Graceful Atheist Podcast

This week's show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. This week's guest is Anne. Anne grew up in a loving and happy Christian home in a large city where her father pastored a small reformed church. As a teen, her faith was very real to her, and a few years later, she attended a Christian college, but struggled mentally and physically. Anne left that school and attended a Bible college, but she quickly realized she would be excluded from most ministry opportunities because of her gender. After a short and sometimes insulting experience in children's ministry and then a sickness that went on for man years, Anne felt like God had "benched" her, but she continued praying and hoping. Over the next many years, Anne's family met one obstacle after another—toxic or cult-like churches, physical and mental illnesses, Christians backing Trump and even loved ones passing away. Finally, she couldn't take any more. "I couldn't hear from God…I couldn't worship. I couldn't hypnotize myself with the piano. I couldn't do anything…[I was] done." Then during the Pandemic, Anne read a single book that made her stop and think for a moment. Then, her questions started coming and couldn't be stopped. From the outside, it may seem like Anne's deconversion was quick, but she had given God plenty of time to reveal himself. Recommendations

• The Lasting Supper
• Deconversion Anonymous
• Harmonic Atheist
• MythVision
• Bart Ehrman
• Darkmatter2525
• Holy Koolaid

Books #AmazonPaidLinks
Jesus & John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
https://amzn.to/388uqxl Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2022/05/08/anne-deconversion-anonymous/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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This week's guest is artist Ursula Schneider. As a child, neither her charismatic church nor her unstable home were safe for her. There was a lot of mental illness at home and Ursula often felt abandoned by the church. Their family was simply "too much." Ursula grew up, married young and began going to church again. As an adult, she needed something real to her. She saw that something in the women at church, so she dove right in—daily prayer, bible studies, women's retreats, all of it. But Ursula kept bumping up against a certain church doctrine: women cannot teach men. She was a gifted leader and teacher but church after church kept her out of the pulpit. At the last church she attended, Ursula faced the greatest challenge yet to her faith. Over the span of a few months, she and her husband went from being well-respected leaders to losing their entire community. Ursula went through a depressive state and cried out to God, but no answer came. Over the next few years, Ursula would make beautiful art, write for herself and continue to question her religious beliefs. Since leaving, Ursula has dabbled in other faiths, wondering if any will fit her. Nothing has yet, but she is learning and growing as a whole person. She no longer has to squash part of herself or silence her own curiosity. Ursula's art and writing empower others to exist as their whole selves in the world and to see beauty and inspiration in the world around them. Ursula Schneider art exhibition through May 25th 2022, at D&R Art Gallery and Studio in Tucson, AZ. Links Website
https://www.ursulaschneider.art/ Personal FaceBook
https://www.facebook.com/ursula.d.schneider/ Business facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/ursulaschneiderart Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/ursula_schneider_art/ People can also email me at [email protected] Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2022/05/01/ursula-schneider/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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CW Mental health and depression This week's guest is Andrew Pledger. Andrew has spent nearly his entire life in the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church—where the KJV rules and women do not. Andrew was homeschooled K-12 with a mildly white Christian nationalist curriculum, no sex education and no diverse friendships. For years, Andrew's mental health suffered, but there were no resources for him. He was told that he wasn't "reading the Bible enough" and "needed to get closer to God." In college, Andrew knew he needed professional help but at a fundamentalist Christian college, there was only "biblical counseling". The first two years were excruciating. Eventually, however, with a little community and a lot of research, Andrew took his mental health into his own hands. He started asking difficult questions about the Bible, and it was not long before the foundations began to crumble. Since leaving Christianity, Andrew has lived out secular grace. He is spreading awareness about toxic religion and working toward becoming a religious trauma therapist. His personal experience of freedom compels him to help others find the same freedom. Links Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/4ndrewpledger/ Josh Harris Interview
https://www.instagram.com/tv/Ca–9vFAxqs/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= Photo Series
https://www.instagram.com/4ndrewpledger/guide/religious-trauma-photo-series/17999363926411608/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= Website
https://4ndrewpledger.mypixieset.com Link aggregator
https://liinks.co/4ndrewpledger Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2022/04/24/andrew-pledger-religious-trauma-awareness/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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This week's guest is Robert Peoples of Affinis Humanity. Robert grew up in a Black Baptist church in New Jersey. When he was young, he enjoyed church but was an inquisitive child with many questions and no satisfying answers. As a teenager, Robert looked for answers outside the church—from Thomas Paine to Allah to the Buddha. By 18 years old, Robert could no longer believe in anything supernatural. His understanding of the world came from philosophy, history and science. This was incredibly difficult for his family, but they continued to faithfully love and support him. One frustration Robert has with the Black church community is that it works to change unjust systems but then uses phrases like, "We couldn't have done this without God." In recent years, Robert has been working with a political non-profit to ensure the "separation of state and church" and to change unjust policies. Human suffering is caused less by individuals "in need of heart change," and more by systemic racism, homophobia, classism and other inequities. [Humanism] has increased my love for humanity exponentially.
