We sit down with Mike Bahr who deconstructed his religious system later in life. We discuss what all is involved in deconstruction. The letting go of beliefs, the re-evaluating the existence of God, and the loss of community. But we also talk about how for most this feels like growth and involves feeling happier and more content with life.

Britt and Bill pick up off last week’s conversation where they discussed the benefits of a religious narrative and religious community when one is faced with tragedy and trauma and attempt in this conversation to help us understand how we got there. How did God come to be? Which Gods had more holding power? What functions did these adaptations have for helping groups of humans collaborate and perpetuate?

RESOURCES:

Hidden Brain Podcast – Creating God – https://www.npr.org/2018/07/16/628792048/creating-god

Oldest Cave Drawings – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cueva_de_las_Manos

The Sorcerer Cave Drawing – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sorcerer_(cave_art)

God: A Human History – Reza Aslan https://www.amazon.com/God-Human-History-Random-House/dp/0525624333

Sapiens Yuval Hariri https://www.amazon.com/Sapiens-Humankind-Yuval-Noah-Harari/dp/0062316095

Civilized to Death – Christopher Ryan – https://www.amazon.com/Civilized-Death-What-Lost-Modernity/dp/1451659105

Britt comes back to update us on her life and to expound with Bill on the idea of how Religion helps us to deal with trauma. And How one receives such support outside a religious paradigm. They hope to help you see value in the mechanisms religions bring to the table and to help us all figure out how to not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Bad things are going to happen to each of us and if we are going to create a better world we need to consider how these systems were built in order to help humans survive and to have needs met.

Britt shares an update on her family situation and thoughts about spirituality in trauma after religion.

To help Britt, her daughter and their family please consider the following options

1.) You can donate to the Almost Awakened Podcast and where Britt receives a significant majority of the funds collected. https://almostawakened.org/donate-to-almost-awakened-podcast/ (Tax Deductable)

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3.) You help in other ways such as providing meals as they navigate the early stages of this event that has turned their world upside down https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0444a4aa22a20-support

Britt and Bill take a look at spiritual practices on the edges of society. Tarot, Necromancy, Divination, Crystals, Clairvoyance, Reiki, and many others. What is real and what isn’t and how can we know. And if some or even all of these practices contain no real supernatural processes, can they still be useful?

Bill & Britt dive into some wisdom around friendship and what it takes to be in relationship with others. We discuss little intricacies that we have learned over the years that will contribute to healthy relationships and community

Bill sits down with Carol Hollowell, founder and Executive Director of SwitchPoint. Switchpoint is a non-profit whose goal is to tackle homelessness and poverty throughout the state of Utah. They are doing this in dynamic ways that hitting the issue head on. Today we sit down and talk about the problem of homelessness in the state of Utah and cover what Switchpoint is doing to make a difference.

RESOURCES:

Switchpoint Website
Homelessness in Utah

Facets of Switchpoint

1. Shelter
2. Low income housing
3. Soup Kitchen
4. Thrift Store
5. Boutique
6. Pet daycare
7. Recovery Center
8. Domestic Violence Shelter
9. Childcare during non traditional hours
10. Community Supported Agriculture/Garden
11. Muffin Tops
    
    Ways You Can Help
    https://switchpointcrc.org/donations/monthlygiving/
    https://switchpointcrc.org/in-kind-needs/
    https://switchpointcrc.org/volunteer-2/
    https://switchpointcrc.org/shop-amazon-smile/
    https://switchpointcrc.org/planned-giving/
    
    

Today Bill flies solo and discusses the mechanisms and process by which two parties in a shared social space relieve each other of the pain or trauma and the shame or guilt when one party disrupts another. Once we grasp how this process works and what is going on underneath, we are much more likely to show up in a way that allows for real accountability, safe space for processing, and an easier time releasing the discomfort or trauma

RESOURCES:

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep10639

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2018.00009/full

https://www.ijcai.org/Proceedings/13/Papers/036.pdf

https://bioneers.org/the-power-of-apology-eve-ensler-ze0z1912/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/darwins-subterranean-world/201403/the-history-im-sorry