Holy Heretics: Losing Religion and Finding Jesus

Throughout this country’s history, the hallmarks of American democracy – opportunity, freedom, and prosperity – have been largely reserved for white people through the intentional exclusion and oppression of people of color. America’s original sin is white supremacy, born and bred into the first laws of our land and fully endorsed by the church. Am I right Southern Baptist Convention? Yesterday’s segregationists are today’s Christian Nationalists. But what is “whiteness?”If you are deconstructing your faith, odds are you are going to have to untangle yourself from white privilege and white supremacy, two hallmarks of American evangelicalism. In this intensely personal episode, Lisa Sharon Harper shares the story of her family and their battle to escape chattel slavery and what it means to her to be a descendant of slaves. She also offers practical ways you can join the work for restoration and racial equality. BioFrom Ferguson to New York, and from Germany and South Africa to Australia and Brazil, Lisa Sharon Harper leads trainings that increase clergy and community leaders’ capacity to organize people of faith toward a just world. A prolific speaker, writer and activist, Ms. Harper is the founder and president of FreedomRoad.us, a consulting group dedicated to shrinking the narrative gap in our nation by designing forums and experiences that bring common understanding, common commitment and common action.Ms. Harper is the author of several books, including Evangelical Does Not Equal Republican…or Democrat (The New Press, 2008); Left Right and Christ: Evangelical Faith in Politics (Elevate, 2011); Forgive Us: Confessions of a Compromised Faith (Zondervan, 2014); and the critically acclaimed, The Very Good Gospel: How Everything Wrong can be Made Right (Waterbrook, a division of Penguin Random House, 2016). The Very Good Gospel, recognized as the “2016 Book of the Year” by Englewood Review of Books, explores God’s intent for the wholeness of all relationships in light of today’s headlines.A columnist at Sojourners Magazine and an Auburn Theological Seminary Senior Fellow, Ms. Harper has appeared on TVOne, FoxNews Online, NPR, and Al Jazeera America. Her writing has been featured in CNN Belief Blog, The National Civic Review, Sojourners, The Huffington Post, Relevant Magazine, and Essence Magazine. She writes extensively on shalom and governance, immigration reform, health care reform, poverty, racial and gender justice, climate change, and transformational civic engagement.Ms. Harper earned her Masters degree in Human Rights from Columbia University in New York City, and served as Sojourners Chief Church Engagement Officer. In this capacity, she fasted for 22 days as a core faster in 2013 with the immigration reform Fast for Families. She trained and catalyzed evangelicals in St. Louis and Baltimore to engage the 2014 push for justice in Ferguson and the 2015 healing process in Baltimore, and she educated faith leaders in South Africa to pull the levers of their new democracy toward racial equity and economic inclusion.Show notes: http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/inventing-whiteness-lisa-sharon-harperFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

“Few people can teach you the Enneagram with the genuine insight, humor, and potential for real growth and change better than Suzanne Stabile, writes Father Richard Rohr. And after this incredible episode, we agree! Stabile is one of the world’s most sought-after gurus when it comes to all things Enneagram. Today, she joins us to discuss what it means to know your number, to live a balanced life within your number, as well as to recognize when you are either in excess or unhealthy in your number. She explores in detail each of the nine individual types and how each type can be manipulated and abused in unhealthy church communities. Regardless your number, everyone of us longs to be known, to be valued, and to offer our gifts and talents to the world. Suzanne helps you recognize what those gifts are by drilling down into the motivations behind each Enneagram type. She even helps you, based on your number, choose a spiritual practice to grow your soul. Even if you don’t know your Enneagram number yet, this episode will help you recognize those areas in your life where you are out of balance and teetering on pathological behavior. In this episode we discuss the reality that the Enneagram is not just a personality typing system, but is rather a tool to help you over a life-long journey of self-discovery by uncovering the traps that keep you from living fully and freely as your True Self. BioSuzanne Stabile is a speaker, teacher, and internationally recognized Enneagram master teacher who has taught thousands of people over the last thirty years. She is the author of The Path Between Us, and coauthor, with Ian Morgan Cron, of The Road Back to You. She is also the creator and host of The Enneagram Journey podcast.Along with her husband, Rev. Joseph Stabile, she is cofounder of Life in the Trinity Ministry, a nonprofit, nondenominational ministry committed to the spiritual growth and formation of adults. Their ministry home, the Micah Center, is located in Dallas, Texas. They have many audio resources available, including The Enneagram Journey curriculum. Suzanne has spoken at hundreds of colleges, churches, and conferences across America, and also teaches in the Baylor Health Care System. She has taught at Richard Rohr's Center for Action and Contemplation and has taught with Father Rohr to an international audience in Assisi, Italy. You can find Suzanne at her website Life in the Trinity Ministry as well her podcast The Enneagram Journey. Her new book The Journey Toward Wholeness is now available. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏Show notes: http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/the-enneagram-suzanne-stabileFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

