamic Sunday school teacher who was not allowed to preach in church and a gay uncle he was not supposed to approve of. Colin recognized that love demands inclusion. He felt it was his moral obligation to be inclusive. In his late twenties, in therapy, he experienced true acceptance. Even while he was explaining to his therapist he was still a virgin, having been a part of the purity culture of the ’90s. Colin’s story takes a dramatic turn of self-discovery. He discovers himself and discovers his voice. He then experienced more acceptance telling his story of recovering from growing up Evangelical to non-christian audiences. Colin tells his story with rawness, honesty and a great deal of humor. Interact Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/deconversion/ Colin mentions a post I wrote on apologetcis: What If I Grant That
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2016/11/26/what-if-i-grant-you-that/ Colin mentions my friend Bryce interviewing me
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2020/06/26/bryce-harrington-interviews-the-graceful-atheist/ Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2020/11/29/colin-deconversion-anonymous/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

My guest this week is Suandria Hall. Suandria is a trauma informed counselor specializing in faith transitions. Her practice, My Choice My Power, is online and she offers mental health counseling to residents in Colorado and life coaching sessions online, by phone, and email for anyone. Suandria tells her story of being groomed for ministry in a very Charismatic community with rigorous honesty. In her early adulthood she began to question and eventually deconverted. She had a positive experience with a therapist who “held space” for her shifting faith positions. She then went on to become a secular counselor to help others through the same process. We talk about the power of parents to influence children. And the damage that can occur when parents pass that responsibility on to an invisible god. Her approach to counseling is trauma informed and acknowledges Adverse Religious Experiences and religious trauma. She helps people going through the process of deconstruction and deconversion while being open to all faith positions. Links Suandria’s Counseling Site
https://www.mychoicemypower.com/ Twitter
https://twitter.com/mychoicemypower Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/mychoicemypowercounseling/ Interact Adverse Religious Experiences series
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/category/adverse-religious-experiences/Steps of Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2020/10/18/suandria-hall-my-choice-my-power/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/