Holy Heretics: Losing Religion and Finding Jesus
The Sophia Society 101 episodes Apr 6, 2026
Holy Heretics is a podcast about the state of religion in the twenty-first century. It features interviews with experts, spiritual seekers, scholars, and activists. The show examines how modern-day Christianity lost the Way of Jesus and explores how it might be regained through subversive thought and action. It encourages honest conversations about faith, religion, and contemporary Christian practice.
Episodes
Ep 96: From Original Sin to Original Blessing w/Matthew Fox
Episode Summary:What if humanity didn’t begin with a fall, but with a blessing? What if your original identity wasn’t sinful, but good?In today’s Holy Heretics podcast episode, I’m joined by the renown Dr.Matthew Fox, one of the most provocative and influential theologians of the last half‑century. A former Dominican priest and the author of Original Blessing, Fox is best known as the founder of C
Ep 95 Bishop Trumps President w/Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde
Episode Summary:You may have first encountered the Right Reverend Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde in January 2025, when she stood in the pulpit at the Inaugural Prayer Service and spoke directly to President Trump with a clarity that astonished the nation. But that moment was not an anomaly. It was the public expression of a life shaped by decades of priestly courage, intellectual honesty, and a fierce
Ep 94 A Rebirthing of Humanity w/Roger Tempest
Episode Summary:There are places in the world where history doesn’t sit behind glass—it works directly with the present to shape the future. Broughton Hall is one of those places. Set across 3,000 acres in the rolling countryside of Yorkshire, England, the estate has been home to the Tempest family for more than 900 years. Its 97‑room manor house, a vast 16th‑century structure of stone and story,
Ep 93 Silence, Stillness & Spiritual Unfoldment W/John Butler
Episode Summary:We begin Season Six of Holy Heretics in a world coming undone. Evil is on our doorstep. Our democratic norms are no more. A sociopathic madman and his predatorily ghouls are raping and robbing their way through our common life. An entire system of life is cracking beneath our feet.We are standing at the threshold of an old world that is dying and a new world yet to be born. The onl
Ep 92 Inner Christianity: Returning to Our Roots W/Mark Vernon
Episode Summary:Growing up evangelical required a preoccupation with external behaviors and moral performance, or what I now understand as sin management. My spiritual life was fear based. Behaviors like sexuality, masturbation, swearing, or drinking were litmus tests of spiritual maturity. The more you controlled, hid, or projected your external behaviors onto others, the closer you were to God.
Ep 91: The Resistance is Alive and Well w/Jesse Nickel
Episode Summary:Today is June 14, 2025, a day that will live in infamy. A sitting United States president is hosting a military-style parade in Washington D.C. that every crack-pot dictator from Adolf Hitler to Vladimir Putin would admire. Making matters worse, since re-gaining power in January, Trump’s regime has dismantled democracy, extended the power of the presidency, suspended habeas corpus,
Ep 90: A Call For Bravery, Peace, and Self Love w/Regina Cates
Episode Summary:Regina Cates joins me on the show to discuss her latest book The Real Conversations Jesus Wants Us to Have: A Call to Bravery, Peace, and Love. This episode is part memoir, part social commentary, and part call to action for those of us who grew up in religious fundamentalism and have found our way out to a bigger, broader, and more inclusive world.I realize that a lot of our episo
Ep 89: We’re Done: Womanism in MAGA America w/Dr. Angela Parker
Episode Summary:You need to sit down for this episode.Mercer University’s Dr. Angela Parker joins me today on the podcast for a heart-wrenching conversation about white supremacy, intersectionality, womanist theology, authoritarian Christianity, decolonization, Kamala Harris, and her sought-after book, If God Still Breathes, Why Can’t I? According to Eerdmans Publishing House, “Angela Parker
Ep 88: The Historical Jesus w/John Dominic Crossan
Episode Summary:John Dominic Crossan is the world’s most prominent Jesus scholar. He joins me today on Holy Heretics to discuss what we can, and what we cannot, know about the life of this first century Jewish peasant. Unlike traditional theological portrayals of Jesus, which center primarily on his death and resurrection, Crossan’s scholarship focuses on the historicity of Jesus. Who wa
