Graceful Atheist Podcast

This week's guest is the Nigerian podcaster, The Ranting Atheist. He grew up in a strict Pentacostal church where his parents were ministers. At home, his parents were tough on him and his brothers, and made sure they attended Christian schools, even into university. While TRA was in university, following all the rules, his parents parents were rising in the ranks of their church. All was well until "church politics" got them. After that, his parents' health began to decline, but TRA was still a believer. But as years passed and Nigeria suffered an economic recession, TRA's faith in the Christian God started to wane. Between conversations about the Bible with a friend, Youtuber DarkMatter2525 and a false prophet in his church, many seeds of doubt were planted. As an atheist, TRA wanted to find a way to assist other Nigerian atheists. His podcast The Ranting Atheist has been the perfect tool. Every weekend a new episode is released "to let Nigerian atheists know that they are not crazy and they are not alone." TRA is living out graceful atheism one podcast episode at a time. Links The Ranting Atheist Podcast
https://www.podpage.com/TRAtheist/ Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/tratheistpod/ Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group! Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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This week's guest is Jeffrey Caldwell. Jeffrey grew up in Lancaster county, PA in a liberal denomination set in a conservative area. As a child, church was okay; it was filled with the usual things—bible crafts in Sunday school and singing in the choir. His family was "quasi-religious." It was good for children to have morals, but no one was pressured to believe anything. Jeffrey had doubted whether Christianity was real throughout middle school. Neither his parents nor his siblings took it very seriously. He left church in high school but was still searching for meaning. Music, books and movies filled the space that religion often does. Eventually, his interest expanded to include philosophy, politics, social justice, all influenced by the "oldies" his dad played in the car. In his twenties, Jeffrey struggled with mental health issues and after a surprise encounter with church, he knew he was missing community. He didn't fit in with the traditional religions, so he tried the UU church. Then he got involved in progressive politics and social justice, and eventually went to seminary. In seminary, Jeffrey became a chaplain. Now, Jeffrey has created a thriving online and in-person community, Connections Humanist Community. Each week, people share stories and conversations. They belong to a  community where they are valued and heard. Jeffrey is living out what it means to be a "graceful atheist." Links Connections Humanist Community
https://www.meetup.com/connections-humanist-community/ Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group! Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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This week's episode is Natalie. Natalie grew up in a traditional Christian household, one of six kids. Living in the South and attending a Southern Baptist church most of her childhood and adolescence, however, left a bad taste in her mouth. One place she found solace? Books. Natalie was an avid reader from a young age and reading authors like Judy Blume opened her eyes to a whole good and happy world outside of her Christian bubble. Fictional, though it was, that world made her wonder, "How can [my family] be so unhappy and still have these beliefs about this religion?" Natalie escaped the South at seventeen for a few years and began seriously examining her childhood faith. Even as she was questioning her beliefs, she still lived amidst the family chaos, a daily reminder that she needed to escape again. Eventually, after a quick and clandestine wedding, she and her husband moved away. It's been a while since Natalie deconverted, and she has lived a fulfilling life, with both happy times and hard times. Today, seeing those who are deconstructing their faith, she empathizes deeply . Author Recommendations