I no longer love people with conditions. In the midst of all the work to be done, Robert is hopeful. He is effecting change in the world and reminding others that "being human is enough." He stands in awe of the beauty of nature, his daughters and this short life. His story is one of world-changing secular grace. Links Affinis Humanity
https://www.affinishumanity.org/Secular Coalition for Arizona
https://secularaz.org/ Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2022/04/10/robert-peoples-affinis-humanity/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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This week's guest is Luke J. Janssen, M.Sc., Ph.D., M.T.S., Professor Emeritus, Dept. Medicine, McMaster University, and co-host of the Recovering Evangelicals podcast. He is a scientist in medical research. During a faith crisis he began taking courses on theology which turned into an M.T.S degree. Luke tells his story in four 15 year phases: his early years as a nominal Reformed Christian, his young adulthood as a Pentecostal/Charismatic fundamentalist, a desconstruction phase, and where he is now, with a "small part of him that won't let go" and a belief in a creative force. Luke and his co-host, Boyd Blundell, cover many aspects of desconstruction on the Recovering Evangelicals podcast. They discuss various apologetic and scientific arguments and honestly reveal what they do an do not believe now and why. Links Website
https://lukejjanssen.wordpress.com/ Recovering Evangelicals
https://lukejjanssen.wordpress.com/recovering-evangelicals/ Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2022/04/03/luke-janssen-recovering-evangelicals/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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This week's Deconversion Anonymous guest is Bethany. Bethany grew up in the Pacific Northwest, attending an Assemblies of God church. It was an insular experience of their brand of Christianity against the world. The older Bethany got, the scarier the church doctrines—eternal torment, losing one's salvation, the Apocalypse, faith healing that doesn't always work and even demons under her bed. Bethany was a conscientious and sensitive teen. She ardently believed what she was taught and would believe even if it led to martyrdom. In college, Bethany got exposed to reformed theology and progressive Christianity. She began to think, "There is no, 'God says,' or 'Scripture says.' These are all interpretations." After college, Bethany moved to California. She immediately joined a church, but it wasn't the same. She was no longer tied to it the way she had been; she finally had space to think for herself. In California, Bethany's been able to think, hike, read and realize who she is without outside influence, but it hasn't been easy. She's been afraid and uncertain, still haunted by some of her old beliefs. But she is free and life is full even while she is still "in process." Book Recommendations #PaidAmazonLinks Untamed by Glennon Doyle
https://amzn.to/3IHW945 Educated by Tara Westover
https://amzn.to/3tHRif2 Wayward by Alice Greczyn
https://amzn.to/3JHKFi5 Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion My interviews with Alice Greczyn
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/01/31/alice-greczyn-wayward/
https://gracefulatheist.com/2019/07/25/alice-greczyn-dare-to-doubt/ Full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2022/03/27/bethany-deconversion-anonymous/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/ Picture of Mt. Rainier by Bethany

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This week's guest is April Ajoy, viral Tiktok'r, youTuber and podcaster. She is a "recovering conservative humorously detoxing religion." April had a unique childhood. She was homeschooled and spent half of each year in Pentacostal spaces and the other half traveling the US with her family, singing and evangelizing. Her parents were evangelists and her grandfather was a pastor of a megachurch, so even as a young person April had seen cracks in the traditions and beliefs. She didn't see them as systemic, though, only random, separate incidents. Over the next decade, tragedy hits April's family and God does not step in to thwart it, a family member comes out to her and she realizes she cannot continue believing much of what white Christianity has painted as "good news". Today, much of April's childhood beliefs have been dissected and thrown out, but she is loving others in a much deeper way. She still considers herself a Christian and is fighting injustices in her own creative way. "Humor is how I cope with trauma." On social media, April tackles all the difficult subjects—white supremacy, misogyny, purity culture, the absurd things evangelicals post online and more! She brings levity and fun to serious topics in a way that will make you laugh out and that is good medicine. Links TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@aprilajoy Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/aprilajoy/ Twitter
