The Dismantling Doctrine Podcast

This conversation features Frankie Tease, who grew up in a New Age cult called Morningland out of Southern California, back in the 1970s and 80s. Not only did she experience most, if not all, the classic markers of cults, she survived, escaped, and has since dedicated years to rebuilding her life. Although you may not have experienced life within a New Age cult, you'll see that all the typical tac...

This episode tells a truly unbelievable true story, as shared by abduction and abuse survivor Dawn McCarty. Added to that was the religious trauma syndrome she had to deal with as part of the LDS cult, and you have a situation that few would survive and stay sane.   Not on ly did she survive, she's now in a position to help others who come out of highly traumatic backgrounds. Above all, this is a...

In this monster, 2+ hour episode, I take a VERY deep dive into the backstory of what led Doug Wilson and his co-author, Steven Wilkins, to write their hugely controversial 1996 booklet, Southern Slavery, As it Was. If you love history as I do, then you'll appreciate the historical context behind what's called the "theological war thesis"--which draws elements from the Southern "Lost Cause" mytholo...

Once again I'm catching up with my very good friend Dr Terri Daniel to promote her outstanding conference being held in July--the Conference on Death, Grief, and Belief. Terri and I not only preview some of the amazing speakers at this year's conference, but we also delve into these important topics of death, grief, and belief, and how it all somehow ties into people's religious worldviews. These...

I recently caught up with a good friend and ex-pastor, Gary Hudson. Gary is the author of the 2018 work Surrender to Reason: New Testament Studies that Disputed Faith.   In it, Gary charts how he, as an evangelical pastor, came to question--and ultimately walk away from--his lifelong Christian faith. Ironically, it was in studying the Bible in preparation for a sermon that started his questioning...

This week's guest is ex-cult member Vennie Kocsis, who grew up in the fundamentalist Bible cult founded by Sam Fife--the Move of God, or just "The Move." Reaching its heyday in the mid-1970s, not only was it growing, it was reaching into the mainstream of society also. Focusing heavily on an end-times, apocalyptic message, Fife's group seemingly started out innocently enough...but ultimately desce...

After a few years' break, I finally caught up with my good friend Frank Schaeffer, who of course is the son of the famous Francis Schaeffer. His father not only shaped my views as an evangelical, but indeed an entire generation--and together with Frank, helped kickstart the "pro-life," anti-abortion evangelical movement in America.   Frank and I discuss not only his work in light of the overturnin...

Having just been on Chris's great show, the Sensibly Speaking Podcast, it was time to return the favor and have him back on MindShift! As an ex-Scientologist who's been out of the cult for over 10 years, and having run his show for the last 7 or 8 years exposing the inner workings of the cult, Chris is uniquely placed to provide insights into the group. Not only do we break down the early history...

This week's conversation is with self-professed liberal Christian and writer for Salon, Nate Manderson. Nate and I had a great chat about his backstory, how he came to walk away from fundamentalist Christianity, and now how his writing is taking on the mainstream evangelical church in America today. Having sold most of its soul to Trumpism, Christian nationalism and a dominionist dream, what's nex...

Welcome to this, our FINAL instalment in the ongoing and exhaustive look into controversial pastor and influencer, Doug Wilson. This episode begins by defining and discussing the similarities and differences between the "complementarian" and "biblical patriarchy" views, assesses Wilson's views in light of that overview, then moves into a definition of the "manosphere." What exactly is it? And why...

We're nearly finished with our deep dive into controversial pastor--cult leader?--Doug Wilson out of Moscow, Idaho. This week's episode features an absolutely fascinating conversation with his former professor at the University of Idaho, Dr Nick Gier. Their relationship goes back to the late 1970s when Dr Gier was a professor of philosophy and Wilson was a young student, keen to evangelize, debate...

In this special bonus episode, returning guest David Johnson and I took another in-depth look at the question we covered in our recent podcast on a so-called "Christian" defense of slavery. What was meant to be our February MindShift Zoom call turned into a great follow-up conversation on this subject, examining a few questions and comments listeners of the first episode raised after hearing the s...

As we're nearing the end of our exhaustive--and potentially exhausting--deep dive into all things Doug Wilson, back in October of 2022 I reached out to former guest David Johnson, host of the Skeptics and Seekers as well as the Red Letters podcasts for some help.   This episode has been a long time coming, but it's definitely worth the wait. David and I start with Wilson's book Southern Slavery as...

