Episodit
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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/ -
Puuttuva jakso?
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This week’s guest is Beth. Beth grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home that revered James Dobson, Jerry Falwell and all those who created the “Moral Majority.” Her father was a pastor whose sermons centered on the End Times and protecting their families from the “shifting culture,” (read: all the movements happening in the 60’s and 70’s).
As a teen, she lived a double life, keeping plenty of secrets from her parents. However, as a young adult, followed all the rules with the expectation that the “umbrella of God’s protection” would take care of her. It didn’t.
It took decades of trying to do what was “right” and watching the promises of the Church come to naught before she finally took the leap out of Christianity. She now identifies as SBNR—spiritual but not religious. Beth is now able to trust her own judgment and make decisions that are best for her. No “umbrella of protection” needed.
Interact
For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/12/10/beth-deconstruction-from-the-moral-majority/
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/ -
Arline interviews this week’s guest, Andrew. Andrew is a self-named atheist “paleo-nerd.” He grew up home-schooled in a fundamentalist church in southern California. His whole schooling was religious and that included Young Earth Creationism.
In high school, Andrew struggled with his shy nature and some depressive episodes. The church didn’t seem to have room for people like him. As a young adult, finally making his own decisions and living a life without fundamentalism everywhere, Andrew saw how much he could accomplish on his own. He had had the resources inside him but hadn’t known it.
Now, as an atheist, he’s figuring out what life looks like for himself. It includes a wife and kids, online friends, lots of dinosaurs, and a happiness that isn’t perfect or perpetual but is enough.
Links
Dino Dad Reviews
https://dinodadreviews.com/
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/dinodadreviews/
Interact
For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/12/03/andrew-dino-dad-reviews/
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/ -
Arline interviews this week’s guest, Racquelle. Racquelle grew up in Canada in the Seventh Day Adventist church. Conspiracy theories were common in her household. Some of them she bought into.
Throughout her life she went through periods of doubt but something kept bringing her back to Church. A sense of obligation and expectation never left her.
Eventually, Racquelle deconverted from her faith and deconstructed the conspiracy theories. She now has an interesting perspective on the deconstruction process.
Links
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/racquelle.pilon
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/racquelle_p/
Interact
For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/11/26/racquelle-deconversion-from-sda-and-conspiracy-theories/
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/ -
Arline interviews this week's guest, Andy Neal of Andy Films And Hikes fame. He is self described as a "plus size hiking influencer."
Andy tells his story of deconstruction, acceptance of his body and his joy in nature. He is an inspiration to all to get outdoors and experience nature.
Links
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/andyfilmsandhikes/
Link Tree
https://linktr.ee/AndyNeal
Interact
For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/11/19/andy-neal-andy-films-and-hikes/
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/ -
Natalie from New Zealand tells Arlene here story. She grew up Pentecostal participating in church. In her young adulthood she converted to Mormonism.
She saw that as woman her role was limited and was finding it difficult to accept the church's perspective on LGBQT issues.
Eventually Natalie deconverted. She is thankful for her kids' sake who later came out as queer. Natalie now finds time in nature and the forest life giving.
Interact
For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/11/12/natalie-pentecostal-to-mormon-to-atheist/
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/ -
Jeff grew up in his words “a very religious household.” He attended a large Southern Baptist church.
In college he fell in love with the seriousness of Calvinism after reading John Piper’s Desiring God. He left seminary early to become a minster because he felt time pressure to be “on mission” for God.
After three pastors he knew committed suicide in one year, Jeff began to deconstruct.
Today he is agnostic and finds therapy and mindfulness helpful in his life.
Links
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/Backwoodspiper
Interact
For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/11/05/jeff-deconstruction-of-a-southern-baptist-minister/
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 Megan. Megan grew up in a fundamentalist Catholic home with an irrationally religious mother and an absent father. As a teen, she was invited to an evangelical bible study after school and after some serious “love bombing” by the youth group, she was a part of a community.
“You get ‘loved bombed’ when you walk into a new church or into a new youth group, and they make you feel like you are the most welcome you will ever be and that your community is so indeed of you and your specific experience…”
Evangelical Christianity worked well for Megan for years. She had questions and concerns but nothing that made her leave for good until she knew one of her kids was possibly LGBTQ. That was when she knew she’d have to figure out the religious future of her family.
Now, she is an atheist and has never been more free. She’s living out secular grace, sealing up her boundaries, and being the whole person she ’s always needed to be.
Interact
For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/10/29/megan-catholic-to-evangelical-to-atheist/
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 Kris. Kris grew up in a home with much wounding and suffering, an irreligious home that would shape her desire for God as a young adult. She became a christian when she was 22—a “poor, broken young mom.”