Ep 87: MAGA Christians and the Sin of Empathy w/Gary Alan Taylor
Episode Summary:I wrote an article almost two weeks ago titled, Trump’s Willing Executioners. Drawing on my graduate work in Holocaust Studies, I compared and contrasted the MAGA movement and Nazi Germany, and in particular, the glaring lack of empathy championed by both cults. The article went viral, encouraging me to consider a more robust analysis of how cruelty, the lack of empathy, and propag
Ep 86: The Science of Spirituality w/Dr. Rupert Sheldrake
Episode Summary:For ten years running, Dr. Rupert Sheldrake has been recognized as one of the “most spiritually influential living people in the world” by Watkins Mind Body Spirit magazine. His work has been featured in many magazines, newspapers and broadcast media, including New Scientist, The Guardian, Discover magazine, The Spectator, The Washington Post, Die Zeit, the Netflix original Cunk on
Ep 85: Ecospirituality and ReWilding w/Dr. Rachel Wheeler
Episode Summary:Dr. Rachel Wheeler joins me today on Holy Heretics to discuss ecospirituality and the practice of rewilding both our life and faith.Let’s be honest, Christians have a horrendous relationship with the natural world, best understood through a combination of harmful historical, theological, and cultural influences. Growing up evangelical meant believing the world was bad and, as a res
Ep 84: Created to Create w/Ally Markotich
Episode Summary:I distinctly remember sitting in the back row of sixth grade art class in Jonesboro, Arkansas and saying to myself, “I am NOT CREATIVE!” I couldn’t draw a lick. While my friends brought forth beautiful sketches and lovely paintings their parents would proudly hang on the refrigerator, I looked down at my work with disdain. My parents should burn this. I am not creative.That thought
Ep 83: Finding God in an Errant Bible w/Liz Charlotte Grant
Episode Summary:If I had a guess, I’m betting one of the main reasons why you deconstructed evangelicalism is because of the Bible. Growing up evangelical, the Bible was the center of faith. It was the key to unlocking the Divine. This big black book held all the secrets to a good life. Just open it up, ask it a question, and out popped God’s answer. Easy-peasy.But as you matured from naivety into
Ep. 82: Celtic Spirituality w/John Philip Newell
Episode Summary:John Philip Newell is best described as “a wandering teacher with the heart of a Celtic bard and the mind of a Celtic scholar.” Formerly the Warden of Iona Abbey in the Western Isles of Scotland, John Philip joined me from his home in Edinburgh to offer a new, yet ancient way forward in a time when the empire has once again wedded and bedded Christianity.Long before the colonizing
Ep. 81: This is Going to Hurt w/Bekah McNeel
Episode Summary:Like a dog returning to her vomit, America chose the sexual predator, white nationalist, pathological liar, and criminal instead of an educated, compassionate Black woman to lead this nation into our collective future. This feels more sinister than 2016 because Trump and his henchmen now have a plan in Project 2025 and I promise you, people are going to suffer.How do we sit with su
Ep. 80: Ministers of Propaganda w/Dr. Scott Coley
Episode Summary:We are less than two weeks away from election day here in the United States. The question is - will America get its first female president or a second Donald Trump term? A more pressing question is - will America remain a democracy or will our constitutional republic deteriorate further into a Christo-fascist Trump family dynasty?Kamala Harris has a slight lead over Trump in the na
Ep. 79: Finding Your Place In This World w/Dr. Sharon Blackie
Episode Summary:In this captivating conversation with mythologist and psychologist Dr. Sharon Blackie, we explore the mythic imagination, the reclaiming of indigenous Western spiritual traditions, and the relevance of our native myths, fairy tales, and folk traditions.Your life is a story, and your story is one small part of a larger cultural story. For good and bad, your individual story is shape
Ep. 78: Speaking of Rape w/Rev. Dr. Danielle Tumminio Hansen
Episode Summary:[TW: sexual assault and sexual harm language]I am joined today by Rev. Dr. Danielle Tumminio Hansen to speak about the unspeakable. A theologian and Episcopal priest focusing on pastoral approaches to trauma, Hansen addresses the persistent crisis of sexual harm in the U.S., and the “haunting silence” of survivors. Why do most victims remain silent? Why don’t we trust women? Why do
Ep. 77: And Justice For All w/Kalie May Hargrove
