Religious Rejects Podcast

“People can’t change.” We’ve heard that before. Then we talked with Rev. Jakob Hero-Shaw. Transgender Day of Visibility is today, a reminder that behind every headline is a real person, living a real story. To our transgender and gender nonconforming listeners: we see you. We honor your stories. And we are grateful for the ways your lives expand our understanding of love.

Did Ruth sleep with Boaz? In four chapters you get famine, immigration, two widows trying to survive, a suspiciously nice farmer named Boaz, and a midnight scene where Ruth sneaks onto a threshing floor and uncovers his feet. Starring “Ruth the Moabite" and how this foreign widow ends up becoming an ancestor of King David… and eventually Jesus! It raises a lot of questions. Some of them are…...

The Pope Said One Thing. Mike Johnson Said the Opposite. Both Used the Bible. So who’s right? Immigration has become more than a political debate. It is now a theological collision. Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Catholic bishops warned against mass deportation. Speaker Mike Johnson pointed to Romans 13 and the role of government authority. Both claim Scripture supports their position. In this episode, we...

“God hates divorce." Cool... But does He? This week on Religious Rejects, we crack open the Bible and look at what it actually says about divorce. Spoiler: it involves property, honor, certificates, and a lot of men making decisions about women’s lives. Christine unpacks what divorce meant in her family (and what it didn’t). Alycia raises a question about why the single guys wrote the handboo...

Alycia and Christine crash into 2026 with “Biblical Marriage” and it is not what your youth pastor warned you about. Property trades. “Taking” wives. Being a spinster at age 24. You are not ready for biblical marriage. Or are you?

Join us as we bring together all four parts of our Advent series, The Birth According To…?, The Gospels According To…?, Jesus Of…?, and What About Us?, into one seamless, extended episode. Experience the full Advent journey as we explore the story of Jesus and the meaning of Christmas in a fresh, thoughtful, and honest way.

Sleeping in. Lutefisk. Family traditions that stuck — and the ones that didn’t. In Advent Part 4, the hosts share Christmas memories, questionable food choices, and why sometimes the best tradition is staying in bed.

Silent Night Was Not Silent. A lot of people think Jesus was born in Bethlehem because that’s where the story says it happened. But actually there was Roman violence near Nazareth at the time, which was very loud and very upsetting, so later they moved the story to Bethlehem because prophecy is important and also vibes. This teaches us that sometimes the lesson comes after the cover-up. Because ho...

Artist Arionna Goffinet crashes the studio to talk power, religion, queerness, astrology, grandmas-as-theology, and why femme-fatale paintings heal better than therapy. Raised between Jehovah’s Witnesses and Catholics, she turned it all into art, rebellion, and boss-lady energy. We get into spirituality, identity, Medusa, tarot, creativity, and why women in power suits belong everywhere.

Discover the wildest birth stories NOT found in your Bible! Joseph selected like he’s on an ancient dating show? A midwife burns her hand on what?? Toddler Jesus makes the news casually smiting kids and resurrecting them before snack time??? And don’t forget the dragons! Welcome to Christian Fan Fiction on Ep. 19, Part 2.

Christmas as a group project: Mark didn’t help, John changed genres, Matthew overachieved, and Luke brought props. Support our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ReligiousRejects

The real story. The uninvited guests. The part we never learned. Also starring: Christine vs. the Lions and Alycia pretending we’re still on topic. Happy(?) Thanksgiving!

Purity culture lied. Your youth pastor lied. Your pledge ring? A lie. The Song of Solomon is basically Bible-era Bridgerton and Ruth is out here uncovering Boaz’s “feet.” In this episode, we go there. Hard. Christine and Alycia talk shame, sex, courtship cults, weaponized modesty and why Joshua Harris basically started a movement he later apologized for TWICE. If you were ever told your hormones w...

Focus on the Family says Halloween opens portals. Alycia and Christine say it mostly opens candy bags. This episode goes from satanic panic to queer liberation. It's a tour through hell houses, holy fear, and why some Christians still think a costume invites Satan (or why the church trips over a wig and a cape). It’s spooky season for the saints and the sinners.

Witches, coffee, and umbrellas, oh my! This week the Rejects dive into the long, strange history of things Christians have feared, banned, or burned through the centuries. From those left-handed “sinister” kids to the devil’s drink and the evils of dancing, Christine and Alycia laugh their way through a lineup of “forbidden” fun just in time for Halloween. Why did so many everyday things, from nov...

If Jesus is the only way, what happened to everyone before he showed up? Did Esther Have to Sit in a Heavenly Waiting Room? What if the hill we’re dying on isn’t even structurally sound? This episode, we stress-test some of Christianity’s plot holes. If God strikes us with lightning, we’re probably on the right track! Support our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ReligiousRejects

When a loved one dies by suicide, how does faith help, or hurt? In this special episode of Religious Rejects, we sit down with a mother whose son died by suicide. She doesn’t know why… and she’s not alone. Survivors often carry questions that may never be answered. What happens next? Together, we discuss grief, guilt, and how faith communities can choose compassion over judgment. Please take care...

This week: The Loud, Messy, Smelly Truth About Church! What even IS church? Was it ever supposed to be a giant building with a mortgage and a fog machine? Or was it just messy living rooms with cows, crying babies, wine, and neighbors calling each other out when they screwed up? We dig into: • Early “church” = HOA meetings with bread and wine 🍷🐑 • Why megachurch mortgages over actual ministry? •...

“In God We Trust.” But define “God.” And who’s “we?”In this unfiltered episode of Religious Rejects, we ask what it really means to be a Christian in a country obsessed with its own reflection. From German nationalism to Sesame Street immigrants, the Ten Commandments in kindergarten to Pride flags next to the stars and stripes – this is where faith, power, and politics collide.🧨 When Belief Turns...

What if the Holy Spirit was never a "he"? Christine and Alycia crack open the long-buried story of Sophia - the feminine spirit of wisdom, the creative force behind everything - hidden for centuries by a patriarchal church desperate to protect its "triune bromance." From ancient Hebrew texts where ruach (spirit, wind) was feminine, to the lost gospels of the Nag Hammadi found a...

Something’s missing. Millions believe in it. Churches preach it. Entire foreign policies hinge on it. But… what if it was never there to begin with? It poses as ancient truth - but the ink’s barely dry. Christine and Alycia follow the trail. Evangelical lock-ins. White robes. Sleepover panic. Maps of the end of the world drawn in crayon. Everything you were taught about the end? It might trace bac...

Two Religious Rejects discuss afterlife zoning laws, divine apathy, and whether Hell even has an HR department. This week, we're unraveling eternity’s most confusing bureaucracy - where the elevators go sideways, paperwork is eternal and no one agrees on the dress code.

Salvation or damnation? There will be prizes... or not. $20 or a tract? What’s going on here?! NO REFUNDS! Ep. 6 is out now!

Yup, it's another S word! And Alycia and Christine are ready for it. Join them as they discuss what they know, what they don't know about what it means to be saved, how to get saved and if we whether or not we need to be saved.

Christine and Alycia take on the S-word: sin. Where did it come from? Who does it serve? And why is purity culture still messing with our heads? This is not your Sunday School recap.