For years, Christianity worked well for her. She found community, built a family, made friends. Church gave her a place to use her abilities and passions, but there was always a glass ceiling.
In 2017, she and a friend went to a “biblical archeology” seminar. For the first time, Kris was learning from professors, not pastors, and the questions started coming. It wasn’t long before Kris realized she couldn’t go to church or be in a home group. She didn’t have the language for what was happening, but now she knows it was the beginning of her deconstruction.
A strong leader with a kind and compassionate heart—and a love for Ozzy Osbourne—Kris is enjoying the life she’s found beyond religion.
Interact
David's intevew on Harmonic Atheist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMKNwVRzlJk
For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/10/22/kris-former-christian-leader-to-the-least-of-these/
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 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/ -
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 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/ -
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/ -
This week’s guest is Tracey. Tracey spent her childhood in a white American Christian home where Focus on the Family reigned and “Obey right away” was the expectation.
She was a believer as an adolescent but began asking hard questions in high school. As a young adult, she saw how prideful the leaders were and how easily Christians were pulled in.
“That’s a theme through my whole experience of Christianity…Christians are actually attracted to narcissists…People are drawn to or encouraged to seek answers from narcissists.”
As an adult, Tracey became Catholic, only to see the same threads running through—narcissism, misogyny, racism, abuse and more.
In the past few years, Tracey’s found solace in yoga, meditation and nature. She’s grown and been changed, not through the religious
Interact
For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/09/10/tracey-focus-on-the-family-to-none/
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 Mary Justice, the heart behind the delightful Instagram account, @maryfairyboberry.
Mary is an international adoptee who grew up in an emotionally and verbally abusive Seventh-Day Adventist home. Between home and church, there were rules that dictated her entire life.
“It’s just so much fanaticism.”
As an adult, she has a family she cares for without the abuse or micro-managing from high-control religion.
She’s been through a lot, but she’s choosing to laugh and enjoy her present life. Check out her Instagram account @maryfairyboberry for her own personal journey, cute kid videos, information on autism, and hilarious tweets about parenting.
Interact
For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/09/02/mary-justice-deconstruction-from-sda/
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 Amanda. Amanda comes from a rather surprising brand of Christianity she refers to as the “Serpent Seed Pentecostal Cult.” She goes into detail, and it’s quite a ride.
Various things happened throughout her adolescence that made her wonder if Christianity was true, but her mother would violently put a quick stop to those doubts. By 17, Amanda left home to live with a friend, but that couldn’t last long.
Amanda spent a decade trying out every religion under the sun but never found the one that could give real, solid answers.
“Everybody thinks that they have the answer but nobody does.”
Today, she knows she doesn’t need the gods to dictate her life. She’s living it to the fullest and always moving forward.
Interact
For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/08/27/amanda-deconversion-from-an-unnamed-cult/
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 MJ, the heart and mind behind the Instagram account, @dissident_daughters
MJ grew up in a conservative evangelical home where Focus on the Family reigned and her whole world consisted of family, church friends, and a few Christian homeschooling families. She believed wholeheartedly, feeling all the existential pressure as a child to “save” everyone around her.
As a young woman, MJ was surrounded by social workers while in college, and these colleagues were curious. They didn’t ask theological questions; they asked political questions, but for MJ it was all connected. She went to her pastor and was dismissed again and again.
“I started asking myself, What are the criteria? What are [church leaders] really looking for? They’re looking for somebody who doesn’t question, doesn’t challenge the status quo, doesn’t have a viewpoint that encompasses anything that includes the world along with Christianity.”
Now MJ uses her love of books and art to encourage others to hear different perspectives—one’s inner life, relationships, systemic injustices, religion, and spirituality. Besides lengthening Arline’s personal To-Be-Read list, MJ’s Instagram has shown her that whatever one is convinced is true, there are other possible ways to view it.
Links
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/dissident_daughters
Interact
For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/08/20/mj-dissident-daughters/
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/ -
Dr. Darrel Ray is the founder and President of the Board of Directors of Recovering from Religion and the founder and project leader of the Secular Therapy Project. See his full bio here.
Dr. Ray grew up in a Christian home but was already skeptical of certain claims at the age of twelve. He stayed in church—singing and teaching—but was relieved to finally leave the church as an adult.
He has decades of experience in psychology and has helped countless people who’ve been harmed by religion.
“I’m guessing there are more people throughout history that have been traumatized by religion than any other single thing. Religion has built-in abuse.”
Links
Recovering From Religion
https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/
Secular Therapy Project
https://www.seculartherapy.org/
Interact
For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/08/06/darrel-ray-recovering-from-religion/
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/ - Näytä enemmän
