Voices of Deconversion

Gerardo Rivera is an atheist undergraduate student at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, where he pursues a B.A. in Chemistry. He is the founder and current President of Secular Humanist Association UPRM, a student group for young atheists, agnostics and all the secular community at the university. The group is the only one of its kind in all of Puerto Rico's public university system and it works closely with Humanistas Seculares de Puerto Rico, the leading secular organization on the island. Gerardo's activism focuses mostly in bringing attention to the increasing amount of violations to the Separation of Church and State in the island's government and guiding the development of more secular student groups in other Puerto Rico universities. He has a passion for science and philosophy, and believes deeply in equal rights for all under law. 

JaclynGlenn:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCravYcv6C0CopL2ukVzhzNw Hemant Mehta:  https://www.youtube.com/user/TheAtheistVoice http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/

Pascal's Wager: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBCDGohZT70 https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=pascals+wager

Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, by David Hume: https://www.amazon.com/Inquiry-Concerning-Human-Understanding/dp/002353110X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504580939&sr=8-1&keywords=inquiry+concerning+human+understanding

God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins & God is Not Great, by Christopher Hitchens: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=god+delusion&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Agod+delusion Secular Humanist Association UPRM:SHA-UPRM or @SHA_UPRMhttps://twitter.com/SHA_UPRM [email protected]

Humanistas Seculares de Puerto Rico:@HumanistasPR

Atheists of Puerto Rico:https://ateistaspr.org

Gerardo Miguel Rivera: https://www.facebook.com/gerardo.rivera.96

@Gerardo11345

In part 2 of my conversation with Sarah, she discusses rebuilding her community and her life. She had lived with her husband for 10 years and it was everything she'd ever known.

Her mom and a close friend have strong reactions when she comes out. 

Finally, Sarah goes before a panel of pastors at her church where she served as a pastor. She uses the Bible to argue in favor of living an openly gay lifestyle.

Such a wonderful story!

Sarah's Resource:

Dear John, I Love Jane https://www.amazon.com/Dear-John-Love-Jane-Leaving/dp/1580053394

Skype:  sarahmbrennan13

Email:

[email protected]

Sarah has such a moving story! Growing up she knew she was gay. Her parents and church discouraged her feelings, so Sarah grew to hate it in herself. She believed it was a choice and eventually married a man.

Years later her feelings are awakened again. Her father leaves the church and encourages Sarah to accept herself. Sarah begins to fall in love with a woman. Sarah's best friend also offers encouragement. Simultaneously she leaves the church and her straight lifestyle behind. 

Sarah has so many wonderful things to say, but this quote from her interview is really touching and one of my favorites. I had to share it here: 

"In life there isn't always an answer, there isn't always something to explain. Sometimes you just sit there and it's hard, and things are broken and you just have to kind of sit-in-there and wait for time to heal it."

This is the second half of my conversation with Stephen Barry. We pick up after he had an argument with his mother and decided to run away from home. Later in the episode Stephen discusses how he grew frustrated with God and when he prayed his last prayer. Stephen also tells the story of coming out atheist to his mom. He shares his thoughts on coming out to his mom a second time and one of his favorite quotes about "owning your truth".

His song "Live for Life", which I share in the introduction, can be found along with his other music at https://barryorchestra.bandcamp.com

Stephen's Resources Everyone's Agnostic Podcast with Cass Midgley and Dr. Bob Pondillo  https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/everyones-agnostic-2/everyones-agnostic

Angels and Airwaves: The Revelator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-6I704S998

Twitter: @barryorchestra https://twitter.com/barryorchestra Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barryorchestra?fref=search

Tumblr: http://barryorchestra.tumblr.com

[email protected]

Bill O'Reilly:"We'll Do It Live"!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy-Y3HJNU_s

Stephen is from Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was raised by a hardworking and devout Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) mother. His father was military, which meant he moved a lot growing up. He was mostly homeschooled and around the age of 12 his parents divorced.

He was a committed Christian even as a young child. As young as 8 years old he was waking up at 4 and 5 in the morning to pray and read his Bible!!

He eventually goes to study theology at a SDA college. He subsequently experiences some difficulties with his mother at home and decides to run away.

Stephen grew to love music and has now created some fantastic music of his own! It's unique and a lot of fun to listen to. Check it out:

https://barryorchestra.bandcamp.com

Don't miss part 2 of my interview with Stephen. He explains his deconversion and discusses coming-out in more ways than one.  

In part two of my story, I learn the various interpretations different Christians have of the Bible. Discussing these views with my wife results in a comment she makes that snaps me out denial. 