Episode Summary:Liberation theology is a theological movement that emerged primarily in Latin America in the late 20th century, although its principles and ideas have influenced theological discourse worldwide for millennia. It seeks to address the social, economic, sexual, gendered, and political oppression experienced by marginalized and disadvantaged individuals and communities. Liberation theo
Ep. 76: FKD Up By Faith w/Jude Mills and Gary Alan Taylor
Episode Summary:In this unique, collaborative episode of Holy Heretics, I chat with Jude Mills, the creator of the FKD Up By Faith podcast. Jude created the FKD Up By Faith podcast for individuals harmed by religious fundamentalism. She hails from the Southeast of England, and is using her podcast to fuel her scholarly work at the University of Kent.Jude and I are both hosts of our own respective
Ep. 75: Faith and Mental Illness: What I’ve Seen in Dark Places w/Anna Gazmarian
Episode Summary:(CW): Mental Illness, Suicidal Ideation, Depression, and Anxiety)Anna Gazmarian’s new book Devout: A Memoir of Doubt, investigates the overlapping complexities of religious faith, mental illness, and doubt. If you grew up in religiously conservative spaces, odds are you either never talked about mental illness or you were made to believe only people with a demonic spirit could suff
Ep. 74: My Life and Faith After Evangelicalism w/Jonathan Merritt
Episode Summary:Interviewing Jonathan Merritt felt like having a conversation with myself. His journey out of white evangelical subculture is an almost mirror-image of my journey. My guess is, you’ll find a lot of correlation as well. Jonathan was a card-carrying evangelical who left his Southern roots and evangelical home to find faith, family, and freedom outside the confines and cult-like commu
Ep. 73: Rewilding Christianity w/ Gary Alan Taylor
Episode Summary:Do you feel spiritually and physically domesticated? Are you struggling to free yourself from the long-term impacts of spiritual colonization? Do you feel disconnected from the natural world? Are you longing for something more than merely reconstruction? If so, spiritual rewilding might be the next step in your faith seeking journey.Though an environmental term—meaning letting natu
Ep. 72: Nice Churchy Patriarchy w/ Liz Cooledge Jenkins
Episode Summary:Author Liz Cooledge Jenkins joins us on the show to discuss the harmful effects of patriarchy on men, women, families, LGBTQIA persons, culture, nations, and spiritual communities.With its ties to domination, violence, aggression, militarism, and white supremacy, patriarchy centers white, heterosexual men at the expense of everyone else. Patriarchal communities often tolerate or ev
Ep. 71: Reconstruct Faith Your Way w/ Angela J. Herrington
Episode SummaryHave you ever wanted someone to sit with you by the fire and watch your old religious beliefs go up in flames? Maybe you’ve longed for a guide or a coach to help you navigate all this wandering in the spiritual wilderness. If so, then this week’s episode is what you need right now!Faith deconstruction coach Angela J. Herrington joins me to talk about life after evangelicalism, and i
Ep. 70 This is the Way: Contemplative Christianity w/ Father Brendan Williams
Episode SummaryHave you ever paused long enough to consider why you continue pursuing the spiritual path? After all the scandals, abuse, religious trauma, and oppressive theology, why are you still here?This same question hit me last week during church and I didn’t have a profound answer. For whatever reason, I just can’t quit my search for the Sacred.I bet you’ve asked a similar question, or at l
Ep. 69 We Don’t Have to Live This Way w/ Derrick Jensen
Episode Summary:Living in the United States is a daily dose of trauma. Our nation is philosophically and pragmatically built on injustice, coercion, lies, oppression, exploitation, violence, dehumanization, and planetary destruction. Do we ever stop to think about how messed up the world is? The answer, of course, is an overwhelming no. We are living in what theologian John Dominic Crossan called
Ep. 68 Finding Your True Self w/ Heather Hamilton
Episode SummaryHave you ever paused long enough to consider that maybe, just maybe you are living a lie? Is it possible that your outer shell, or your outer identity isn’t really you after all? What if all your coping mechanisms that have come to shape your identity isn’t the real you? Maybe you’ve spent your life operating out of your false self based purely on survival, but is that who you were
Ep. 67 What is Christian Mysticism? w/ Keith Giles
Episode SummaryOne of the paths available to you post-evangelicalism is mysticism, a spirituality that in many ways is almost the direct antithesis of evangelical Christianity. If evangelicalism was all about certainty, apologetics, Biblicism, and defending your faith at all costs, Christian mysticism can be defined by unknowing, mystery, paradox, and direct experience with the Sacred. Mystics kno