• Judy Blume
• Grace Livingston Hill

Interact Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats https://makaihbeats.net/ "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/ This week's episode is Matt Oxley. Matt has what he calls a "Bapti-costal" background—mainstream Southern Baptist with "some extra flair and drama." At six, he was saved, by thirteen he was "hardcore about faith" and by high school, his beliefs were his whole world. However, when he was nineteen he left church over doctrinal issues, for a called it a "sabbatical" and took a few years to genuinely examine his convictions. He knew he had to believe the "cardinal doctrines," if he was to accept all the other beliefs. But how much could he see was wrong and still ignore it? He was no longer one hundred percent sure he believed in God, much less Christianity, and it didn't feel like God was doing anything to help him believe. Eventually he admitted to himself that he was an atheist. At first, he became an "anti-apologist," spreading a different gospel, but over time he has found a balance. Now that eternal retribution is no longer a possibility, Matt holds his beliefs lightly. He is able to parlay with both Christians and humanists, asking hard questions and stirring up all kinds of discussion—Biblical history, Jesus versus Paul, fundamentalism, capitalism, sexuality, and more. Today, Matt's gospel is love. He no longer believes in a god or in struct doctrines, but he is optimistic about the church's future. He's influencing it for the better, once kind and hard conversation at a time. Links Raging Rev
https://ragingrev.com/ Pastor With No Answers
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pastor-with-no-answers-and-friends-podcast/id1046402610 Interact Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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This week's guest is Judah. Judah grew up "Church of God, Pentecostal adjacent," where Judah's father was convinced, "God is alive in these people." By eight years old, Judah was speaking in tongues and absorbed into eschatology—the study of the end times. Around ten, at a more "separatist" church, the family started homeschooling. His church and family were convinced they were right and everyone else was wrong. Answers in Genesis was the science curriculum, but Judah was also exposed to science on public television. As a teen, another pillar began to crack. Judah believed his attraction to guys and girls was sinful. It felt like God was two opposing forces—one god you lean into for love and grace, the other shames and condemns you. Judah doubled down on young earth creationism and repressing his sexual attractions and dove deeper into eschatology. The family's eschatology changed over time, but 2012 was the year the end of the world would come. Eventually 2012 comes and 2012 goes. This undid Judah. He spends the next three years learning what else was not true, debunking creationism, conspiracies and various theological matters. Judah was a more liberal Christian for a while but eventually science and logic led him to become an agnostic atheist. He came out with his beliefs to his family in dramatic fashion and hasn't looked back. His future is in his own hands and whether his family takes responsibility for their beliefs and actions during his childhood is in theirs. He now lives a life true to himself and his own values and ethics. Links Judah's blog
https://jmedic.medium.com/ Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group! Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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This week's guest is Will from Heretical Theology. Will grew up in a Methodist church until high school, when he began attending youth group in what he now calls the, "cult church."  Years later, will he and his wife were still at that church, he would have a seemingly supernatural experience at his brother's church in Florida. The decide to move, and not only was there a megachurch waiting for them, there was also Disney World! Will and his wife dove right in! They served at the megachurch for about five years when his wife began to doubt her beliefs. Eventually, Will resigned himself to being alone in his faith. Slowly, however, Will's fundamentalist beliefs shifted. He wanted to understand the Bible better, so he could understand his wife better. He decided to take off his "Jesus colored glasses," and read the Bible differently. It wasn't long before he had a number of issues with what he was reading. Then enters the Republican nomination of Donald Trump. Will felt like he was in the "twilight zone," not understanding how Christians were getting behind Trump. He and his wife stopped going to the main services but were still in small group. The pastor met with Will to discuss "ministry," but instead Will needed to pour out all his questions and concerns. The pastor dismissed them. It may not have been intentional, but it still hurt. A few months later, he knew he no longer believed. Today, Will uses Instagram to share what's learned from the Bible. "I know some shit about the Bible, and I would like to put that to some good use." He's taking the "decades of useless Bible knowledge" he has to teach and challenge people, in hopes that his followers will outgrow him and move on to do amazing things. Recommendations:

• Sam Harris (books & podcast)
• Bart Ehrman (books & classes on Wondrium)
• Paulogia (YouTube)
• Yuval Noah Harari (Books: Homo Deus, 21 lessons for the 21st century & Sapiens)

