MindShift

Cult Child: Escaping Sam Fife’s ”Move of God” Cult (with Vennie Kocsis)

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 descended into a high-control religious group, complete with compounds, guns, and long working hours for its adherents.
Vennie grew up in the midst of that--and ultimately escaped and began the difficult journey of rebuilding her life, post-cult. This is a story of survival of horrific abuses, but just as equally, a story of the triumph of the human will over incredible adversity.
Find out more about Vennie on her website 
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God, Guns, and Abortion (with Frank Schaeffer)

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 overturning of Roe v. Wade--something he predicted with the installation of Supreme Court justice Amy Coney Barrett during the Trump era--we also dive into gun rights, mass shootings, and the collateral damage these issues are causing in our world today.
 
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Scientology: Cult Control, Coercion, and Manipulation (with Chris Shelton)

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 of the Church of Scientology and its founder, L Ron Hubbard, we delve into the psychology and tactics used by Scientology to control and coerce its adherents.
Even if you've never had anything to do with Scientology, you'll still benefit from this discussion if you're recovering from religion. Join us on the 23rd of April as Chris returns for our next MindShift Zoom call by supporting the show on Patreon--the link is below.
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Pastor to the Public (with Nate Manderson)

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 next? Is there any hope for the church, going forward?
In his role as "pastor to the public," Nate uses his platform to write incisive critiques of what evangelicalism has become today. I hope you enjoy this chat and hopefully we'll see Nate again on an upcoming MindShift Zoom call!
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Doug Wilson Part 7: Biblical Patriarchy and the Manosphere

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 is it even important to look at? Turns out that the toxic message of biblical patriarchy is moving into the secular "manosphere"--and if you've never heard of it, after this episode, I believe you'll be more concerned than you were at the beginning.
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Doug Wilson Part 6: My Most Famous Student (with Dr Nick Gier)

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, and spread his version of the Christian faith. Over the decades they've had numerous run-ins, and Dr Gier has written extensively about Wilson and the various scandals and controversies he's been involved in.
The next episode concludes our deep dive into Wilson--stay tuned for the final chapter!
Dr Nick Gier's Website
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Bonus Episode: A Follow-up to ”A Christian” Defense of Slavery (with David Johnson)

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 show. 
As a result, David and I were able to go back and do a closer examination of some of the New Testament passages we didn't get a chance to cover in the first one. I hope you enjoy this conversation and learn a lot from it!
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Doug Wilson Part 5: A ”Christian” Defense of Slavery (with David Johnson)

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 it Was and then branch out from there into both historical as well as modern defenses of slavery from a Christian point of view.
 
We'll conclude the episode by taking a long look at some Old Testament passages--do they justify slavery and if so, how might those teachings impact on the modern Christian today in terms of a defense of slavery? 
 
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Doug Wilson Part 4: His Toxic Theology

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 patriarchy.
 
In each case, not only will I explain the position itself as best I can, I'll also touch base on why exactly they are toxic, damaging to individuals, and lead to things like religious trauma syndrome and other forms of abuse.
 
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Doug Wilson Part 3: The Many Scandals

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 for abuses, due to his nepotism, politicking and cronyism, Wilson has so far not only managed to evade all consequences, he's been insulated from any meaningful accountability.
 
Despite all of these scandals, nonetheless Wilson continues to be platformed by leading evangelical leaders. As we saw in the first episode, due to his incredible reach into multiple evangelical homes and churches, his teaching is promoted widely. This episode will shed some light on the real Doug Wilson--buckle up and pour yourself a strong drink, because it's another long one!
 
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