Recovering From Religion

Every major world religion has a venerated founder figure who changed the course of history, but...how well do the biographies of these beloved figures actually hold up to scrutiny? According to historians of religion, surprisingly poorly. David Fitzgerald is an award-winning author, historical researcher, international public speaker, and long-time passionate atheist activist. In a career spannin...

The beliefs we grow up with go way beyond the question of whether there is a god. Religious ideology insinuates itself into every aspect of our thoughts and beliefs. It takes a lifetime of deliberate vigilance to identify and root out the myriad ways religious indoctrination misinforms reality. Nate Phelps was born into the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church. After years of extreme indoctrinat...

Religions teach a lot of harmful ideas about our bodies and sexuality, none of which are based in biology or even reality. Coming out of religion, many people experience difficulty with knowing who they are sexually. Some people have experienced trauma around their sexuality and have deep doubts rooted in Purity Culture. Most people need to learn new ideas, skills and may need therapy to overcome...

Looking at the religious idea of “sin”, and what it has done to  society as a whole and individuals, and the trauma associated with it. Dave Warnock is a former conservative Evangelical pastor and church leader of 40 years. 10 years ago he began to question, examine and investigate his evangelical Christianity faith claims. He came to the conclusion that those beliefs came up short and it too...

This RfRx discusses how to deconstruct strict gender roles and stereotypes post-religion. Giving up the strict prescriptions of what you are ‘supposed’ to be will free you to live life more fully and to lovingly enjoy who you are! Rebecca Williams is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California. She runs a couples therapy practice where she teaches other therapists how to be great couple...

In this RfRx talk, Sikivu Hutchinson discusses the major themes of Black feminist identity and artistic control in her new road novel “Rock 'n' Roll Heretic”, vis-a-vis overcoming trauma, victim-blaming and silence around sexual violence, misogynoir (anti-Black misogyny) and corruption in faith-based communities. Sikivu Hutchinson is a writer, educator, and director. Her books include “Humanists i...

Coming out as a non-believer to friends and family can be terrifying, it invites judgement and criticism from people who care about you. In this RfRx talk, Erin Louis will share her own experiences in confronting the unfounded stereotypes and stigmas of being a former adult entertainer and how similar those experiences are to being an out-of-the-closet atheist. We’ll cover the various beliefs and...

In the 1980’s and 90’s, sexual “purity” became a major focus in sectors of Christian culture within the United States. This movement, now referred to as “purity culture,” had detrimental effects, including stunted LGBTQI+ identity exploration, dissociation from one’s body, under-reported sexual assaults, and relationship struggles. Join us as we explore specific concepts taught within purity cultu...

It’s been one year since Tim and Bill became the hosts of the Recovering from Religion podcast. For this anniversary, the guys look back on the past year. They talk about how the podcast came to be, what they were doing prior to the hosting responsibilities, and some of what they continue do in addition to the podcast. Tim asks Bill about his new novel, and reads a powerful letter from a Mom who w...

Ronna Russell grew up the youngest daughter of a well-known United Pentecostal minister. To escape home, she jumped into marriage at the age of twenty-three, a union that lasted 22 years and produced four children. When her marriage ended, Ronna was free to consider her own desires and interests. With her children grown, she relocated, remarried and returned to school. Ronna is a blogger, an outsp...

Janice was born and raised in a charismatic Christian home, attending Pentecostal, Vineyard, and other evangelical churches before eventually marrying a pastor. She gravitated to the ultra-conservative side of her theology, wearing a head covering, insisting on homeschooling her children, and rejecting any vestiges of secular life. (e.g., TV, radio, music, newspapers, magazines, etc.) Then, in her...

 Dave Warnock was an Evangelical pastor and church leader for more than 40 years. He gradually moved away from Christianity, which came at a huge personal cost, including the breakup of his marriage, being shunned by two of his children, missing out on his grandchildren, and the loss of his entire community of friends.  Earlier this year, Dave was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease...

Erin Burchwell grew up as a faculty child on the campus of Bob Jones University.  She was a good student, compliant with the many restrictive rules. But after an older classmate assaulted her, and she decided to report the incident, her life was changed.  Erin talks about the varied responses she received from family, friends, faculty, and the university’s administration. We also learn w...

