The Dismantling Doctrine Podcast

Jesus Christ: Good Teacher, Bad Teacher, or Cult Leader? (with David Johnson and Gary Hudson)

This week's episode features not just one returning guest, but two! I brought back David Johson, host of the Skeptics and Seekers podcast, and Gary Hudson, author of Surrender to Reason, to discuss a few burning topics.
 
One of my listeners asked me a question a few months ago: "Why does Jesus always seem to get a free pass when Christians are deconstructing their faith?" He's seen as a wise guru, a great teacher, one who imparted a great deal of instructions that people everywhere should follow. Even among atheists and agnostics, he's viewed with a lot of respect.
 
But was he such a great teacher, after all?
 
Gary, David and I not only tackle this question, we also delve into the topic of whether or not Jesus could have been some form of a cult leader. By deconstructing a lot of his so-called "wise sayings," this opens up a new line of inquiry you may have never considered previously.
 
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Surviving Sexual Abuse in Doug Wilson’s Logos School (with Emilie Paige)

This week's show comes with an obvious trigger warning related to an account of grooming and sexual abuse of a minor. Emilie Paige tells her horrific story of how she was groomed and finally abused by one of the teachers in Doug Wilson's Logos School out of Moscow, ID. Sadly, we've seen too many examples of what can happen within these deeply patriarchal religious environments, which oftentimes are rife for abuses of all kinds.
What's truly amazing is that in listening to Emilie's story of surviving horrific abuse for years, she's not only come out the back end a stronger woman who is unafraid to share her story, but also speaks of the religious element also. In so doing, she is undoubtedly empowering, inspiring, and helping many who have gone through similar terrible experiences.
Emilie's Medium Page Link
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Roman Collar Crime: The Transgressions of a Small Town Priest (with Charles Utter)

This week's episode features a conversation with Charles Utter, author of Roman Collar Crime: VIOLATED: The Transgressions of a Small-Town Priest. 
Charles tells the tragic and quite honestly unbelievable story of a priest who preyed on his victims in a small town in South Dakota. Although the book is "fictional," the story is based on a real priest that ran both the parish church as well as a Catholic school in the small town in which he grew up. Thus, the story is based on actual events that Charles investigated, and on which ultimately based his book.
You can order the book on Amazon at this link:
Or for more information, look up the "Roman Collar Crime" Facebook page. 
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Programming, Lies, and Manipulation: Surviving the Morningland New Age Cult (with Frankie Tease)

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 tactics are used. We discuss not only those, but how they affected Frankie on multiple levels. I'm sure you'll get a lot out of this conversation.
Read more about Frankie's story in this article! 
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Surviving Abduction, Abuse, and a Cult (with Dawn McCarty)

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 story of the strength of the human will overcoming tremendous adversities.
 
Read more about Dawn's story in the book Transforming Pain Into Purpose available on Amazon.
 
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Doug Wilson Part 8: The Theological War Thesis and Southern Slavery, as it Was

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" mythology, among others.
You might be surprised to learn that in reality, the argument advanced by Wilson and Wilkins is really nothing new--Southern Slavery cribs from a variety of sources, all of them problematic, and advances a revisionist, racist reading of history.
Exactly why is this problematic? Listen in to find out more!
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The 2023 Conference on Death, Grief, and Belief (with Dr Terri Daniel)

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 aspects are especially noticeable when it comes to issues like death, dealing with grief, and trying to understand suffering.
One more thing--listen carefully at the end, and Terri will give you a discount code to save a bit of money on this upcoming conference!
The Conference on Death, Grief, and Belief
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Surrender to Reason: An Ex-Pastor’s Journey of Deconversion (with Gary Hudson)

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 of the inspiration, inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible.
 
Once that house of cards started to collapse, the inevitable happened...Gary walked away from both decades of faithful ministry and his Christian faith to boot.
 
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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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