IT’S THE LAST EPISODE OF SEASON 1!  How very fitting to end the season with my guest JR, who’s a good buddy from my old small group Bible study at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC. Coincidentally, we both left Christianity around 2007… without realizing the other was on his way out. Satan works in mysterious ways? 

Anyway, grab a drink, make yourself comfortable, and then get UNcomfortable listening to the story of our departure from religion, as well as the topsy turvy ride we’ve been on these past 10 years since walking away from the church.  Are we on a road to nowhere? Maybe.

RELEVANT LINKS!

56:00… 

Richard Carrier — “Christianity Debunked Using Science & History”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ2kGJk4Jo4

1:26:30… 

excerpt from “The Meltdown”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nhxjJi1cJ0

1:28:45… 

“The ACTUAL Democratic Debate” (FreedomToons)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkFlIlQptnU

1:32:20… 

#WalkAway NYC LGBT Town Hall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIh_krufFTU

1:54:35… 

“Andy's Little Sister Featuring Amy Poehler & Andy Daly”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbsCjbw7t5Y

==========

RECOMMENDED BOOKS & LINKS FROM J.R.!

Re: Debunking Christianity

Jesus Interrupted By Bart D Ehrman

https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Interrupted-Revealing-Hidden-Contradictions/dp/0061173940/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=jesus+interrupted&qid=1565120732&s=books&sr=1-1

How Jesus became God By Bart D Ehrman (all books By Bart D Ehrman)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061778192/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

Not the Impossible Faith by Richard Carrier 

https://www.amazon.com/Not-Impossible-Faith-Richard-Carrier/dp/0557044642/?ie=UTF8&tag=richardcarrier-20

https://www.richardcarrier.info/writings

=====

Re: Christianity & Sexuality

Divine Sex: Liberating Sex from Religious Tradition by Philo Thelos

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1553954009/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

The Poisoning of Eros by Raymond Lawrence

https://www.amazon.com/Poisoning-Eros-Sexual-Values-Conflict/dp/0962331007/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=raymond+lawrence&qid=1565120535&s=gateway&sr=8-6

http://www.libchrist.com/index.html

http://www.biblicalpolygamy.com/exegesis/one-wife/

http://inkaboutit4u.com/

=====

Re: Hell & Satan

The Biography of Satan: Exposing the Origins of the Devil by Kersey Graves

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1885395116/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://tentmaker.org/articles-1/

http://www.mercifultruth.com/the-real-hell.html

A very special episode today with guests Ben & Diana from Your Friends Podcast. By the grace of God (or lack thereof), they managed to escape the Mormon religion. Today we discuss their escape and also what motivates us, married life vs single life, free speech & censorship, childhood indoctrination, and more.

Other recommended listening…

The most recent Your Friends Podcast episode (which is essentially Part 1 of our chat)…  https://open.spotify.com/episode/5wribk5AE4kFIWz8sYPeM4?si=Qu4OHVL3ROGdZuTBgtsNjA

A more detailed account of Diana’s exit from Mormonism on the Latter-Day Lesbian Podcast… https://open.spotify.com/episode/703SzvZqzoNPjh8xBiaQhP?si=benfCZMnQLqOJMBXorKEyw

Additional links relevant to what was discussed today…

1:05:20— 

Lindsay Shepherd being banned from Twitter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3dbKitC3Ns

1:09:50— 

Jordan Peterson’s issue was with government mandated speech, not transsexuals. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44pERGAaKHw

1:27:00— 

Concern over what is being taught to children in public schools…

"Liberal Education is Not About Learning”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGhm0HtFAQ

“The Great Indoctrination #1: Pushing Sex on Young Children in School”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpT1ASMWc4E

Today's guest is my new friend Mike… a fellow son of a preacher man… although even MORE intense, he’s also the son of a preacher woman. Yep, hardcore. After chatting about his upbringing, we get into a plethora of topics, including what effective religion would look like, the validity of the Bible, this whole “Christianity is not a religion, it’s a relationship” thing, and although I’m a pretty tolerant, easy-going guy, I divulge what REALLY pisses me off. (Actually, there are a bunch of things that piss me off, but this one is pretty high on the list.)

Not a Confusianity Podcast subscriber? Press that Subscribe or Follow button. And for the love of god (if he were to exist), subscribe on YouTube! http://youtube.com/confusianity

Today's guest is my cousin-in-law Praveen. Although we grew up on opposite sides of the planet (me mostly in America and him in India) and having never even connected until the last few years, I'm amazed at how simpatico we are in terms of religion, politics, work ethic, society, etc.  Through our life experiences we've found ourselves neither here nor there... never fully belonging to any particular camp... instead, always curious, always skeptical, always learning, always growing, always hustling.

