It starts with an illiterate English woman who said no to sex, no to marriage, yes to unrestrained shaking, and became the center of a movement where people believed the Second Coming of Jesus had shown up as a woman. In Episode 28 of Religious Rejects, Alycia and Christine get into Mother Anne Lee, founder of the Shakers: jail, persecution, chosen family, celibacy, dancing, screaming, pacifism, equality, and the tiny logistical flaw in building a religion around nobody reproducing. Also, somewhere in all of this, the furniture got very good. Shake it. New episodes of Religious Rejects continue throughout Season 2.

Did you know...? If enough people were scared, angry, or interested in your property, “witch” could become a legal strategy. In Episode 27 of Religious Rejects, Alycia and Christine dig into the history behind the witch trials, from impossible “tests” of innocence to the religious and political systems that made persecution possible. Witch, please! New episodes of Religious Rejects continue throughout Season 2.

At 19, Joan of Arc was condemned by the Church and burned at the stake. Years later, she was declared innocent and eventually made a saint.

Alycia and Christine explore the teenage warrior who challenged kings, defied expectations, and became one of history’s most famous religious rejects.

Was Jesus accepted by religion... or rejected by it? In the Season 2 premiere of Religious Rejects, Alycia and Julie revisit one of the most familiar figures in history through a different lens. Long before he became the center of a global religion, Jesus was rejected by his hometown, misunderstood by his family, challenged by religious leaders, and ultimately executed by the state. So what happens when we stop asking who Jesus was to Christianity... and start asking how his own religious community responded to him? Join us as we explore why Jesus may have been the original religious reject, and what his story still has to say to anyone who has ever felt like they didn't belong. Join the conversation: What are you keeping, rethinking, or rejecting after today's episode? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. If this conversation resonates with you, please like, subscribe, and share it with someone who might need to hear it. Learn more and join our community: https://religiousrejects.com

“People can’t change.” We’ve heard that before. Then we talked with Rev. Jakob Hero-Shaw. Transgender Day of Visibility is today, a reminder that behind every headline is a real person, living a real story. To our transgender and gender nonconforming listeners: we see you. We honor your stories. And we are grateful for the ways your lives expand our understanding of love.

Did Ruth sleep with Boaz? In four chapters you get famine, immigration, two widows trying to survive, a suspiciously nice farmer named Boaz, and a midnight scene where Ruth sneaks onto a threshing floor and uncovers his feet. Starring “Ruth the Moabite" and how this foreign widow ends up becoming an ancestor of King David… and eventually Jesus! It raises a lot of questions. Some of them are… awkward.

The Pope Said One Thing. Mike Johnson Said the Opposite. Both Used the Bible. So who’s right? Immigration has become more than a political debate. It is now a theological collision. Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Catholic bishops warned against mass deportation. Speaker Mike Johnson pointed to Romans 13 and the role of government authority. Both claim Scripture supports their position. In this episode, we examine what the Bible actually says about immigration, governing authorities, and welcoming the stranger, and why Christians themselves cannot agree. No slogans. No easy answers. Just the tension between faith, power, and what following Jesus means right now. Religious Rejects is a podcast exploring faith, doubt, and the questions many Christians are afraid to ask.

“God hates divorce." Cool... But does He? This week on Religious Rejects, we crack open the Bible and look at what it actually says about divorce. Spoiler: it involves property, honor, certificates, and a lot of men making decisions about women’s lives. Christine unpacks what divorce meant in her family (and what it didn’t). Alycia raises a question about why the single guys wrote the handbook. So is divorce always a sin? Or is that just church branding? We’re not here to wreck faith. We’re here to ask better questions. Like. Subscribe. Send this to your former youth group.

Alycia and Christine crash into 2026 with “Biblical Marriage” and it is not what your youth pastor warned you about. Property trades. “Taking” wives. Being a spinster at age 24. You are not ready for biblical marriage. Or are you?

Join us as we bring together all four parts of our Advent series, The Birth According To…?, The Gospels According To…?, Jesus Of…?, and What About Us?, into one seamless, extended episode. Experience the full Advent journey as we explore the story of Jesus and the meaning of Christmas in a fresh, thoughtful, and honest way.