My guest this week is Troy Moore-Heart. Troy grew up in an Evangelical family in Texas and described his childhood self as a “true-believing born-again Christian” who was baptized by his father at 6 in his grandmother’s church. Troy experienced religious trauma, the natural childhood fears given the purported reality of a spiritual realm all around him. Later in life, when he acknowledged his sexuality he “fervently believed [he] was going to hell.” When he eventually came out to his family he needed to put up healthy boundaries. Troy started to call himself an agnostic and not an atheist for fear of losing his relationship with his family. After marrying as an adult, he came to terms with his religious trauma and anti-queer shame. He discovered secular humanism as “an ideological and moral home.” Today, troy calls himself a progressive humanist, and he is focused on transformative justice. He is becoming a humanist celebrant. He supports projects like the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Y’all Means All and the Trevor Project. Troy also supports the thriving secular therapy community that is growing around trauma-informed therapy, including the Religious Trauma Institute and the Reclamation Collective. Troy requests that you consider signing the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Y’all Means All” pledge. “It’s become a galvanizing slogan to promote LGBTQ inclusion and advocacy in rural Southern communities.” Links Instagram https://www.instagram.com/troy.moore.heart/Y’all Means All http://www.yallmeansall.comThe Trevor Project https://www.thetrevorproject.org/Religious Trauma Institute https://www.religioustraumainstitute.com/Reclamation Collective https://www.reclamationcollective.com/American Humanist Association https://americanhumanist.org/ Interact Full show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/02/14/troy-moore-heart-yall-means-all/Deconversion How To https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

My guest this week is Meir-Simchah. Meir-Simchah Panzer lives in Jerusalem with his wife and their four children. He co-hosts the podcasts Two Christians And A Jew, with Frank M. Taylor and Dr. Jennifer Brown Jones, where the team dives into how Christians and Jews read the Hebrew Scriptures differently and what difference it makes for our lives, and the Artifact Podcast with Nachliel Selavan where ordinary objects become portals into the history, ideas, and existential mystery behind them. Formerly, he co-hosted Holy Madness – The Show, with Tzvi Zucker. Meir-Simchah is a student of Rabbi Matis Weinberg. He is a co-founder and executive at Ohalecha Arts and Events Center; he writes essays, poems, and stories; and he teaches the Hebrew language and Hebrew Scriptures for individuals and groups. Meir and I discuss his work on Two Christians and Jew, how he interacts with the Christians, what he actually thinks about Jesus and the NT, and the influence of secular Judaism on secular humanism. Links Two Christians and a Jew http://twochristiansandajew.com/ Twitter https://twitter.com/MeirSimchah Facebook Two Christians and a Jew discussion group https://www.facebook.com/groups/215152216739045Artifact page https://www.facebook.com/ArtifactPodcastArtifact discussion group https://www.facebook.com/groups/397213411493038 Email [email protected]. Interact Full show notes and book recommendations https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/02/07/meir-simchah-on-orthodox-judaism/ Rate and Review the Graceful Atheist Podcast Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/graceful-atheist-podcast-1136736Secular Grace https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Attribution “Waves” track written and produced by Makaih Beats Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

My returning guest this week is Alice Greczyn. Alice has written a new memoir called Wayward: Spiritual Warfare & Sexual Purity. In it, Alice tells the harrowing story of growing up in an Evangelical family that attempted to live by faith. They moved from place to place believing the “Lord would provide.” Alice describes it as being “homeless.” Alice came of age under the oppressive sexual and purity mores of the “Kiss Dating Goodbye” era. She tells the story of being shamed while on a mission trip to India for being “flirty.” As an adult in her 20s, in a desperate but final act of faith, Alice tests God. God fails. And Alice begins the difficult process of letting go of faith. This is a dark time of panic attacks, depression, and self-harm. With the help of secular therapy and the discovery of the term, Religious Trauma Syndrome, Alice began her recovery process. She studied the science of faith, neurotheology, and began to understand herself and those around her who still believed. In this new freedom, she rebuilt her life reclaiming her autonomy and discovering what real love feels like. On top of being an author, Alice is an advocate for those questioning their faith. Her organization, Dare to Doubt, is a resource for those who are no longer satisfied with their faith tradition’s explanations and demands. Links Wayward: Spiritual Warfare & Sexual Purity Limited supply of signed copies https://www.alicegreczyn.com/wayward-limited-signed-copy Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1632993546/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1632993546&linkCode=as2&tag=gracefula-20&linkId=cce5b264f1fe651344a691f03654a7f5 Dare To Doubt https://www.daretodoubt.org/ Interact Alice’s first appearance on the Graceful Atheist Podcast https://gracefulatheist.com/2019/07/25/alice-greczyn-dare-to-doubt/ Full Show Notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/01/31/alice-greczyn-wayward/ Rate and Review https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/graceful-atheist-podcast-1136736 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