Ep. 66 Saving Democracy From Her Christian Enemies w/ Dr. David Gushee
Episode SummaryAuthoritarianism is on the rise all across the world. Here in America, the leading proponents of anti-democratic ideology are evangelical Christians who have been swept up in the cult of Donald Trump. Driven by a dominator theology and good old-fashioned white supremacy, conservative Christians can be counted on as the leading supporters of dictatorial politics. As Dr. David Gushee
Ep. 65 Jaded: A Reckoning with White Evangelicalism w/ Marla Taviano
OK, I'll admit it right up front, this is a heavy episode. This one feels like a therapy session processing through the anger, the rage, the bitterness, and all your past complicity in white evangelical Christianity. If you haven't noticed yet, one of the pit stops on the deconstruction road is animosity. You finally wake up to all the harmful ways evangelical Christianity has impacted your life a
Ep. 64: What Are God’s Pronouns? w/ Gary Alan Taylor
Episode SummaryIn the second-part of our conversation about the Divine Feminine, we look at the ramifications of believing God is a guy. Institutional Christianity has given us God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, a triune male God with “He/Him” pronouns. And this male dominated theology has created a male dominator culture that manifests itself politically, socially, sexually, re
Ep. 63: God Our Mother w/ Gary Alan Taylor
Episode SummaryHave you ever paused to wonder why it was always God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—a trio of divine beings known only as “He” and “Him?” This should cause us to ask a basic question. Why is God so overwhelmingly referred to as a He in institutional Christianity, as well as in Judaism? Did you know that from ancient times God was first known as our Mother, and sust
Ep. 62: Resisting American Apartheid w/ Dr. Miguel De La Torre
Episode SummaryWe continue our march toward the marginalized this week with another conversation with Dr. Miguel De La Torre about the future of American political identity. As a Lantinx scholar, Miguel sees a future in which American society is run by white Christian nationalist elites at the expense of everyone who is 'the other.' Much like South African Apartheid, America could become a nation
Ep. 61: We Resist: The Power of Nonviolent Resistance w/ Gary Alan Taylor
Contrary to what many assume, peace isn’t meekness in the face of evil it is the courageous and oftentimes creative task of disarmament. Active peacemaking is a way to fight against injustice without using violence. It is using the transformative force of love to resist oppression. It says that the means are the ends, that the way to peace is peace itself. “Love of enemies does not necessarily eas
Ep. 60 (Part Two): Transgender and Christian? w/ Natalie Drew
Episode SummaryIn the second installment of our conversation with Natalie Drew, we move deeper into her gender transition and how it impacted her marriage, career, and spiritual journey. If you haven’t checked out Part One, go back and listen now before moving forward into this episode! We answer several questions including, can you be Christian and transgender and what might it look like to trans
Ep. 60: Transgender and Christian? w/ Natalie Drew
CW: We discuss trauma, addiction, suicidal ideation, abuse, and other topics that may be triggering. Please listen at your own discretion.A lot of times on our show, we discuss theological matters that mostly reside in your head, but this episode is altogether very different. This conversation is personal, it’s raw, it’s painful, it’s the deeply transformative work of an individual who fought to s
Ep. 59: Queer Jesus w/ Maki Ashe Van Steenwyk
CW: Adult Language.Christians were never meant to be normal, we've always been "holy troublemakers" who do not accept the world as it is but who insist on the world becoming the way God wants it to be. In the words of our friends at The Center for Prophetic Imagination, “A world where all walls of alienation are torn down as we live justly with one another.” From the very beginning, Jesus called u
Ep. 58: Becoming Fully Human w/ Barbara Brown Taylor
Episode SummaryBarbara Brown Taylor is who you want to be when you grow up. Her life is a legacy of wisdom and wonder, walking the long road toward becoming fully human. In this intimate conversation that is more memoir than interview, she looks back on a long pilgrimage of faith while sharing some of the secrets she’s found along the way. As she reminds us, “This is not the life I planned or the
