This week's episode features a fascinating discussion with returning guest, Dr David D'Andre, on the subject of his brand-new book entitled TULIP: The Poisonous Flower of Calvinism.

Why Calvinism, of all the theological systems that are out there? As David makes clear, this theology in particular has a number of problems associated with it, both historically and currently. For many of us who identify as "exvangelical," we came out of churches that preached various aspects of Calvin's theology. Just to name a few: biblical patriarchy, dominion theology, and Christian nationalism.

We will also conclude by discussing how you can recover and rebuild your life, if you've come out of this toxic system.

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This week's guest is Kerry Noble, former member of the Christian militia group The Covenant, Sword & Arm of the Lord (CSA). This group operated out of Arkansas primarily in the 1970s and 80s--and Kerry was one of the major leaders involved in the movement.   Built on conspiracy theories, twisted theology, and a dystopian vision of the future, the CSA in many ways was the forerunner to a number of alt-right, white supremacist militia groups we see today. Kerry's story is not only an unbelievable one, it also gives a step-by-step illustration of how a person can be recruited into what essentially became a cult-like movement that planned and nearly executed a number of violent, extremist acts.   Join the MindShift Podcast Patreon Community!   Contact Details   Follow Kerry's Facebook Page    Follow me on Twitter @MindShift2018

This episode features Luna Corbden, whom I met through a mutual friend--Janice Selbie--when we both were presenters at the recent CORT2022, the Conference on Religious Trauma.

Luna grew up as a Mormon, deconstructed their faith, and subsequently left the church--but not without a lot of baggage and religious trauma. Similar to many of us who've left controlling religions, Luna has done a tremendous amount of work unpacking the teachings, figuring out the psychology behind it, and rebuilding their life moving forward.

Whether or not you had any association with Mormonism, but have experience with controlling cults or religions, then you'll no doubt identify with what Luna and I discuss in this episode--and find helpful resources on your journey of reconstructing your authentic self post-religion.

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This special bonus episode is actually Part 2 of a conversation I recently had with Brian and Troy, the co-hosts of the "I Was a Teenage Fundamentalist" podcast out of Melbourne, Australia.

We discuss their backstory coming out of evangelicalism, rebuilding their lives post-religion, and discuss resources for reconstructing your authentic self.

Head over to their platform for Theological Jenga Part 1:

https://pod.link/1558606464/episode/977f7004eeb71b5cd0527f8db0a4b0a2

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This week's episode features returning guest and former host of "The People I Meet" podcast, Dean Krosecz.

Dean walked away from charismatic Christianity years ago, and finally the faith altogether. In the process, in his words, he's become "a strict materialist with doubts"--but what does that mean, and how does it relate to him rebuilding his life post-Christianity?

In the telling of his story, we'll discover that Dean has found peace with himself--writing poetry (which he will share), getting in tune with nature, music and photography. All of these are essential for those of us seeking to recover our authentic self post-religion.

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Thoughts in Winter Dean's poetry available on Amazon

 

This week's guest is my friend Mike Phillips, currently a therapist in California who does a lot of work in the area of religious trauma syndrome--a subject I am not only very familiar with as a sufferer of RTS myself, but I've devoted a lot of time to it also.

Like me, Mike is an ex-pastor who tells an incredible tale of not only being in church ministry for decades, but also how he transitioned out of both pastoral ministry and Christianity too. In his journey to become a therapist, he developed a speciality of supporting and representing a great number of church abuse victims also.

If you suffer from RTS or know someone who does, then this episode will not only be of great benefit to you, Mike also provides resources and options for its treatment as well.

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This week's episode features a conversation with conspiracy theory expert Mike Rothschild, author of the excellent 2021 book The Storm is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, a Cult, and a Conspiracy Theory of Everything.

We begin at the beginning: what is the appeal of conspiracy theories in general, and why are so many people attracted to them historically? Conspiracy theories are nothing new, and have been around for as long as humans can remember. QAnon, it turns out, is a rehash of a number of extant and time-tested conspiracy theories, tropes, memes and more. 

Has it gone away, now that Trump is no longer president? Why are so many evangelicals still hooked on the movement? And finally, if you have a friend or family member who's been sucked into the Q Universe, can you get them out? 

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While most of us may be familiar with the concept of Christian nationalism in the United States among evangelicals, what about the idea of Christian internationalism? That's the topic that this week's guest, Dr Melani McAlister of George Washington University, happens to be an expert on.

We begin by discussing the war in Ukraine and how it shone a spotlight on the widespread American evangelical support for Vladimir Putin--a development that shocked many, given that the Soviet Union was seen by many Christians as the biggest threat to Christianity during the Cold War. What has changed? She maintains it's Christian internationalism.

As she argues in her 2018 book, The Kingdom of God Has no Borders: A Global History of American Evangelicals, one cannot truly understand evangelicalism as a phenomenon unless looked at globally. Far from an American export, evangelicalism is not a monolith and must be examined in terms of its reach and impact nation by nation, people group by people group.

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This week's guest is documentary filmmaker and author, Jen Senko, whose brilliant work The Brainwashing of My Dad tells the story of not just how her father Frank literally became a different person due to the effects of far-right media, it also tells the story of how conservative media became such a powerhouse.

More than likely, you have friends, family, friends or other acquaintances who have been sucked into the cult-like vortex of far-right conservative media, imbibing from a constant drip-tap of propaganda, misinformation, disinformation, outrage politics, and conspiracy theories.

If you despair that they will ever return to their pre-cult like state of normalcy ever again, Jen's  work offers up hope that a person who falls down that rabbit hole can actually regain their authentic self once again.

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In light of the recent "leak" of the Supreme Court's apparent ruling to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade case, I reached out to former guest Peter Montgomery of the Right Wing Watch to bring us up to speed on what's happening.

Aside from the leak itself, which is unprecedented to say the least, the much larger concern of American citizens should be the slow erosion of progressive, democratic rights that have been so hard-won over the last several decades. In addition to that, as we have seen, the dominionist aim of much of the Christian Right doesn't just stop with American politics--they are working hard to infiltrate the corridors of power in many other countries as well, pushing a far-right conservative agenda.

This long-term agenda of the Christian Right, now allied with the Republican Party in so many ways, is not to stop at merely overturning Roe--it's to strip away a variety of rights that most of us simply take for granted.

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