We're back for our inaugural episode of 2023, continuing our exploration of all things Doug Wilson, the controversial pastor/cult leader running a sprawling religious empire out of Moscow, ID.   In this long-form episode, I'll cover three of Wilson's more controversial---and ultimately toxic--theological distinctives: the "federal vision" theology, general equity theonomy, and finally biblical pat...

In this third instalment examining the controversial pastor Doug Wilson out of Moscow, ID, we're diving into the decades--yes, decades--of scandals and controversies that have been attached to him and his associated ministries.   In our continuing investigation of all things Wilson, this episode demonstrates that not only has Wilson's teachings and leadership style created a culture that is rife f...

As I was doing all of my research on controversial pastor Doug Wilson out of Moscow, Idaho, I came across his troublesome teachings on so-called "biblical patriarchy." That also led me to a disturbing movement called the "stay-at-home-daughters" (SAHD)--something which is also within Wilson's orbit. This week's guest, Cait West, is a survivor of both. She grew up in a Christian homeschooling envir...

This episode marks the first foray into the sprawling religious empire created by Doug Wilson, pastor of Christ Church in Moscow Idaho. Already on my radar from several years ago when I did an episode with Mark Potok, formerly of the Southern Poverty Law Center, who investigated the controversial pastor back in 2004. In this 2+ hour episode, we'll uncover Wilson's backstory: where did he come from...

This week's episode features a conversation with Jennifer Cohn, an investigative journalist who primarily writes for the Bucks County Beacon. Through her work investigating issues such as election integrity in the runup to the 2016 election, Jennifer became aware of the NAR--the New Apostolic Reformation--and the key players who've been pushing Trump's "Big Lie" following the 2020 election. In the...

Returning guest Dr André Gagné from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, is an expert on the field of dominion theology, the New Apostolic Reformation, the Christian Right and what's going on in Trump world. Thus: what better thing to do than to reach out to him after a few years to catch up on what's going on in that universe? The good news is that André's book on the evangelicals behind Tru...

Continuing our theme of speaking with ex-pastors, this week's conversation is another good one, featuring my friend Bruce Gerencser. A former Independent Fundamental Baptist preacher of several decades, Bruce has a lifetime's experience unpacking not only the church and the Bible, as an avowed atheist now, he has an incredible story to tell about his journey. In this chat Bruce and I swap stories...

I'm super happy to be reconnecting with my good friend Dave Warnock of "Dying Out Loud"--it's been at least 3+ years since we last talked last, maybe more. In the meantime, Dave has come out with a brand-new book called Childish Things: A Memoir. I listened to it on Audible, which I'd highly recommend as Dave himself reads the text. This makes his memoirs even more poignant, especially if you grew...

This week's episode features a fascinating discussion with returning guest, Dr David D'Andre, on the subject of his brand-new book entitled TULIP: The Poisonous Flower of Calvinism. Why Calvinism, of all the theological systems that are out there? As David makes clear, this theology in particular has a number of problems associated with it, both historically and currently. For many of us who ident...

This week's guest is Kerry Noble, former member of the Christian militia group The Covenant, Sword & Arm of the Lord (CSA). This group operated out of Arkansas primarily in the 1970s and 80s--and Kerry was one of the major leaders involved in the movement.   Built on conspiracy theories, twisted theology, and a dystopian vision of the future, the CSA in many ways was the forerunner to a number of...

This episode features Luna Corbden, whom I met through a mutual friend--Janice Selbie--when we both were presenters at the recent CORT2022, the Conference on Religious Trauma. Luna grew up as a Mormon, deconstructed their faith, and subsequently left the church--but not without a lot of baggage and religious trauma. Similar to many of us who've left controlling religions, Luna has done a tremendou...

This special bonus episode is actually Part 2 of a conversation I recently had with Brian and Troy, the co-hosts of the "I Was a Teenage Fundamentalist" podcast out of Melbourne, Australia. We discuss their backstory coming out of evangelicalism, rebuilding their lives post-religion, and discuss resources for reconstructing your authentic self. Head over to their platform for Theological Jenga Par...