Ep. 57: Meeting Jewish Jesus For the First Time w/ Dr. Amy Jill Levine
One of the great ironies of the Christian religion is that the person Christians worship isn’t a Christian. Jesus was born, raised, and died a Jew. He might even find it odd that an entire new religion grew up out of his short life and painful death. He is without question, the most popular person to have ever walked the earth. But what do we really know about this first century Galilean? If we ar
Ep. 56: Being Transgender in a Binary World w/ Dr. Roberto Che Espinoza
Episode Summary"In the Beginning, God created male and female." Evangelicals have used this one verse as a weapon in their war on transgender individuals. But a closer look offers a far more inclusive interpretation. It is true that God made both male and female. God also made light and dark, the land and sea, skies and earth, and guess what? God also made EVERYTHING in between like rivers, lakes,
Ep. 55: God is a Black Woman w/ Dr. Christena Cleveland
“The Spirit of God, She has made me, and the breath of the nursing God, She gives me life.” - Job 33:4When you close your eyes and envision God, who do you see? Like me, you probably envision God as an old, white male sitting on a throne looking down from on high with an air of judgment and anger toward the world. This is the god of authoritarianism, patriarchy, domination, and purity cultu
Ep. 54: Finding God in the Margins w/ Gary Alan Taylor
We're excited to drop the first episode of Season Three of Holy Heretics with host Gary Alan Taylor! We are dedicating this year to marginalized voices who have either been muzzled by conventional Christianity or who have been pushed to the periphery of faith. People whose voices, bodies, race, gender, or sexuality make them dangerous to the status quo. In this introductory episode, we invite
Ep. 53 Do I Stay Christian? w/Brian McLaren
At some point in your deconstruction journey, you are probably going to be faced with the question, "Do I stay Christian or do I walk away from this movement altogether?" If that is where you are today, this episode is for you.It's been a minute since Western Christianity has looked anything like Jesus. For the last 1,700 years Christianity has been known more its violence, patriarchy, domination,
Ep. 52 White God, Brown Jesus: Decolonizing Christianity w/ Dr. Miguel De La Torre
The vast majority of Americans worship the white god—the god of Christian nationalism, white supremacy, domination, patriarchy, wealth, power, and colonization. The god of guns and empire, the god that exists to make white men great again. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that powerful white people created a god in their own image, in the image of white men has this god been created. As Dr. Miguel De
Ep. 50: The Making of a Mystic with Kevin Sweeney
In the 1960's, Jesuit priest Karl Rahner made a bold claim about the future of faith. "The Christian of the future will either be a mystic, or nothing at all." Who could have guessed that sixty years later the deconstruction community would turn his statement into reality through the modern pursuit of mysticism. Apologetic, rational, belief-based Christianity can only get you so far. In fact,
Ep. 49: ReWilding And Refugia: Healing Our Sacred Earth w/ Dr. Debra Rienstra
People have been sounding the alarm for climate change for generations. The earth is permanently altered by human hands. But if we have the power to hurt the earth, we share the power to heal her. Drawing on our spiritual tradition, Dr. Debra Rienstra encourages us to adapt our spiritual practices and faith to life on an altered planet. From consuming to healing, stewarding to co-creation, ou
Ep. 48: Why I Deconstructed Evangelicalism w/ Dr. David Gushee
Those of us in the deconstruction community have been accused of many things over the last few years by individuals and institutions in the evangelical establishment. We've been accused of deconstructing our faith because we want to sin more, or that we have a rebellious nature, or we just want to have sex with anything and anyone, or that we've been corrupted by a liberal agenda. None of these cl
Ep. 47: Saving Jesus From Evangelicals w/ Dr. Robin Meyers
It's really hard to call yourself a Christian these days. But when you are a minister in conservative Oklahoma and call yourself a kind of “atheist,” well that’s a whole other issue! Reverend Dr. Robin Meyers is one of many progressive voices that laid the groundwork for the deconstruction movement. And for him, it all started by asking one question: “The question isn’t what is a Christian, but ra
