Mathew Taylor, co-host of Still Unbelievable!, returns to the podcast to discuss why we podcast.Links Matthew on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vteclimey Confessions of a YEC blog: https://confessionsofayec.wordpress.com/ "God takes the good people early” post: https://confessionsofayec.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/god-takes-the-good-people-early/ Reason Press: https://reasonpress.net/ "Still Unbelievable!” the book: https://reasonpress.net/SU1EPodcasts: Still Unbelievable! https://anchor.fm/still-unbelievable Ask An Atheist Anything https://anchor.fm/reasonpress Previous episode https://gra ..read more

This week’s guest is Sara. Sara grew up in a Canadian Mennonite community and embraced it wholeheartedly. She was surrounded by evangelical Christianity and she thrived. As a young adult, she married and followed her husband into ministry. While he led, she helped as was expected of her. It didn’t occur to her until years later how little her own leadership skills had to be set aside. Sara’s husband started deconstructing his beliefs before she did, but as he was learning, she was also learning. Years later, she knew he’d become an atheist before he did. It wasn’t easy, but they made space ..read more

This week’s guest is Beth. Beth grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home that revered James Dobson, Jerry Falwell and all those who created the “Moral Majority.” Her father was a pastor whose sermons centered on the End Times and protecting their families from the “shifting culture,” (read: all the movements happening in the 60’s and 70’s). As a teen, she lived a double life, keeping plenty of secrets from her parents. However, as a young adult, followed all the rules with the expectation that the “umbrella of God’s protection” would take care of her. It didn’t. It took decades of trying ..read more

Arline interviews this week’s guest, Andrew. Andrew is a self-named atheist “paleo-nerd.” He grew up home-schooled in a fundamentalist church in southern California. His whole schooling was religious and that included Young Earth Creationism. In high school, Andrew struggled with his shy nature and some depressive episodes. The church didn’t seem to have room for people like him. As a young adult, finally making his own decisions and living a life without fundamentalism everywhere, Andrew saw how much he could accomplish on his own. He had had the resources inside him but hadn’t known it. No ..read more

Arline interviews this week's guest, Andy Neal of Andy Films And Hikes fame. He is self described as a "plus size hiking influencer." Andy tells his story of deconstruction, acceptance of his body and his joy in nature. He is an inspiration to all to get outdoors and experience nature. Links Instagram https://www.instagram.com/andyfilmsandhikes/ Link Tree https://linktr.ee/AndyNeal Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/11/19/andy-neal-andy-films-and-hikes/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group ..read more

Jeff grew up in his words “a very religious household.” He attended a large Southern Baptist church. In college he fell in love with the seriousness of Calvinism after reading John Piper’s Desiring God. He left seminary early to become a minster because he felt time pressure to be “on mission” for God. After three pastors he knew committed suicide in one year, Jeff began to deconstruct. Today he is agnostic and finds therapy and mindfulness helpful in his life. Links Instagram https://www.instagram.com/Backwoodspiper Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the ful ..read more

This week’s guest is Megan. Megan grew up in a fundamentalist Catholic home with an irrationally religious mother and an absent father. As a teen, she was invited to an evangelical bible study after school and after some serious “love bombing” by the youth group, she was a part of a community. “You get ‘loved bombed’ when you walk into a new church or into a new youth group, and they make you feel like you are the most welcome you will ever be and that your community is so indeed of you and your specific experience…” Evangelical Christianity worked well for Megan for years. She had questions ..read more

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 p ..read more

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://gracefulat ..read more

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 ..read more