John Verner and Chris Loux went to the Moody Bible Institute in Spokane, Washington in the years leading up to the Trump era. Like most guests of Chapel Probation, they came in on fire for their respective brands of fundamentalist faith, with John coming from a Calvinist background. Amazingly, these two became unlikely friends through their shared love of music, even though Chris had a completely different background. They both quickly began deconstructing their faiths as they learned more and asked questions. What really impressed me, though, is how these two white men, coming from vastly different backgrounds, both began decolonizing in the midst of some pretty hard deconstruction of their theologies and their faiths. They saw the overt racism, anti-LGBTQIA hatred, and misogyny in evangelical culture, and they pushed back. 

John is the creator of the Cult of Christianity podcast today, and his second season should be starting around the time of this episode's release. And even though John and Chris now live on opposite coasts, they are still great friends with Chris often joining John on the podcast. These young men give me hope for the future of this movement centered around deconstruction, and I'm so glad I've gotten to know them this year. 

Chapel Probation is part of the Dauntless Media Collective

Music by Scott Okamoto, Jenyi, and Shin Kawasaki and Wingo Shackleford

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