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I was a Teenage Fundamentalist

117 episodes

Brian and Troy used to be loyal Christian megachurch leaders. They’re not anymore. This podcast explores life after fundamentalism.

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All Episodes
Episode 11
011 - What About Gay Pentecostals? - Anthony Venn-Brown OAM (Part 1)
In part one of this special three-part episode, we interview former AOG evangelist/pastor and now #GayAmbassador, Anthony Venn-Brown. TRIGGER WARNING: If you find that some of the material in this episode disturbing, we encourage you to talk with a close friend who will understand or contact your local help/crisis/support telephone line. Lifeline Australia https://www.lifeline.org.au/ Beyond Blue https://www.beyondblue.org.au/ LGBT https://qlife.org.au/ “A Life of Unlearning – a preacher’s struggle with his homosexuality” is available at all online booksellers. Reviews, endorsements, readers’ comments here: www.ALifeOfUnlearning.com Resources and further information about Anthony and his organisation Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International are here: www.abbi.org.au https://www.facebook.com/abbi.org.au , https://www.facebook.com/anthonyvennbrown Twitter: @gayambassador Instagram: @gayambassador -- Transcript of the episode is here. Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf Email: hhandhillsong@gmail.com Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here. Join the conversation and connect with other listeners here. All our links are here. Transcript of this episode is here. Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help.
Episode 12
012 - What About Gay Pentecostals? - Anthony Venn-Brown OAM (Part 2)
In part two of this special three-part episode, we interview former AOG evangelist/pastor and now #GayAmbassador, Anthony Venn-Brown. TRIGGER WARNING: If you find that some of the material in this episode disturbing, we encourage you to talk with a close friend who will understand or contact your local help/crisis/support telephone line. Lifeline Australia https://www.lifeline.org.au/ Beyond Blue https://www.beyondblue.org.au/ LGBT https://qlife.org.au/ “A Life of Unlearning – a preacher’s struggle with his homosexuality” is available at all online booksellers. Reviews, endorsements, readers’ comments here: www.ALifeOfUnlearning.com Resources and further information about Anthony and his organisation Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International are here: www.abbi.org.au https://www.facebook.com/abbi.org.au , https://www.facebook.com/anthonyvennbrown Twitter: @gayambassador Instagram: @gayambassador -- Transcript of the episode is here. Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf Email: hhandhillsong@gmail.com Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here. Join the conversation and connect with other listeners here. All our links are here. Transcript of this episode is here. Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help.
Episode 13
013 - What About Gay Pentecostals? - Anthony Venn-Brown OAM (Part 3)
In part three of this special three-part episode, we interview former AOG evangelist/pastor and now #GayAmbassador, Anthony Venn-Brown. TRIGGER WARNING: If you find that some of the material in this episode disturbing, we encourage you to talk with a close friend who will understand or contact your local help/crisis/support telephone line. Lifeline Australia https://www.lifeline.org.au/ Beyond Blue https://www.beyondblue.org.au/ LGBT https://qlife.org.au/ “A Life of Unlearning – a preacher’s struggle with his homosexuality” is available at all online booksellers. Reviews, endorsements, readers’ comments here: www.ALifeOfUnlearning.com Resources and further information about Anthony and his organisation Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International are here: www.abbi.org.au https://www.facebook.com/abbi.org.au , https://www.facebook.com/anthonyvennbrown Twitter: @gayambassador Instagram: @gayambassador -- Transcript of the episode is here. Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf Email: hhandhillsong@gmail.com Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here. Join the conversation and connect with other listeners here. All our links are here. Transcript of this episode is here. Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help.
Episode 66
066 - Protesting Christian Hierarchies with Dave Andrews (Progressive Christians Part 4)
When journeying through the Progressive Christian scene, Brian was deeply impacted and influenced by Chrisitan Anarchist, Dave Andrews. Dave is particularly interested in radical spirituality, incarnational community and the dynamics of personal and social transformation. He is also the author of many books and articles. In this chat, Dave shares how he was excommunicated from YWAM in the ealry-1970s and about the interfaith work he did with Muslims in Asia. Trigger warning: This episode contains a lot of Christian phrases and lingo that may trouble some listeners. This episode also touches on issues concerning depression and self-harm. If you are in Australia and require support, please reach out to 1800RESPECT by phone or online at www.1800respect.org.au/ or Lifeline on 13 11 14. You can connect with Dave Andrews via his website: http://daveandrews.com.au/ --- Transcript of the episode is here. Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf Email: hhandhillsong@gmail.com Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here. Join the conversation and connect with other listeners here. All our links are here. Transcript of this episode is here. Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help.
Episode 76
076 - Keith Green Arranged My Teenage Marriage (Keith Green Part 2)