Links Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/heretical_theology/ Am I happier?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CXM4sStrey2/ Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group! Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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This week's returning guest is Carlene! She grew up in the Independent Church of Christ—a cappella music, wholly male leadership, baptism before heaven and Biblical inerrancy. One church teaching that took up too much emotional energy was the constant push to be baptized. She was told, "you'll feel so much better when you do it. You'll feel so clean." But it felt inauthentic to publicly say, "I'm a sinner," when she didn't feel like that was true. Carlene's home life was similar to church life—patriarchal, authoritarian, traditional and conservative. Carlene was an obedient child who did not question authority, so she remembers a healthy, happy childhood. Her two sisters, however, remember profoundly different childhoods. In high school, Sunday school lessons were always about "staying pure." Her boyfriend started going to church with her. They followed the rules and were eventually baptized at the same time. It wasn't long, however, before Carlene's beliefs would become real to her. Carlene's boyfriend went into the military and was sent to Afghanistan. She prayed and prayed for his safety, and at the time it seemed like he returned home safely. They got married and have been married for ten years. Over time, however, they have learned that there are both visible wounds and invisible. While in college, Carlene first learned about evolution. It was this plus friends coming out as gay, working as a police detective and eventually the election of Donald Trump that, over many years, made her question again and again what she had always been taught. It was "the death of a thousand cuts," and it took almost a decade, but Carlene is now an atheist who finds a glorious sense of awe and wonder in nature without Christian beliefs "taking up space and living rent-free" in her mind. Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group! Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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This week's guest is Derek Webb, musician, song writer and public deconstructor. For 10 years, Derek was a member of the Christian rock band, Caedmon's Call. He then went on to a solo career where he focused on self reflection in his art. During that time, Derek began to desconstruct. He did so publicly in his music and on social media. For Derek's Fingers Crossed album, "the tale of two divorces," Derek made himself available to his audience for criticism. He and his team turned this into the podcast, The Airing of Grief. What could have been a public expression of anger and hostility at Derek's change of heart, wound up being people describing their own deconstruction. It was a poignant reminder that we are not alone in this process. Derek's next album, Targets, is a joyous and rebellious rock celebration of deconstruction. Derek's current project, The Jesus Hypothesis, takes a second look at his former theological beliefs. For this project, Derek has made himself even more available to his audience by live streaming the writing and recording process for his Patreon supporters. Derek is the perfect guest for the podcast as his art, music and personal style exemplify an both honesty contest and Secular Grace. Links Derek's Website
https://www.derekwebb.com/ The Airing Of Grief
https://www.theairingofgrief.com/ Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/derekwebb/ Patreon
https://patreon.com/derekwebb Interact Full show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2022/01/02/derek-webb-the-jesus-hypothesis/Is it just that I had the wrong image of god?
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/11/17/is-it-just-that-i-had-the-wrong-image-of-god/The Bubble
https://gracefulatheist.com/2018/01/15/the-bubble/Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution Transition music by Derek Webb from the Fingers Crossed album "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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Ask Me Anything 2021. Questions from Sheila, Emily, Rick and Mark, Jimmy, Arline, Judah, and Matt. Links Deconversion How To
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Still Unbelievable
https://anchor.fm/still-unbelievable/episodes/Episode-39—Deconstructing-a-Deconstruction-Deconstruction-els542
https://anchor.fm/still-unbelievable/episodes/Episode-64—Discussing-Sean-McDowell-and-John-Marriot-on-deconversion-part-1-e195h0h Paulogia on Babylon Bee's ExVangelicals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMFQJPKYK28 Exvangelical on Evangelical response to Deconstruction
https://www.irreverent.fm/show/exvangelical-1/on-the-deconstruction-discourse/ Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Anthony Pinn
https://gracefulatheist.com/2020/08/23/dr-anthony-pinn-humanism-and-race/ Amy Rath
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/06/06/amy-rath-nonelife/ Bart campolo
https://gracefulatheist.com/2020/07/09/bart-campolo-humanize-me/ Why I am not an Anti-Theist
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/10/17/why-i-am-not-an-anti-theist/ My Deconversion Sotry
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/09/10/common-message/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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The Holidays: The Big White Elephant in the Room When one has deconverted, the holidays may look completely different, reexamining everything from family traditions to singing carols to dealing with those extended family members. On today's episode, two returning guests, Arline and Lars and a new guest, Carlene, share how the holidays have and haven't changed since deconversion. Lars and Arline go into what it's like to be an unbelieving parent during the holidays, navigating the mythologies of Santa and Jesus. Children ask genuine questions, and they expect genuine answers. The group discusses what they have not given up, among other things, singing Christmas carols. Carols are different than singing religious songs at church, more cultural than sacred. For some, however, it takes a little self-discipline to sing along without critiquing the lyrics. The guests also examine what they have thrown in the trash bin completely, including, but not limited to, the phrase "Merry Christmas" and all those nativity scenes. Holidays spent with extended family can be especially challenging, regardless of religious beliefs. Each person is finding their own unique ways of making the most of their time with family, especially being grateful. Religion does not own the rights to thanksgiving. Lastly, Carlene, David, Lars and Arline consider some new traditions they've started or would like to start. Nature is the easiest place to experience awe and wonder, and everyone discussed ways to be in nature more this winter. Also, creating new traditions can be awkward and may not always turn out quite like we hope. It is a lovely conversation, full of hope and lots of humor. Book Recommendations #PaidLinks Small Creatures Such as We by Sasha Sagan
https://amzn.to/3dobtFO Grace Without God by Katherine Ozment
https://amzn.to/3oqmUmP Good Without God by Greg Epstein
https://amzn.to/3opdjwg Interact Send in a recorded AMA question
https://anchor.fm/gracefulatheist/messageDeconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/ Photo by Thomas Bormans on Unsplash

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