https://twitter.com/aprilajoyr Evangelicalish on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/c/Evangelicalish Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2022/03/20/april-ajoy-evangelicalish/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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This is the three year anniversary of the Graceful Atheist Podcast. Thank you to everyone who has listened and participated. Special thanks to Mike T and Arline for their work on the podcast over the past year. This week's guest is Ryan Mulkowsky. Ryan grew up Independent Fundamentalist Baptist. He made a "profession of faith" when he was nine years old and was reading Christian apologetics before he was twelve. By fourteen, Ryan was "licensed" by the church and started teaching. Ryan's mental health suffered during adolescence. Whether at home, school or church, no place was safe for him to grow and change—strict dress codes, young-earth creationism, white-centered history books and virtually no sexual education. Ryan went to one university that was even more conservative and strict than his high school, left and graduated from another with a degree in apologetics. But Ryan knew he wanted to be with people. Soon Ryan was introduced to healthcare chaplaincy. For the first time, seeing people up-close in great physical and emotional need. He was also introduced to other religious faiths—Buddhism Orthodox Judaism and progressive Christianity. Ryan is a now a secular humanist, married with a family and working as a grief coordinator for Hospice. His life has both meaning and purpose without religion. He is living out secular grace by  providing comfort and peace in some of humanity's most vulnerable moments. Links Blog
https://www.ryanmulkowsky.com/ Twitter
http://twitter.com/ryanmulkowsky Instagram
http://instagram.com/ryanmulkowsky Some Random Thoughts Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/some-random-thoughts/id1523342430 Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2022/10/13/ryan-mulkowsky-some-random-thoughts/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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This week's guest is Marla Taviano, author of Unbelieve: Poems on the Journey to Becoming a Heretic. Marla grew up in Middle America and moved across the globe and back, searching for God's will for her life. She grew up in a loving home and didn't realize she was in a "white Christian bubble." Her church was almost all-white, her hometown was almost completely white, and then after high school, Marla attended an even smaller completely white, conservative Christian college. Marla's first inkling that something was missing came when she read the book, The Hole in Our Gospel. She had read the Bible many, many times over the years, and here was a new revelation—2,000+ verses about helping the poor? four-letter words
if you've never lived inside / the bubble of
evangelical Christianity it / might surprise you
to find that l-o-v-e / and p-o-o-r were new
and controversial subjects for me / at age 35 Less than a decade later, while she and her family were part of a multiethnic church plant, Marla began to see more "holes" in her Christianity, namely racism and white supremacy. Her eyes were slowly beginning to open. Since 2015, Marla has been back and forth to Cambodia, written a book of poetry, started an incredibly popular bookstagram, been through a painful divorce, connected tons of people to one another and is still sharing her knowledge and wisdom with her followers. In her search for truth, Marla asks often, "Is this loving to my neighbor?" She may not be certain what her beliefs are right now, but she does believe that love is what will change the world. Links Amazon Paid Links
Unbelieve: Poems on the Journey to Becoming a Heretic
https://amzn.to/3sLNpoR Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/marlataviano/
https://www.instagram.com/whitegirllearning/ Twitter
https://twitter.com/marlataviano Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2022/03/06/marla-taviano-unbelieve/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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This week's guest is Meghan Crozier, the writer behind The Pursuing Life blog and co-host of Thereafter Podcast. Meghan grew up in an Evangelical Free church and she was all in. After high school, she went to a christian university, signing a pledge to become a missionary. Her life turned out differently, and though it took years to be okay with that, she is now extremely thankful she never became a missionary. At the beginning of the pandemic while so much was changing in everyone's lives, she clung to her faith. She journaled, prayed for an hour and read her bible every morning. Since 2020, she began to see other aspects of her church that she could not unsee—homophobia, gaslighting, ableism. Then the January 6th insurrection happened. After her church's response to this disturbing event, Meghan knew she had to reconsider almost everything her life. Meghan now holds her Christianity very loosely. She's found community and connection online through Twitter, and through her blog and podcast. Meghan is an important voice in the deconstruction world, influencing people with the spoken and written word. Links Twitter
https://twitter.com/thepursuinglife
https://twitter.com/thereafterpod The Pursuing Life
https://www.thepursuinglife.com/ Thereafter Podcast
https://linktr.ee/thereafterpod Prog/Post Xian Deconstruction Coffee Hour
6 AM PST / 9 AM EST on Twitter Spaces Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2022/02/27/meghan-crozier-prog-post-christian-deconstruction/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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