Deconstruction Update: Atheism, Spirituality & Finding Meaning

Do we still believe in God? Let's chat: losing belief, spiritual encounters, and leaving the church "just to sin"! Emily introduces the new co-host of CGGB and former guest, Heather Leith. We talk about where we've been since the listeners last heard from us and spill the tea on why Lauren is no longer hosting.

Heather comes out as an atheist! She explains how she went from identifying as a progressive Christian back in Season 1 to now being a big, bad ex-Christian. She discusses how digging into her faith caused it to fall apart and where she finds meaning now as a nonbeliever.

Emily chats about her newfound freedom in being curious without certainty as the end goal, and shares about a recent spiritual experience that she can't quite explain. She also talks about being more settled in her post-evangelical life and why she's not going as crazy for deconstruction stuff as she used to.

We also touch on:

• Developing a sexual ethic without purity culture
• "Church hurt" and what happens when you were the one doing the hurting
• How heartbreaking deconstruction can be when you're in the middle of it
• Feeling brainwashed about women pastors in the past
• Thinking they were cool for going to "deep" churches
• Critiquing the Southern Baptist Convention
• Secretly watching debates with atheists while at Bible college

Resources mentioned in the episode:

• The Atheist Experience YouTube channel — Heather likes Matt Dillahunty and Forrest Valkai episodes in particular, but beware this channel can get INTENSE!
• Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus podcast — Helpful for understanding how the gospels were written and how the Bible was put together
• Some podcasts that Emily's partner works on that you might like: You Have Permission, Emerged
• This Dear Evan Hansen song lol

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