I am going to be discussing with Gayle Jordan, a former Southern Baptist who left the faith 12 years ago, became a lawyer, ran for Senate as an open atheist! She is the Executive Director of Recovering from Religion, and the co-founder of NaNoCon and Murfreesboro Freethinkers. She ran for state senate in rural Tennessee in 2016 and 2018 as an open atheist and faced a profoundly unconstitutional attack on religious liberty. Gayle is an attorney and former personal trainer. She is currently enjoying life in the Pacific Northwest close to her children. She blogs about life, endurance event training, and secularism at Happy. Healthy. Heathen. Check out Recovering from Religion at recoveringfromreligion.org You can reach her at https://gaylejordan.net/

YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/FOGwnd_hZ_g

Timestamps:

0:00 Introductions1:20 Gayle's background story and journey out of religion.6:40 Coming out and losing family and everything.9:22 How openly questioning, reading the bible/religious texts, and researching the scriptures lead believers out of faith.16:10 Anticipating losses and gains that come with questioning and leaving religion.20:35 Apologetics is usually applied to counter evolution and other science concepts. (Literal or figurative scriptures)24:20 The cost of leaving religion in the "Deep South"27:48 Recovering from Religion and the work they do.33:35 Are pastors still teaching the inerrancy of the Bible?34:48 Running for office as an open atheist and humanist in the deep south. Religion and politics.51:30 Applying the basis of humanism in politics and everyday life. tribalism - voting against personal interest.57:11 Gayle Jordan's social media contacts and Recovering from religion social media handles.58:35 Channel announcements1:00:50 Gayle's final remarks