Dr. Devin Singh is a social theorist and scholar of religion and theology, serving as Associate Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College. He received his Ph. D. from Yale, where he was named a Whiting Fellow, Yale's highest recognition for research in the humanities. He was also trained in social scientific theory and methods at the University of Chicago (M.A.), theology and divinity at Trinity...

In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall riots, we’ve put together this special PRIDE edition. First, we proudly introduce our new producer, Julian Apostata, and our engineer, Sarah Austin, then the four of us talk about gender non-conformity, and how our faith communities responded/reacted.  That takes us to our informative interview with Donovan Ackley III, Ph. D., who wa...

Angela Soffe grew up in the Mormon faith, while living abroad in Southeast Asia. When she came back to America for college, it was culture shock on several levels, even though it was a Mormon school. There she began to discover her love and aptitude for singing. It was music that got her through the painful transition out of her Mormon faith.    She's a  songwriter and lead singer o...

Cults come in a variety of expressions, though they have commonalities. Our guest for this episode is an expert on this subject, as well as a former cult member herself. Dr. Janja Lalich is a researcher, author, and educator specializing in cults and extremist groups with a particular focus on charismatic relationships, political and other social movements, ideology, and social control. She was a...

Nitai Joseph was born into a Hare Krishna family. After becoming very devout as a teenager, he joined an offshoot sect, and moved to a small, off-grid monastery in Northern California.  For almost seven years, Nitai was assistant to the leader, experiencing intense psychological and financial abuse, manipulation, and deprivation.  These days, Nitai is working for education and recovery r...

Debbie Glander is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, cofounder of Authenticity Workshops, and a Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator, utilizing methodology based on the research of Dr. Brené Brown. Debbie works with clients individually in her private practice and facilitates a “Healing from Religious and Spiritual Trauma” process group. She has her own story of being raised Jehovah Witness.&n...

Sarah Rocksdale created her YouTube channel in 2011 to share her passion for topics such as beauty, fashion, fitness, and lifestyle. She won the Rimmel London Look contest and was a NYX Cosmetics Face Awards finalist two years in a row, and garnered a huge following. She realized her unique position to speak to an audience that might not otherwise be exposed to difficult subjects, so she chose to...

Chris Shelton grew up in Scientology, and was a Sea Org member for more than 17 years. Since his exit, he’s been a passionate, outspoken critic, to the point of being labeled a “suppressive person” by the Church. He was featured on Leah Remini’s " Scientology and the Aftermath" on A&E. Chris is now a writer, consultant and advocate for critical thinking. His YouTube channel has more than 17,00...

We were excited for our first interview with a married couple!  Sarah Austin, a transgender woman, grew up in a small town as a “vanilla Christian” working in conservative talk radio. Her wife Becca grew up as a Jehovah’s Witness. Sarah and Becca married before Sarah’s transition. Together, they host the SarahTalk Podcast where they discuss “all the things you shouldn’t talk about at wor...

Tim and Bill discuss the many ways people re-examine, and often abandoned, their faith, as well as the many emotions that go with it. Then they’re joined by Luke King, a former Four-Square, Pentecostal Pastor and now host of the “Your Atheist Pastor" podcast that provides a place for those who’ve left their faith. Luke is also a speaker, a blogger and a yoga instructor.   In this engaging epi...

Lloyd Evans is a much sought-after expert on Jehovah's Witnesses, the religion of his upbringing. He’s the founder of JWsurvey.org, and author of “The Reluctant Apostate” which is both a memoir and a reference guide. He points to JW’s as just one example of the harm that can be inflicted when religious authority goes unchecked. Since 2011, Lloyd has been a passionate advocate against cults and rel...

To start off 2019, our guests are Dr. Darrel Ray, the psychologist and author who founded Recovering from Religion and currently serves as president, and Gayle Jordan, an attorney who works as our executive director.  These two tireless leaders tell their own story, and we also get insights into what led to the formation of RfR, the services offered, and how people can get involved. Before th...