This week’s guest is Jeremy Schumacher. Jeremy’s story begins in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and it was as culty as it sounds. He started questioning the beliefs when he was ten, but it took twenty more years before he was able to leave. “Two things really kept me in [Christianity] longer than I needed to stay or wanted to stay: fear of hell…and everyone I knew and interacted with was Lutheran, just not having any sense of community outside of the church…” Jeremy is currently a “licensed marriage & family therapist with additional specialties in religious trauma and sports performance.” See his complete bio here. Links Wellness With Jer https://wellnesswithjer.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/wellnesswithjer/ Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/10/15/jeremy-schumacher-wellness-with-jer/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist 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/

This week is a solo episode with David talking about the state of the podcast. Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/10/08/graceful-atheist-solo-october-2023/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist 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/

This week’s guest is Mandi. Mandi grew up in a mixed Jewish and Christian home, attending a Messianic temple. She loved every minute of it as a kid and cherishes her memories. In high school and as a young adult, though, she began to ask questions, and as we’ve seen in religion time and time again, her questions were dismissed. After incredible and full years of life—moving to Israel, returning to Georgia, joining an Orthodox Jewish community, getting married, and having children—she identifies as an agnostic atheist. “It’s been so good for my mental health, to not believe, to stop praying.” Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/10/01/mandi-deconversion-from-messianic-judaism/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist 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/

This week’s guest is Jordon. Jordon comes from a long family line of Mennonites but Jordon was bookish and musical and never quite fit in. He grew up in the church, but with two older brothers already having left the church, by 21 he was also out. He’d never had a television, gone to public school, or really knew anything beyond the small bubble he was in. University changed all of that. “The sense of community I was getting from the friendships I was making outside of these church communities…was really kind of gratifying.” Over years of therapy and some world-traveling, Jordon has come to terms with his upbringing. He’s found fulfillment as a professor, discussing philosophy with students and continuing to learn and grow. Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/09/24/jordon-mennonite-to-philosopher/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist 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/

This week’s guest is Nora. Nora grew up in Argentina, the granddaughter of Italian immigrants, and Argentina still has her heart. When Nora was in middle school, her father believed God wanted him to become a missionary to the US. The family’s move to California was all loss, culture shock, and homesickness for Nora. Between church doctrine on divorce, enduring an abusive marriage, Christian Nationalism, and questions that kept coming, Nora stayed in Christianity as long as she could stand it. She truly tried to make it all work. “I did it on my own…I can say, for sure, God was not there for me, not emotionally, not spiritually, obviously not practically.”Nora is now “allergic to spirituality.” She’s an atheist, no longer needing any god or religion to dictate her life. She lives out secular grace, aligning her life with her deepest values. Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/09/17/nora-mk-to-the-usa/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist 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/

This week’s guest is Tracey. Tracey spent her childhood in a white American Christian home where Focus on the Family reigned and “Obey right away” was the expectation. She was a believer as an adolescent but began asking hard questions in high school. As a young adult, she saw how prideful the leaders were and how easily Christians were pulled in. “That’s a theme through my whole experience of Christianity…Christians are actually attracted to narcissists…People are drawn to or encouraged to seek answers from narcissists.” As an adult, Tracey became Catholic, only to see the same threads running through—narcissism, misogyny, racism, abuse and more. In the past few years, Tracey’s found solace in yoga, meditation and nature. She’s grown and been changed, not through the religious Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/09/10/tracey-focus-on-the-family-to-none/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist 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/

This week’s guest is Mary Justice, the heart behind the delightful Instagram account, @maryfairyboberry. Mary is an international adoptee who grew up in an emotionally and verbally abusive Seventh-Day Adventist home. Between home and church, there were rules that dictated her entire life. “It’s just so much fanaticism.” As an adult, she has a family she cares for without the abuse or micro-managing from high-control religion. She’s been through a lot, but she’s choosing to laugh and enjoy her present life. Check out her Instagram account @maryfairyboberry for her own personal journey, cute kid videos, information on autism, and hilarious tweets about parenting. Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/09/02/mary-justice-deconstruction-from-sda/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist 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/

This week’s guest is Amanda. Amanda comes from a rather surprising brand of Christianity she refers to as the “Serpent Seed Pentecostal Cult.” She goes into detail, and it’s quite a ride. Various things happened throughout her adolescence that made her wonder if Christianity was true, but her mother would violently put a quick stop to those doubts. By 17, Amanda left home to live with a friend, but that couldn’t last long. Amanda spent a decade trying out every religion under the sun but never found the one that could give real, solid answers. “Everybody thinks that they have the answer but nobody does.” Today, she knows she doesn’t need the gods to dictate her life. She’s living it to the fullest and always moving forward. Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/08/27/amanda-deconversion-from-an-unnamed-cult/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist 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/

This week’s guest is MJ, the heart and mind behind the Instagram account, @dissident_daughters MJ grew up in a conservative evangelical home where Focus on the Family reigned and her whole world consisted of family, church friends, and a few Christian homeschooling families. She believed wholeheartedly, feeling all the existential pressure as a child to “save” everyone around her. As a young woman, MJ was surrounded by social workers while in college, and these colleagues were curious. They didn’t ask theological questions; they asked political questions, but for MJ it was all connected. She went to her pastor and was dismissed again and again. “I started asking myself, What are the criteria? What are [church leaders] really looking for? They’re looking for somebody who doesn’t question, doesn’t challenge the status quo, doesn’t have a viewpoint that encompasses anything that includes the world along with Christianity.” Now MJ uses her love of books and art to encourage others to hear different perspectives—one’s inner life, relationships, systemic injustices, religion, and spirituality. Besides lengthening Arline’s personal To-Be-Read list, MJ’s Instagram has shown her that whatever one is convinced is true, there are other possible ways to view it. Links Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dissident_daughters Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/08/20/mj-dissident-daughters/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist 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/

Dr. Darrel Ray is the founder and President of the Board of Directors of Recovering from Religion and the founder and project leader of the Secular Therapy Project. See his full bio here. Dr. Ray grew up in a Christian home but was already skeptical of certain claims at the age of twelve. He stayed in church—singing and teaching—but was relieved to finally leave the church as an adult. He has decades of experience in psychology and has helped countless people who’ve been harmed by religion. “I’m guessing there are more people throughout history that have been traumatized by religion than any other single thing. Religion has built-in abuse.” Links Recovering From Religion https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ Secular Therapy Project https://www.seculartherapy.org/ Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/08/06/darrel-ray-recovering-from-religion/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/gracefulatheistpodcast Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist 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/