In this podcast, I am discussing sexual shame and purity culture enforced by religion with Ex-Catholic Susanna of the Atheist Republic! She also discusses how it affected her as a young Catholic and her journey out of faith as well as her activism with the Atheist Republic.

Blasphemous Art: https://www.blasphemousart.com/Atheist Republic: https://www.youtube.com/c/AtheistRepublic

YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/RU8ibF5ZPkk

Timestamps:

0:00 Introductions1:54 Susanna’s connections with the Atheist Republic and her current role at the organization5:04 Susanna’s religious background and what made her leave religion10:26 Why was it a good decision for Susanna to go to an all-girls middle school despite her parents not taking her opinion into consideration?15:26 The freedom to make decisions based on facts and logic that comes with being a free thinker19:00 Religious reasoning for gender-based segregation of people and the laws regarding premarital sex.22:48 Sussana’s mental health issues and attempted suicide at the age of 15 and how it changed her life26:55 Dealing with some of the remnants of religious beliefs and shame.33:40 The importance of seeking out criticism to improve on critical thinking.34:42 Channel announcements35:26 Responding to comments in the chat - The parallels between Islam and Christianity in regards to the concept of original sin and purity culture.46:19 How do Christians reconcile the concept of original sin and forgiveness upon acceptance of Christ as your savior. The hierarchy of sin51:26 After the Prophet - Epic story of Sunni Shia split by Lesley Hazleton53:03 What drives Susanna’s activism? The importance of a support system59:56 The importance of planting seeds of doubts in fundamentalists and equipping them with better critical thinking tools.1:05:15 Improving epistemological tools that we use when thinking about religion. Why there is no God - Armin Navabi1:08:12 Blasphemous art by the Atheist Republic.1:13:40 The Atheist Republic’s social media bans and potential blocking of their site in India.1:17:39 The Atheist Republic newsletter1:21:00 Wayward by Alice Greezyn. Content by the Atheist Republic1:23:04 Final remarks.

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