Flawed Theology

In this episode, Phil and Susie talk with Caitlin, owner of Atheist Aesthetic.  Caitlin is from Texas and she shares a lot of wisdom about her journey away from faith, her thoughts on being an "angry atheist" and how she moved forward from that stage to being happy, fulfilled, and confident in who she is and how she can live a good and moral life without the overwatch of a deity.  She is passionate about many non-profit organizations and she shares a ton of good resources for anyone on a path of questioning their belief system.  Lots of links below for your reference.
Show Notes and Resources:
Atheist Aesthetic on Etsy:   https://www.etsy.com/shop/AtheistAesthetic?coupon=FLAWED  
FT listeners can use the code FLAWED and get 15% off their purchase at the shop.
Personal Values Inventory: https://personalvalu.es/  
https://www.oasisnetwork.com/
https://www.seculartherapy.org/ 
https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/gods-hearing-voices-and-bicameral-mind.htm
https://www.amazon.com/Skeptics-Annotated-Bible-Steve-Wells/dp/0988245108?ref=d6k_applink_bb_dls&dplnkId=21decb48-c904-4ec7-b2f1-6a3a9433bc9c 
Non-Profits to Support: 
Freedom from Religion Foundation https://ffrf.org/ 
Recovering from Religion : https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ 
Secular Therapy Project: https://www.seculartherapy.org/ 
Footsteps:  https://footstepsorg.org/
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In this episode, Phil and Susie talk with Todd "YoyoFox" Rollenhagen.  Phil met Todd through the yoyo community and discovered that he was an exBaptist agnostic with a big heart and some interesting life experiences.  Todd tells his story of how and why he left church, doesn't believe in a god, but still remains spiritual and open to other experiences.  He also has some thoughts about the church and how it's causing damage to humanity.  We hope you enjoy this wide ranging conversation. 
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In this episode, Phil and Susie "dig" into the power of music.  Harlan Howard in the 50’s used the phrase “3 chords and the truth” to describe his genre of country music and many other artists have used this phrase and allowed it to be their philosophy of songwriting.  This phrase is funny because most worship songs are 3 chords and purports to be truth, but what is the truth that is actually being conveyed? How does music actually work to affect our emotions and how is this exploited in worship/Xtian music and sold as the “Spirit”? Can “secular” music do the same thing that Xtian music does?  We will talk (and even sing) about some of the tactics that are used and even how chord structures and musical formulas can elicit certain responses.  
For those interested in skipping over the music, here are the timestamps:
31:27-32:25 lord, I lift your name on high
33:30-34:22 how great is our god
35:15-35:55 how he loves
37:00-38:00 you alone
40:48-46:03 from the inside out by Hillsong
 
Show Links and Resources:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/29/1190374074/these-scientists-explain-the-power-of-music-to-spark-awe?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_medium=social 
https://languageandreligion.com/2022/04/20/emotional-manipulation-in-worship-music/ 
https://blog.landr.com/emotional-chord-progressions/ https://reckersworld.jimdofree.com/religion/recker-s-writings-to-enlighten-and-entertain/how-churches-use-music-to-manipulate-you/ https://capuzzler.medium.com/emotion-effect-in-religious-music-9d383b34b24e 
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17470218221075330
https://www.ox.ac.uk/research/choir-singing-improves-health-happiness-%E2%80%93-and-perfect-icebreaker 
https://www.praisecharts.com/blog/the-nashville-number-system-chart-for-bands/ 
Genetically modified skeptic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7btz0ocXDeg
Faith Free: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoaknMByfRs
*From the Inside Out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-9mUDbGsEk
Closing Poem: https://www.joniroseblog.com/post/strings-the-use-of-religious-song
 
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*We do not own the rights to the music in this episode. 

One of the most challenging aspects of deconversion for many of us was the decision to reveal our leaving the faith to our family and close friends and making it public, etc.  Since many of us come from Xtian households and have still believing parents, there can be some serious anxiety around the decision to tell our parents that we can’t believe what they brought us up to believe. 
We want to discuss the why and how of these difficult conversations and hopefully provide some semblance of community and a reminder that  you are not alone in your feelings about this part of the journey.
We are joined by a diverse panel of guests, Breanne, Miccah, and Lars, who share a bit of their deconversion story and how they approached the decision to share their journey with their closest people, like friends and family.  It's a wide ranging conversation with incredible wisdom that we hope will be beneficial for anyone on a deconstruction journey. 
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CW/TW: This episode contains discussion about sexuality, child sexual abuse, and other topics related to human sexuality. 
 
In this week's episode, Phil and Susie talk with Janis.  Janis is a long time friend of Phil’s from his days at moderately progressive Baptist Church in VA, where we both lived.  Janis was married to someone who was affiliated with the worship team and went through a very difficult discovery in her marriage, which led her down a pretty incredible life path.  She is a bona fide badass who is an flight medic/ EMT and was a medic and competitor on the TV series, Naked and Afraid.  We discuss Janis' faith background, her marriage experience, mental health, purity culture, and how she views faith and god now.  We hope that you find her story interesting, relevant, and powerful for you on your journey.  
Stay tuned to the end for some really foolish outtakes!! 
 
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In this episode, Phil and Susie discuss how the volume and intensity of animal suffering in the world serves as evidence to disprove theism, especially the version of theism that purports a loving, omniscient, and omnipotent deity.  Is animal suffering and the theory of evolution evidence against the existence of a loving God?  We expand on the problem of evil that extends beyond human suffering into the animal world.  
Show Notes and Links:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-53549936
https://emersongreenblog.wordpress.com/2023/04/26/animal-suffering-is-evidence-against-gods-existence/ 
Emerson Green Debate: http://counterapologetics.blubrry.net/2023/05/10/ca115-post-debate-interview-w-justin-schieber-of-real-atheology/ 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3370421/
https://ourworldindata.org/famines
https://creation.com/attenborough-eye-worm-argument-against-god
https://www.ledonline.it/index.php/Relations/article/view/880/717
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_evil
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_theodicy
https://awionline.org/content/extreme-weather&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1683650349563087&usg=AOvVaw2p9tWcb6G2BFH_GvOcQaNF 
https://thebulletin.org/2022/07/extreme-heat-animals-livestock-wildlife/
Food Production Death Clock (US): https://animalclock.org/ 
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In this episode, Phil and Susie talk with Alex, who is is a recently deconverted Mormon and his story is truly fascinating!! We named this episode the way we did because Alex actually was a "high priest" in the Church of Mormon.  If you ever wanted to know anything about Mormonism, you will learn a lot in this episode. Alex shares about his life growing up in the LDS church, the "shelf" items that finally led to his deconversion, some fascinating ways that Mormonism is similar to mainstream evangelical Xtianity a whole lot more! Plus a fun trivia segment where we ask Alex "Is this really Mormon?" Be sure to listen all the way to the end!! It's a good one! 
Show References:
"A Letter to my Wife":  https://www.letterformywife.com/the-letter  
CES Letter: https://cesletter.org/CES-Letter.pdf 
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In this episode, Phil and Susie discuss the concept “If god Were real”.  We will discuss all the ways that we would expect a truly true God to reveal itself and how they would act.  We will compare how it would be if God were real or if God were created by humans and then how God is presented in Christianity and see what lines up.  We will also discuss an epistemological question that could be useful when engaging believers—what could God do better?
Based on a post of Susie's: https://www.flawedtheology.com/2021/11/if-god-were-real.html 
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