My guest this week is Logan Thomas who blogs at Beyond Belief. Logan interned at St. Andrews, a famous church in the UK. He went on to Bible college and eventually perused a Master’s degree in theology where he studied biblical studies, biblical languages, history and textual criticism where he began to question. After discovering his sexuality, Logan came out during his internship at St. Andrews. He discusses coming out twice. He started with a more progressive view on homosexuality. But between the Church’s stances and the biblical texts, he realized these things could not be reconciled. We discuss the differences between UK and US churches handling of the LGBTQ community. Logan cares about the truth. As he was deconstructing what he believed about the bible based on what he was being taught at Bible college he came to a point where he could no longer believe. Logan tells his story with a great deal of honesty and self-reflection on his former faith. Now Logan has a social media presence where he blogs and creates videos asking questions about faith and doubt. Links Beyond Belief Blog https://www.beyondbelief-blog.com/ Twitter https://twitter.com/itsbeyondbelief Instagram https://www.instagram.com/its_beyondbelief/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw-jiLmRFSpxKuSldp7bzEQ/ Interact Full Show Notes https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2021/01/24/logan-beyond-belief/ Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Secular Grace https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/A Humanist Podcast https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/podcast/ Rate and Review the Graceful Atheist Podcast Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/graceful-atheist-podcast-1136736 Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

My guest this week is Erin. Erin is working toward her chaplaincy and her Master's degree in Practical Theology. She describes herself as “religious, but not spiritual.” Erin grew up in Northern Ireland. She was raised to respect all people. But when she was accepted by an Evangelical Presbyterian church she became in her words “the worst kind of fundamentalist.” This included deriding Catholics. At University she excelled and found herself attracted to more liberal theologies. She says she went from Evangelical to an Open Theist to a functional atheist (agnostic). Erin also happens to be on the Autism spectrum. This had an impact on her inability to accept things on faith. She needed logical consistency. But Erin still finds value in the Christian tradition. She plans to do good in the world as a chaplain. Links and recommendations Doubts and Loves by Richard Holloway https://www.amazon.com/Doubts-Loves-What-Christianity-Canons/dp/1786893924/ Autism Faith Network https://autismfaithnetwork.com Autism Pastor https://autismpastor.com/ Interact Full Show Notes https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2021/01/17/erin-religious-but-not-spiritual/Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Humanist Podcast https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/podcast/Secular Grace https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Rate and Review the Graceful Atheist Podcast Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/graceful-atheist-podcast-1136736 Make audio snippet quotes of the podcast Vurbl: https://vurbl.com/station/4hdO0KfiVRV/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is James. James is a former missionary to Haiti who was a part of the Pentecostal and Charismatic traditions. James took his Christianity very seriously and was sensitive to God speaking in his life. Through a series of realizations and life difficulties, James began to doubt what he had been taught about God matched reality. Later, exploring psychology he realized the cognitive biases and connotative dissonance he had lived under. James describes himself as more “emotional.” His story is an important one representing the way Christianity can play on emotions and “works” until real tragedy strikes. Special thanks to Mike T. for editing this episode. Links ExChristian Recovery https://www.reddit.com/r/exchristianrecovery/ Secular Therapy Project https://www.seculartherapy.org/ Interact Full show notes https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2021/01/10/james-deconversion-anonymous/ Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Rate and Review the Graceful Atheist Podcast Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/graceful-atheist-podcast-1136736 Make audio snippet quotes of the podcast Vurbl: https://vurbl.com/station/4hdO0KfiVRV/A secular humanist podcast: Graceful Atheist Podcast https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/podcast/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

My guest this week is Jon Steingard, the lead singer and guitarist for Hawk Nelson. In late spring of 2020, Jon posted a gut-wrenching confession on Instagram that he no longer believed in God. He is one of the more prominent recent high profile deconverts. Jon risked more than most by publicly acknowledging his lack of faith as his career was tied to the Christian music world. This confession and the public discussion of his loss of faith has and will continue to have reverberations throughout the Christian community for some time. Jon has made himself widely available to honestly and vulnerably tell his story both to the Christian community and to the atheist humanist communities. It is Jon’s honest seeking after truth and his willingness to respectfully engage apologists and other prominent Christians that are having such a large impact. He has become a safe person for others in the Christian world to discuss their doubts. In my conversation with Jon, he describes a major turning point in his life when he saw poverty, starvation, and abandonment of the Batwa children and community in Uganda. This began a quite reasonable time of questioning: if God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and good, why are the Batwa suffering? In January of 2021, Jon started a podcast and YouTube channel called The Wonder and Mystery of Being. Links Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jonsteingard/ Confession of his lack of belief https://www.instagram.com/p/CAbHm10lt7w/ The Wonder and The Mystery of Being podcast https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUjFcPl10_QMxoevHL4jLXg Twitter https://twitter.com/jonsteingard Response to Brian Houston https://twitter.com/jonsteingard/status/1313552919661342725 Interact Full show notes with quotes from the episode https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2021/01/03/jon-steingard-the-wonder-and-the-mystery-of-being/ Deconversion from Christianity https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/Jennifer Michael Hecht’s Doubt: A History https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2019/05/16/jennifer-michael-hecht-doubt-a-history/Clergy Project https://clergyproject.org/ Make audio snippet quotes of the podcast Vurbl: https://vurbl.com/station/4hdO0KfiVRV/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