Specifically today Praveen will tell us what it was like growing up as a Christian in India amongst Hindus & Muslims.  We also discuss freedom from religious judgment, how people pick & choose scripture to suit their agendas, how for most people you cannot have it all, and how we identify as neither left nor right.  Also we pose the questions "What are you conforming to?" and "What is true diversity?"

Got questions? Got answers? Want more Confusianity?  Reach out and connect!  youtube.com/confusianity , instagram.com/confusianity , facebook.com/confusianity

SEX SEX SEX!  Now that I've got your attention, just wanted to let you know that in today's episode we talk about sex. ;)

My guest today is Twanna Hines (of funkybrownchick.com). She's a sex & relationships educator and entrepreneur... as well as a writer, performer, and a lot of other things. She's got an upcoming one-woman show at the 2019 Capital Fringe Festival called "We're All Going to Fucking Die!"  Details here:  https://funkybrownchick.com/show/

And now for some relevant links and information pertaining to what we discussed in today's episode...

Re:  Sex & irrational humans.  A good read: Carlo M. Cipolla, The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity...

https://advanced.jhu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/The-Basic-Laws-of-Human-Stupidity.pdf

===== 

Re: Abortion & miscarriage statistics...

===== 

Re: Sex education for kids (what's appropriate at what age)...

National Sexuality Education Standards Core Content and Skills, K–12 provides concrete guidelines and timelines for age-appropriate sex education. http://www.futureofsexed.org/documents/josh-fose-standards-web.pdf

Re:  Sexuality information & education council of the United States (SIECUS)...  siecus.org

===== 

Re: Morality & sex (that German cannibal!)...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/dec/04/germany.lukeharding

===== 

The exact Muhammad Ali quote...

"The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life."

===== 

Re: Positive sexuality from the church...

===== 

Re: Lizzo's views on self care...

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/self-care-has-be-rooted-self-preservation-not-just-mimosas-ncna993661

===== 

Re: Steven Spielberg's napkin prenup...

https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/carrie-star-amy-irving-2-5m-upper-west-side-pad-article-1.1982565

=====

Info and Tickets for Twanna's new show...

https://funkybrownchick.com/fringe

Today is our first *Christian* guest… Brian, a good friend of mine from high school days in Germany. The interesting twist in our friendship is that back in high school he was not religious at all whereas I of course was quite steeped in Christianity. But for the past 12 years or so… HE’S the Christian and I am the apostate. Today you’ll get to hear his story of how he became a believer, juxtaposed with my story of leaving the faith... and how our divergent views have played out in our friendship and respective lives.

In today’s episode, I interview my Australian friend Maree, who’s basically always been an atheist. We discuss the benefits of growing up withOUT religion, as well as other topics including critical thinking, identity vs ideas, health & beauty standards, religious views & public policy, the allure of religion, and what happens after we die. 

In this episode I interview my sister -- a fellow 1st-generation Indian American preacher's kid / Army brat (not many of that combo on the planet, and certainly not in the 1980s!)  We discuss what it was like growing up as Christians in the military and how our experiences have shaped our belief systems and lifestyle choices.  Uncensored, raw... truth be told... our sibling tales of religion fails.

Welcome to Episode 2 of the Confusianity podcast!  In this episode, I interviewed my friend Damian.  We start with a brief chat about his Catholic upbringing in Jamaica, and then take the conversation elsewhere… delving into several topics including free will, herd mentality, social media, politics, consciousness, and ultimately… the meaning of life (or lack thereof).

Welcome to the FIRST episode of the Confusianity podcast.  In this inaugural episode, we (2 preacher's kids) share our deconversion stories... how and why we left Christianity.  

It is no small feat to leave religion, which is often why religious people never actually make that leap of NONfaith.  Even though things don’t feel quite right, we tend to stick with what we were raised with… because it’s our identity, our upbringing, our heritage, our family, our social network, our mindset, our values, hell… it is our eternal destiny after we die.  It is, frankly… everything. 

And how do you leave everything behind or why would you want to?  Well… because for some of us, the truth is shouting so loud in our face, we cannot ignore it any longer.  We cannot go on living what feels like a lie… and even though we don’t have any clue what it’s like to NOT be Christian, we deem the new abyss worthy of exploring… and whether diving in headfirst or just dipping our toes in to feel it out… one way or another… we choose this other path.