There are some episodes that defy description, that cover so much ground that it is difficult to describe. This conversation with theologian, poet, activist, and historian Randy Woodley is one such episode. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again for those in the back: evangelicalism is a dominator religion. It seeks to dominate the earth, women, black and brown bodies, those on the fringes of faith, and anything or anyone that falls outside of its white supremacist worldview, and the consequences have been deadly. Dr. Woodley points us to a wilder, freer faith rooted in our Sacred Earth and the Divine relationship we have with the planet and every living creature. In an attempt to find Shalom, Dr. Woodley dismantles dominator religion by inviting us to tap into our ancestral heritage, become one with Nature, and free ourselves from participating in systems of oppression. And just for grins, we also talk about Critical Race Theory, COVID-19, and white supremacy. This is a deep and meaningful conversation for anyone looking to decolonize their faith.Guest Bio:Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley (PhD, Asbury Theological Seminary) is recognized as a Cherokee descendent by the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. He is a teacher, poet, activist, former pastor, missiologist and historian. Woodley received his baccalaureate degree from Rockmont College in Denver. He was ordained to the ministry through the American Baptist Churches in the USA in Oklahoma after graduating with a Masters of Divinity degree from Eastern Seminary (now Palmer Seminary) in Philadelphia. Randy's PhD is in intercultural studies from Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture at Portland Seminary. Woodley’s books include  Decolonizing Evangelicalism: An 11:59pm Conversation, The Harmony Tree: A Story of Healing and Community, Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision, and Living in Color: Embracing God’s Passion for Ethnic Diversity. He has authored numerous book chapters and contributed essays and articles in compilations such as the  Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics, Poverty and the Poor in the World ’ s Religions, Evangelic al Post-colonial Conversations, and The Global Dictionary of Theology. Professor Woodley is active in the ongoing discussions concerning new church movements, racial and ethnic diversity, peace, racism, earth justice, Indigenous spirituality, interreligious dialogue and mission. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏Show notes: Show Notes Here: https://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/decolonize-your-faithhttps://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/decolonize-your-faithFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor and Kelly Rose Lamb.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

It's been said Christianity is heavy on teaching and light on praxis. You could argue the last two thousands years of Church history has been one long, and often violent, conversation about right beliefs but not right action. Thus, you can believe all the (supposedly) right things about God, the virgin birth, the resurrection, and the Bible and still be in bondage. But what if there is another way that actually leads to spiritual and personal transformation that doesn’t try to find answers to everything but rather accepts the world as it is? In our 40th episode, we sit down with former Pastor and Spiritual Director Danielle Shroyer to discuss how Buddhism intersects with her Christian tradition to produce a new way of life in a hurting world. Through daily meditation and the Eightfold Path of Buddhism, Danielle offers not just a new belief system, but an entirely new way to live a life of goodness, truth, beauty, and transformation even in the midst of incredible suffering. If you've never meditated or want to learn how, if you have always wanted to learn more about Buddhist practices, or if you still struggle with the idea of suffering and the general unsatisfactoriness of life, this conversation is for you.Guest Bio:Danielle is a spiritual director, author, speaker, and former pastor. She is the author of three books, most recently Original Blessing: Putting Sin in its Rightful Place. She also runs the blog Soul Ninja, where she reflects on the teachings of Buddhism as she practices them. Danielle is a graduate of Baylor University and Princeton Seminary. She is a taekwondo black belt and loves books, tea, and most nerdy things. She and her husband Dan have two teenagers and live in Dallas. You can find Danielle online at Soul Ninja where she shares her own journey into meditation while offering practical ways to begin this transformative practice. Danielle is also active on Twitter @DGShroyer and Instagram @Danielle.Shroyer. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏Show notes: https://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/how-buddhism-changed-my-evangelical-mind https://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/how-buddhism-changed-my-evangelical-mind Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Deconstruction has become a dirty word in evangelical circles. Some people think all we want to do is burn Christianity to the ground. Others worry that the deconstruction community isn’t doing enough to shed itself from fundamentalism. We will just be honest, most days we’d rather just let evangelicalism go up in flames, purging the entire super-structure that is modern Christianity. We know that’s not the end goal of deconstruction, but it just feels easier to sit back and watch it burn. Maybe that’s why this episode was so convicting. In our first interview of Season Two, Pastor Brian Zahnd joins us to share his own deconstruction journey by taking us with him down a different road, one carved on the ancient pilgrim path of the Camino de Santiago. What he found along the way just might point us toward the future of faith; a faith centered in contemplation, mystery, and mysticism. Plus, some exciting news! This episode also introduces our new co-host, Kelly Rose Lamb. I hope you will welcome her with open arms as she joins the show! Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. Known for his theologically informed preaching and his embrace of the deep and long history of the church, Zahnd provides a forum for pastors to engage with leading theologians and is a frequent conference speaker. He is the author of several books, including Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, A Farewell to Mars, Beauty Will Save the World, and his latest When Everything’s on Fire: Faith Forged From the Ashes. You can find him on Twitter @BrianZahnd. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏Show notes: http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/when-everything-is-on-fire-brian-zahndhttp://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/when-everything-is-on-fire-brian-zahnd Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor and Kelly Rose Lamb.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Leaving evangelicalism feels a lot like recovering from an addiction. “For a species wired for survival, we have an odd habit of getting hooked on things that can kill us,” writes science journalist and professor Michael D. Lemonick. Much like an addictive substance, evangelicalism felt good until it didn’t. Most of us began deconstructing evangelical fundamentalism with one goal in mind: to end the suffering that got us here in the first place. In this introductory episode to season two, Holy Heretics host Gary Alan Taylor introduces us to a path out of evangelicalism, a path paved by seekers and sojourners for thousands of years. Drawing from his own deconstruction and recovery journey, Gary Alan offers the “Five Noble Truths of Deconstruction,” and how can they offer healing, recovery, and a new life after evangelicalism. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏Show notes: http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/recovering-from-evangelicalism http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/recovering-from-evangelicalism Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was written by Gary Alan Taylor and produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