My guest this week is my wife, Michelle. Though I have deconverted from Christianity, Michelle is very much a dedicated Christian. We still love each other and we are making it work in an “unequally yoked” relationship. We have an honest conversation about how we got to now and how we go forward in the future. Michelle does work that is social work adjacent. She is a better practicing humanist than I am. I admire her for who she is as a person. I admire her for the work she does. And, yes, I admire her for her faith. We sit down at our kitchen table for an honesty contest. You can hear the love, but you can also hear the tension and the hurt. We discuss how we met, how we have “deconstructed” over the years, when I told her I could no longer believe, and how we are making it work “unequally yoked.” In this episode, we respond to listener questions about our loving relationship when one of us believes and the other does not. Send in your questions for a potential future episode with Michelle and me. Links Unequally Yoked verse 2 Corinthians 6:14 – 15 https://www.bible.com/bible/107/2CO.6.14-15.NET Recovery From Religion has a resource page with a section entitled: Spouses/ Partners With Mixed Belief Systems (from a secular perspective) https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/religious-resources Unequally Yoked (from the Christian perspective) https://thriveglobal.com/stories/what-does-it-mean-to-be-unequally-yoked/ Interact Chosen Family Grace https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2020/11/14/chosen-family-grace/ Michelle and I discuss her listening to the Sarah: Believing Spouse of an Atheist Deconvert episode https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2019/12/12/sarah-believing-spouse-of-an-atheist-deconvert/ Full Show Notes https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2020/12/13/michelle-a-loving-unequally-yoked-relationship/ Rate and review the podcast Podchaser https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/graceful-atheist-podcast-1136736 Vurbl https://vurbl.com/station/4hdO0KfiVRV/ Attribution Photo Sneha ss, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons Music"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

This week’s show is a Deconversion Anonymous episode. My guest this week is Colin. Colin absorbed his mother’s Evangelical Christianity. He has mostly good memories of the people in church. He bounced from his mother’s to his father’s families never quite fitting in. He hung on to his Christianity long after he recognized it no longer brought him “positive results” out of fear of losing everything: salvation, community, and identity. My first and only real religion is inclusion. Colin’s doubts began young with a dynamic Sunday school teacher who was not allowed to preach in church and a gay uncle he was not supposed to approve of. Colin recognized that love demands inclusion. He felt it was his moral obligation to be inclusive. In his late twenties, in therapy, he experienced true acceptance. Even while he was explaining to his therapist he was still a virgin, having been a part of the purity culture of the ’90s. Colin’s story takes a dramatic turn of self-discovery. He discovers himself and discovers his voice. He then experienced more acceptance telling his story of recovering from growing up Evangelical to non-christian audiences. Colin tells his story with rawness, honesty and a great deal of humor. Interact Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/deconversion/ Colin mentions a post I wrote on apologetcis: What If I Grant That https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2016/11/26/what-if-i-grant-you-that/ Colin mentions my friend Bryce interviewing me https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2020/06/26/bryce-harrington-interviews-the-graceful-atheist/ Full show notes https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2020/11/29/colin-deconversion-anonymous/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

My guest this week is Barrett Evans, author of The Contemplative Skeptic. Barrett wrote the book for those who are skeptical but drawn to spirituality.  A former evangelical seminarian and ex-Roman Catholic, Barrett is an agnostic who has retained a fascination with contemplative spirituality.  Building on what he learned in his divinity, counseling, and historical studies, he draws on hundreds of religious and secular sources in an effort to combine honest doubt with the best of contemplative experience. It is proper to doubt. We discuss how honesty and humility lead to doubt. Barrett’s look at comparative religion reveals the reasons for doubt and the wisdom of a contemplative life. We ask what does it mean to be “spiritual.” The tremendous range of religious diversity is one of the greatest reasons for skepticism towards any particular religious belief. Links The Contemplative Skeptic https://www.amazon.com/Contemplative-Skeptic-Spirituality-Non-Religious-Unorthodox-ebook/dp/B085W7F7WB/ Barrett’s website https://www.americannone.com/ Honest Doubt https://www.americannone.com/post/doubt-and-the-good-life Twitter https://twitter.com/ContemplativeS4 Interact Secular Humanist Graces Thanksgiving secular grace sayings https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/secular-grace/ Steps to deconversion https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Critique of Apologetics https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/critique-of-apologetics/ Full show notes https://gracefulatheist.wordpress.com/2020/11/15/barrett-evans-the-contemplative-skeptic/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats  Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/