My identity crisis begins and I struggle coming to terms with my new reality. I eventually decide that I'm an atheist, but everyone around me still thinks I'm a strong Christian and planning to be a pastor.

I can't live a lie any longer and decide to tell my devout Christian mother I'm an atheist.

http://www.sundayassembly.com

http://voicesofdeconversion.com/coming-out-atheist-to-my-mother

http://voicesofdeconversion.com/home/

https://twitter.com/vodpodcast @vodpodcast

https://www.facebook.com/vodpodcast/

I grew up in a conservative Christian home. We went to church every Sunday. God was a very important part of my life.

As I realized my childhood dreams weren't panning out, my trust and commitment to God grew stronger in high school. I began studying the Bible and loved it! I enjoyed occasionally preaching at youth group and attended 3 churches a week for a time. I wanted to live out my faith, so I stopped swearing, listening to secular music and watched mainly family friendly movies. In high school, this also meant avoiding any partying.

After my freshman year at Washington State University, I came home and Krissy and I began dating. We got married a few years later. We wanted to trust God in everything, so that included family planning!  

I transferred to Trinity Lutheran College and began working toward my Bachelor's degree in Biblical Studies. I loved studying and preaching the Bible, so becoming a pastor was a solid decision, or so we thought.

As life became increasingly difficult to manage (full time work and school, two kids under age 2, depression), our plan for life and understanding of God began to be challenged.

Nikki Terry (Skeptic Nikki) was raised an evangelical fundamentalist Christian in the Bible belt of Tennessee. After years of following suit and hoping this would lead to acceptance she realized she didn't see eye to eye with the limited thinking around her. 

In college she explored hinduism, buddhism and new age beliefs. She spent hundreds on crystals chakra readings, Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle books. The only thing new age about her now are two Sanskrit tattoos. Prompting from a friend helped her make her way from agnostic to atheist. 

Skeptic Nikki was born on Twitter and has become an influential platform for atheism, logic and education. Her blog skepticnikki.com is in the works, in addition to a video podcast using socratic and epistemological questioning and motivational interviewing to help people move away from entrapping religious belief.

Nikki and her fiancé live in Atlanta, Georgia. 

http://skepticnikki.com

Twitter:

@SkepticNikki 

@SkepticNikkiBU

Podcast: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-non-prophets/the-atheist-experience

http://www.atheist-experience.com

YouTube:

Matt Dillahunty https://www.youtube.com/user/SansDeity 

Stated Clearly  https://www.youtube.com/user/sciencestatedclearly

Street Epistemology: Anthony Magnabosco https://www.youtube.com/user/magnabosco210

Dr. Robert Sapolsky Matt Dillahunty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNnIGh9g6fA

Dr. Paul Bloom: Intro to Psychology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3FKHH2RzjI&list=PL6A08EB4EEFF3E91F

We are SO excited that you are tuning in to the podcast!  

In this six minute episode we wanted to share a handful of the comments we have received from you, the listeners. 

Mostly, we want to tell you how much we appreciate you. We are interested in providing a variety of unique guest interviews from diverse perspectives. If you want to share your deconversion story, contact us. We'd love to hear from you.

Email:
[email protected] 

Twitter:
@vodpodcast

Public Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/vodpodcast/ 

Secret Facebook Page:
Contact me if interested, we screen those who join to ensure it's a safe group for atheists and agnostics to support one another, vent, post humorous memes or news relevant to the atheist/agnostic community.

Kristen was a devout protestant who would preach to her friends. She diligently studied the Bible. She began to have questions about her beliefs. She became pregnant soon after getting married. While at university a friend commits suicide, which was a huge blow to Kristen.

Kristen is an American-Canadian journalist and writer who specializes in psychology, health, science and the intersection of sociology and culture. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers. She has a degree in English from Simon Fraser University. She's completed certificate courses in epigenetics, personalized medicine, human physiology and genetics and evolution. She hosts the Humans of Earth podcast, a profile podcast interviewing people from all around the world, highlighting their lives and aiming to bridge the us vs. them divide through shared stories.

Born in Williston North Dakota, she currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her interests include languages, travel, music and yoga.

Kristen Hovet http://kristenhovet.blogspot.com

[email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/kristenmhovet/

https://theestablishment.co/the-hidden-trauma-of-life-after-fundamentalism-110946ab05f2

Humans of Earth Podcast https://soundcloud.com/humans-earth

Marlene Winell-Leaving the Fold http://marlenewinell.net/index.html