According to CNN’s Kirsten Powers, the United States is headed toward a constitutional crisis. Led primarily by white evangelicals and their cult-like worship of former President Donald Trump, American democracy is on the verge of collapse. How do we move forward? How do we have healthy conversations with our friends and family who continue to believe conspiracy theories and parrot the lies they hear everyday on FoxNews? In this candid “Election Day” episode, Kirsten draws on her deconstruction journey to carve out a way forward both personally and politically. Leaving behind a politics of cruelty for a politics of compassion, Kirsten offers a path to navigating the toxic division in our culture without compromising our deeply held beliefs and emotional well-being. Her new book Saving Grace: Speak Your Truth, Stay Centered, and Learn to Coexist With People Who Drive You Nuts is a much-needed antidote to our culture of rage. Kirsten Powers is a New York Times bestselling author, USA Today columnist, and senior political analyst for CNN, where she appears regularly on Anderson Cooper 360, CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, and The Lead with Jake Tapper. Her writing has been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Dallas Morning News, The New York Observer, Salon, The Daily Beast, the New York Post, Elle, and The American Prospect online. A native of Fairbanks, Alaska, Powers lives in Washington, D.C, with her fiancé, Robert Draper, and their two fur children, Lucy and Bill.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏Show notes: http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/kirsten-powers-deconstructing-trumpismhttp://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/kirsten-powers-deconstructing-trumpismFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

After 30 interviews and 35 episodes, Gary Alan and Melanie look back, reflecting on what they’ve learned, what surprised them, where they hope to go with Season 2, and more.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏Show notes: https://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/reflecting-on-season-oneFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge (currently accepting new clients: josh.mudge09@gmail.com).

Why are we so offended by “cussing”? Is someone really “going downhill” if they smoke tobacco or have tattoos? Melanie joins Katherine from Uncertain Podcast and William from The Space Between Podcast to discuss the morality, legalism, and taboos surrounding these behaviors in the Evangelical Church. How and why did they become such a marker of one’s status with God? And are there more forces at work than simply sin and holiness?Follow The Space Between on Instagram: @TheSpaceBetweenUKFollow Uncertain on Instagram: @UncertainPodcastIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏Show notes: http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/cussing-smoking-tattoos-oh-my-the-space-between-uk-uncertainFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge (currently accepting new clients: josh.mudge09@gmail.com).

CW: We discuss trauma, sexualized violence, abuse, and other topics that may be triggering. Please listen at your own discretion.Religious trauma is sneaky for so many reasons, perhaps none more so than the fact that trauma of any kind was minimized or delegitimized by religious leaders. So many of us who call ourselves ex-vangelicals find it hard to even believe that we have trauma. But do we? Have we let ourselves really consider that? In our last interview of Season 1, we talk with Dr. Laura Anderson, a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in religious trauma, about the ins and outs of religious trauma, why it’s so different from one person to the next, and how to begin to heal—with or without a therapist.Follow Dr. Laura on Instagram (@DrLauraEAnderson). Follow The Religious Trauma Institute on Instagram (@ReligiousTraumaInstitute), on Facebook (@ReligiousTraumaInstitute), on Twitter (@ReligiousTrauma), and the web: www.ReligiousTraumaInstitute.com. Follow The Center for Trauma Resolution and Recovery on Instagram (@TraumaResolutionAndRecovery), Facebook (@TraumaResolutionAndRecovery), and the web: www.TraumaResolutionAndRecovery.com.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏Show notes: http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/do-i-have-religious-trauma-dr-laura-andersonFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge (currently accepting new clients: josh.mudge09@gmail.com).