Ep. 46 God is Not in Control: Open Theism w/ Dr. Thomas Jay Oord
When bad things happen, I often hear people say "Well, God's still on the throne," as if that is some kind of balm or solution for the pain, evil, and uncertainty the world is facing. But here's the problem: God was on the throne during the Holocaust. God was on the throne during segregation and Jim Crow. God is on the throne as thousands of innocent Ukrainian citizens are currently dying from Rus
Ep. 45: Rethinking Biblical Womanhood w/ Dr. Beth Allison Barr
Episode SummaryMen are in charge and women submit. Men lead and women follow. Men have a biblical mandate from God to lead the Church and the home while women are ordained by God to be silent and submissive not only to their husbands, but every other male leader they encounter in the Church. These are the lies many of us grew up believing. These are the lies keeping so many women in abusive relati
Ep. 44: Black Liberation: My Journey out of White Evangelicalism w/ Dante Stewart
Leaving white evangelicalism is one thing. Leaving white spaces and white theology is quite another. Writer and activist Dante Stewart joins us today to discuss his new book Shoutin In the Fire: An American Epistle. and how he escaped slaveholder religion in his quest to uncover the heart of Christianity. His journey as a black, Christian, American out of predominantly white spaces offers a path
Ep. 43: Inventing Whiteness: How Race Broke My Family & The World w/ Lisa Sharon Harper
Throughout this country’s history, the hallmarks of American democracy – opportunity, freedom, and prosperity – have been largely reserved for white people through the intentional exclusion and oppression of people of color. America’s original sin is white supremacy, born and bred into the first laws of our land and fully endorsed by the church. Am I right Southern Baptist Convention? Yesterday’s
Ep. 42: The Enneagram: Your Number, Your Needs w/ Suzanne Stabile
“Few people can teach you the Enneagram with the genuine insight, humor, and potential for real growth and change better than Suzanne Stabile, writes Father Richard Rohr. And after this incredible episode, we agree! Stabile is one of the world’s most sought-after gurus when it comes to all things Enneagram. Today, she joins us to discuss what it means to know your number, to live a balanced life w
Ep. 41: DeColonize Your Faith w/Dr. Randy Woodley
There are some episodes that defy description, that cover so much ground that it is difficult to describe. This conversation with theologian, poet, activist, and historian Randy Woodley is one such episode. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again for those in the back: evangelicalism is a dominator religion. It seeks to dominate the earth, women, black and brown bodies, those on the fringes of
Ep. 40: How Buddhism Changed My Evangelical Mind w/ Danielle Shroyer
It's been said Christianity is heavy on teaching and light on praxis. You could argue the last two thousands years of Church history has been one long, and often violent, conversation about right beliefs but not right action. Thus, you can believe all the (supposedly) right things about God, the virgin birth, the resurrection, and the Bible and still be in bondage. But what if there is another way
Ep. 39 Heart Burnin’, Still Yearnin’: The Future of Faith w/ Brian Zahnd
Deconstruction has become a dirty word in evangelical circles. Some people think all we want to do is burn Christianity to the ground. Others worry that the deconstruction community isn’t doing enough to shed itself from fundamentalism. We will just be honest, most days we’d rather just let evangelicalism go up in flames, purging the entire super-structure that is modern Christianity. We know that
Ep. 38: Recovering From Evangelicalism: The 5 Noble Truths of Deconstruction
Leaving evangelicalism feels a lot like recovering from an addiction. “For a species wired for survival, we have an odd habit of getting hooked on things that can kill us,” writes science journalist and professor Michael D. Lemonick. Much like an addictive substance, evangelicalism felt good until it didn’t. Most of us began deconstructing evangelical fundamentalism with one goal in mind: to
Ep. 37: Deconstructing Trumpism with CNN’s Kirsten Powers
According to CNN’s Kirsten Powers, the United States is headed toward a constitutional crisis. Led primarily by white evangelicals and their cult-like worship of former President Donald Trump, American democracy is on the verge of collapse. How do we move forward? How do we have healthy conversations with our friends and family who continue to believe conspiracy theories and parrot the lies they h
Ep. 36: Reflecting on Season 1