Following on from Episode 072 Was Keith Green a Cult Leader?, we interview Sharon Madere. She was 'led to the Lord' by Keith and experienced the 'baptism in the Holy Spirit' experience with Keith in the 1970s. She lived at the Last Days Ministries commune in California and later in Texas in the 1980s. In this episode, Sharon tells her stories and claims Keith Green arranged her teenage marriage to Martin Bennett, one of the three elders of LDM. Correction: In this episode, Sharon says she remained with LDM until 1985. She wishes to correct this and state she stayed with LDM until early-1987. You can find their podcast here: Feet of Clay—Confessions of the Cult Sisters and follow Tracey & Sharon on Instagram. Melody Green's biography of Keith Green and memoir of life at Last Days Ministry, No Compromise is available here. --- Transcript of the episode is here. Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here. Join the conversation and connect with other listeners here. All our links are here. Transcript of this episode is here. Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help.
Episode 76
077 - I Blew the Whistle on my Dad’s Church with Kit Kennedy (Leaving Part 17)
Clare Heath-McIvor is an exvangelical blogger and podcaster who has been operating under the pseudonym 'Kit Kennedy' since a dramatic and shunning-esque exit from her pastor father's church in 2016. In 2022, she and her ex-husband (a gay conversion therapy survivor) became whistleblowers for a 60 Minutes Australia political and religious expose on her father's City Builders Church and its tactics in Australian conservative politics. Trigger warning: This episode touches on issues concerning depression and suicide. If you are in Australia and require support, please reach out to 1800RESPECT by phone or online at www.1800respect.org.au/ or Lifeline on 13 11 14. You can connect with Clare at www.unchurchablepodcast.com. If you want to explore her whistleblowing story, then see the links below: 60 Minutes Australia - Praying For Power: Caring church or crazy cult The Age Newspaper #1 - Liberal Party Candidate Agent for Ultra-Conservative Church, Family Says #2 - Speaking in Tongues, Exorcisms and Control: Life in City Builders #3 - Inside City Builders, the Pentecostal Sect with Lofty Political Goals #4 - Ultra-Conservative Candidate won’t sit in the party room if elected #5 - Shame on you: Liberal Party figure caught using fake 007 pics and fake identity for dirty tricks --- Transcript of the episode is here. Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here. Join the conversation and connect with other listeners here. All our links are here. Transcript of this episode is here. Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help.
Episode 96
096 - What About Near-Death Experiences? with Dr Eben Alexander
In this episode, we talk with Dr Eben Alexander, an American neurosurgeon and author. In 2008, he suffered a coma caused by a rare and mysterious bacterial meningo-encephalitis of unknown causes. We talk with him about his own near-death experience and his book, Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife. Dr Alexander's links: Eben Alexander Division of Perceptual Studies - University of Virginia School of Medicine Home - Scientific and Medical Network Home - The Galileo Commission Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies Inner Sanctum Center Sacred Acoustics After our recording, we came upon three articles in particular that make some serious allegations against Dr Alexander. One is from Esquire Magazine and another from writer, Sam Harris. These were both quite hostile. The third is from the Harvard Crimson , and while it is certainly not hostile, it does echo many of the allegations made in the Esquire article. Dr. Eben Alexander Proof of Heaven Investigation (esquire.com) This Must be Heaven by Sam Harris To Do No Harm | The Harvard Crimson (thecrimson.com) We contacted Dr Alexander about these articles and the allegations they make, and his assistant replied with the following links: First, Robert Mays, an NDE researcher and longtime leader of IANDS.org, wrote a thorough article criticizing the journalism of Esquire's author: JNDS_ Winter 2016 2PP.indd (unt.edu) A peer-reviewed article published in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease (flagship journal for physicians in neurology & psychology), by Bruce Greyson et al. It is about Eben's personal case, from the standpoint of a lifelong NDE researcher and colleagues: nmd50598 744..747 (virginia.edu) and more about the professors in the department, so you know their calibre of work and background: Faculty and Staff - Division of Perceptual Studies (virginia.edu) A reply from Eben during another interview, re: Sam Harris' allegations: Eben Alexander answers skeptics' criticisms (iands.org) A valuable set of essays about consciousness, several of which cite Eben's case study in their work: Essay Contest - Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies. Start with the winning entry by Jeff Mishlove and then peruse other topics. -- Deconversion Therapy Podcast Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here. Join the conversation and connect with other listeners here. All our links are here. Transcript of this episode is here. Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help.
Episode 114
114 - Some Standing Here Shall Not Taste Death - The Failed Return of Jesus
Did Jesus predict his own return in the lifetime of his disciples and first century Christians and get it wrong? Was he simply one of many failed first-century Jewish apocalyptic preachers? Did Paul and other writers of the New Testament share Jesus' view and get it wrong too? In this episode, Troy and Brian unpack some of the reasons why many scholars, progressive Christians, Exvangelicals and Atheists give a resounding, 'Yes!' to these questions. Links 'The Lowdown on God's Showdown' by Edward Babinski The article serves as the foundation for this episode and is the same one that Troy read, which persuaded him that Jesus would not return. Episode 113 - Armageddon Isn't Coming with Bart Ehrman Bart gives his scholarly perspectives on the Book of Revelation and the early Church's beliefs about the imminent return of Jesus. Episode 3 - It's the End of the World as We Know it In one of our earliest episodes, we talked about how we were peddled the end-time message from the very start of our time as fundamentalists. Episode 35 - F**cked Over at Country Town AOG Troy has his 'fridge revelation' that Jesus may not be coming so soon after all. Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here. Join the conversation and connect with other listeners here. All our links are here. Transcript of this episode is here. Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help.