Holy Heretics: Losing Religion and Finding Jesus

“Other people have it worse.” “This really wasn’t that bad.” “Stop making mountains out of molehills.” If you’ve ever said these things to yourself when thinking about your religious upbringing, or if other people have ever said them to you, congrats! You’ve been spiritually bypassed! Religious trauma is no joke, and it affects so very many of us. If you’ve ever wondered what religious trauma is, if you have it, what spiritual bypassing looks like, and how to heal, don’t miss this interview with Jess Hugenberg (aka Welcome to the Process)!CW: Abuse, spiritual abuse, trauma, sexual abuse, spiritual bypassingFollow Jess on Instagram (@welcometotheprocess), TikTok (@jessicahugenberg), Twitter (@welcometothepr4), and Facebook (@welcometotheprocess).For show notes, click here or go to holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsCreditsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.

If what the evangelical church teaches about sex before marriage (i.e. purity culture) is harmful, is it any surprise that what it teaches about sex after marriage is just as damaging? When Sheila Wray Gregoire, popular blogger and author, set out to survey 20,000 Christian wives about their sex lives, she had no idea all the bombshells her research would uncover. We sat down to chat with her about her findings, detailed in her new book The Great Sex Rescue, and how theology is at the heart of the problem.Follow Sheila on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook (@sheilagregoire).For show notes, click here or go to holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsCreditsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.

You’re either right or you’re wrong, there is no in between. At least, that’s what most versions of Christianity in the U.S. have taught for decades, saying that if a spiritual practice falls in the “fully wrong” category, we should have nothing to do with it. But what if there’s a lot to be learned from other religions and practices? What if they understand aspects of faith and God that we have lost? That’s something Rachel Pieh Jones had to confront when she moved from Minnesota to the horn of Africa and found herself the minority amongst Muslims. We talked with her about how her experience has changed how she sees others and their faith practices, as well as expanded her understanding of God.Follow Rachel on Instagram and Twitter (@rachelpiehjones).For show notes, click here or go to holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsCreditsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.

Biblical literalism—i.e. reading the Bible literally and historically—has become synonymous with the Christian faith. But what if we told you that it’s not the original (nor most faithful) interpretation of Hebrew and Christian sacred texts? It can be terrifying to even consider not reading them from that lens, since we’ve been taught for so long that any other lens is heretical. But our conversation with Father Brendan Ellis Williams invites us all into a deeper, more transformative perspective of the Bible.Follow Fr. Brendan on Instagram.For show notes, click here or go to holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsCreditsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.

When our journeys take us to unexpected places, sometimes all we can do is cry…and make jokes about it. For Kristina Harutoonian, the personality behind @thedtrblog, when she started deconstructing her faith because of toxic leaders and theologies, she never anticipated eventually using her sense of humor to speak out against them. But today, because of her incredible journey, she’s embraced the challenge. We chat with her about her transformation and why she’s so passionate about being a hilarious force for good.Follow Kristina on Instagram and Twitter and check out her blog!For show notes, click here or go to holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsCreditsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.

Is it possible that most of what our evangelical churches teach about sex and purity actually prime us for abuse? In this episode, we chat with Emily Joy Allison, author of the new book #ChurchToo: How Purity Culture Upholds Abuse and How to Find Healing, about how purity culture, complementarianism, and male headship contributed to her abuse. She also offers some risk-factors or warning signs of abusive cultures, how to share one’s one story, and how to heal.Content Warning: Spiritual abuse, sexual abuse, religious traumaFollow Emily on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook: @emilyjoypoetry.For show notes, click here or go to holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsCreditsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society. Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge. Emily’s photo in the episode art is by Jenny Blake.

Why did Joshua Harris, the original face of purity culture, eventually recant everything he once believed? What does he believe now? And what does that mean for the millions of Christians who adopted his stances? Melanie and Gary Alan sit down with the author to talk about his faith journey thus far, complete with its successes, losses, reversals, and apologies.Follow Josh on Instagram and Twitter.For show notes, click here or go to holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsCreditsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.

Those of us who were raised evangelical are well acquainted with the terms “family values” and “Christian values.” But do we know where they came from, what came before them, and that they’re more political than they are rooted in Christ? That’s why historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s seminal new book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation is a game-changer…for anyone willing to read it and take it seriously. We delve deeper into why she wrote it, what in her research surprised her the most, and how knowing this history can uproot our faith—in a good way.Follow Dr. Du Mez on Twitter @kkdumez or on Facebook @kkdumez.For show notes, click here or go to holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsCreditsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.

If Americans could call a truce, just for a moment, what would happen? Would we see the humans on the other side of the political aisle? Would it enable us to find common ground with people who believe differently than we do? We sat down with Chris Staron, producer of Truce Podcast, to talk about what he’s learned about the history of Christianity in America and why it matters so much more than most of us realize. For show notes, click here or go to holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsCreditsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.

What does it look like to actually love our enemies? We sit down with Dr. Russell Johnson, a professor at the University of Chicago, to talk about his personal faith journey, as well as what he’s learned through his studies about dualism, the “us vs. them” mindset, disagreement, and how to truly love our enemies.For show notes, click here or go to holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter | Instagram | FacebookCreditsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.