After 30 interviews and 35 episodes, Gary Alan and Melanie look back, reflecting on what they’ve learned, what surprised them, where they hope to go with Season 2, and more.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏Show notes: https://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/reflecting-on-season-oneFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast |
BONUS: Cussing, Smoking, & Tattoos—Oh My! w/ The Space Between & Uncertain
Why are we so offended by “cussing”? Is someone really “going downhill” if they smoke tobacco or have tattoos? Melanie joins Katherine from Uncertain Podcast and William from The Space Between Podcast to discuss the morality, legalism, and taboos surrounding these behaviors in the Evangelical Church. How and why did they become such a marker of one’s status with God? And are there more forces at w
Ep. 35: Do I Have Religious Trauma? w/ Dr. Laura Anderson
CW: We discuss trauma, sexualized violence, abuse, and other topics that may be triggering. Please listen at your own discretion.Religious trauma is sneaky for so many reasons, perhaps none more so than the fact that trauma of any kind was minimized or delegitimized by religious leaders. So many of us who call ourselves ex-vangelicals find it hard to even believe that we have trauma. But do we? Ha
Ep. 34: When Racism and Compassion Collide (pt. 2) w/ Deconstructing Black
Continuing our conversation from last week with C Davis, we hear more about her faith journey, as well as chat about why she is able to have so much compassion despite everything she’s experienced and seen and able to see beyond rhetoric to the truth.Follow her on Instagram: @DeconstructingBlack and @DeconstructingColors; and consider supporting her work: https://cash.app/$DeconstructingBlkIf you
Ep. 33: When Racism and Compassion Collide (pt. 1) w/ Deconstructing Black
From being raised in a predominantly Black church to finding herself in predominantly white megachurches to calling herself a spiritualist today, C Davis has had quite the faith journey. Though many who hear that might feel sadness over her losing her faith, she has gained such immense compassion and empathy that she doesn’t see it as a loss. In this first half of our interview with her, we dig in
Bonus: Responding to Joshua Harris & “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” w/ Uncertain Podcast & The New Evangelicals
Recently, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill (a Christianity Today podcast that looks into why Mars Hill church met such a quick demise) released a bonus episode. In the episode, host Mike Cosper spent time looking at how Mars Hill’s pastor, Mark Driscoll, and Joshua Harris, the I Kissed Dating Goodbye author and former Sovereign Grace Ministries prodigy, had many similarities, despite having wildly d
Ep. 32: The Discipleship of Decolonization w/ Ched Myers
When your entire understanding of God, Jesus, and faith is filtered through the lens of the colonizer, it changes everything. But as today’s guest points out, it’s to the detriment of not only ourselves, but to everyone and every thing. Author Ched Myers talks with us about “radical discipleship,” how that relates to decolonizing our white American evangelical faith, and how a decolonized reading
Ep. 31: Reclaiming Christian Politics w/ Charlie McCallie
We all hate politics. With every politician and candidate seemingly corrupt af, voting has turned into an exercise of futility and despair. But our guest today, Charlie McCallie, is a pastor who sees politics very differently. In this episode, he walks us through what politics are at their best, why Christians should be involved, and why it’s about so much more than partisanship and nationalism. I
Ep. 30: Does the Evangelical Church Need to Die? w/ The New Evangelicals (Tim Whitaker)
Is the American Evangelical Church worth saving? Or is it beyond repair? Many ex-vangelicals are ready to let it die and build something new in its place, but in this episode, we chat with Tim Whitaker, creator of The New Evangelicals, about how he’s fighting to rebuild the American Evangelical Church in a more loving, Christ-like image, despite great pushback from within the Church itself.Follow
Ep. 29: Why Purity Culture Doesn’t Work (in More Ways Than One) w/ Talk Purity to Me (Blair)
After growing up in the south in the heyday of purity culture, Blair of @TalkPurityToMe recognized that she needed to relearn how to relate to herself and others. Once she healed from the harm she endured through purity culture, she decided to start speaking out against it so that others could heal, too. We talk with Blair about how she came to recognize how unhealthy purity culture had made her,
Ep. 28: “Don’t Hurt the Witness of the Church” w/ That Loud Deconstructing One (Julia)
If you’ve ever been told not to speak up so you don’t “hurt the witness of the Church,” or if you’ve been discouraged from calling out toxic behavior because Christians are supposed to “bring light and joy and not negativity,” this episode is for you. After years of devoting herself to serving her church, Julia, aka @ThatLoudDeconstructingOne, finally decided she wouldn’t be silenced anymore. We t
Ep. 27: Is God in Control? w/ Dr. Thomas Oord
“God’s got this!” “Let go and let God.” “Everything will be okay in the end.” Despite being great bumper stickers, these sayings actually cause more theological problems than they solve. Today we’re chatting with Dr. Thomas Jay Oord, an open and relational theologian, about what God can and can’t do, what God does and does not know, and how we may have gotten God’s nature wrong for centuries.Follo
Ep. 26: Rejecting Patriarchy, Finding Deeper Faith w/ Kelly Lamb
Women of the Christian faith eventually have to confront one really big question: Why stay in a system that actively works to silence women and keep them from following their callings? For today’s guest, Kelly Lamb, that question led her on a quest for the essence of faith. We talk with her about what she found, how her faith is different, and how she’s making space for women.Follow Kelly on Insta
Ep. 25: Finding God in Wild Places w/ Dr. Belden C. Lane
Can God only be experienced through the Church? Or is God revealed and able to be experienced elsewhere? Dr. Belden C. Lane, professor emeritus of theological studies, believes our experience of God is too limited and has thus spent many years cultivating the spiritual discipline of solo wilderness backpacking. In our conversation with him, we discuss why we need the wilderness, how being taken to
Ep. 24: Liberation, Belonging, & Coming Out w/ Flamy Grant & Ben Grace (Heathen Podcast)
What happens when you realize your religion does everything except foster wholeness, flourishing, and love? For Flamy Grant and Ben Grace, two of the four hosts of Heathen Podcast, it meant searching for belonging, liberation, and authenticity beyond the confines of religion. We chat with them about what they found, where they found it, and what truly unconditional community and acceptance looks l
Ep. 23: Bad Religion, Shame, & Community w/ Anissa & Karyn (Heathen Podcast)
As one half of the hosting team at Heathen Podcast, Anissa Nishira and Karyn Thurston are done with shame. Despite their vastly different upbringings, they each were taught a religion of shame, conformity, and certainty. In this episode, we talk with them about how they are now on a quest to drop the shame and helps others do so, all while building a faith that’s based on love. We also touch on de
Ep. 22: Nourishing Your Soul with Reina Rose
Fed up with superficial religion but also feeling empty from pursuing pleasure as the highest virtue, Reina Rose (host of the Roku TV show Soul Nutrition) began searching for a new way to fill her soul. In our conversation with her, she tells us what she discovered on her journey, how she nourishes her soul, and what spirituality looks like for her today, as well as offers some tips for how to fin
Ep. 21: Should I Stay in Church? with Dismantle Pod
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏To church or not to church, that is the question—at least for those of us who no longer claim the evangelical label. And if we do decide to stay, what do we do when we disagree with things being taught or supported either by the church or by our fellow churchgoers? We sat down with Joey, the host of Dismantle Pod, to talk about wh
Ep. 20: What Is the Bible? with Dr. Pete Enns
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏Most of us who are raised evangelical are taught 3 things about the Bible: 1. that it’s the Word of God; 2. that it’s inerrant (i.e., without error); and 3. that a “plain and simple” reading of it contains all the truth humankind will ever need. But what if none of those things is true? What is the Bible then? How do we read it if
BONUS: “I Just Want Real Friends”: Finding Community Post-Deconstruction (Roundtable Discussion)
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏Everyone’s experience with “deconstruction” or “leaving the faith” is different, but one thing that so many have in common is a loss of community. Whether it was by choice or by some level of excommunication, we often find ourselves in need of a new community that understands what we’ve been through and where we are in our faith.
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