Born Again Again

WE LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. ❤️❤️ — Our links: Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

Being "Unequally Yoked" is a major concern when one partner in a couple goes through a faith change without the other, and our guests today have generously shared that journey with us all.  Ben and Andrea are a mixed-faith couple that went through this tricky process and have come out the other side stronger. In this interview we talk about those first difficult conversations, about therapy and how that was instrumental for them, and about all the things they learned about themselves and about each other as they went through this life change. In addition, we explore some of the very practical ways in which they have been able to make their mixed faith relationship work for them. As always, I hope you enjoy! — Our links: Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

“On a base level of what feels right and wrong, rejecting a person for wanting to experience love just didn’t feel right at all.” Today’s episode is an interview with David, who grew up in the southern Church or Christ and left the faith later in life. We talk about what is was like growing up in a southern fundamentalist church, about having doubts as a kid, but not knowing how to express them, about a conversation with a coworker that completely changed his life, and about how common sense has to be a higher moral standard than any religious book. We wrap things up by discussing the difficulties in dealing with bitterness on the other side. I hope you enjoy! — Our links: Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

“Belief is not a choice, and if it’s not a choice then the burden is off of my shoulders” Today’s episode is an interview with Andi + Jeremy, a couple who, similar to Katie and me, started their relationship as committed christians but then headed down the path of deconversion. We talk about their origins and the first dominos that started to fall, about the difficulties that came with losing their faiths at different rates, about telling their family and friends, and about all of the healing that they’ve found on the other side.  I hope you enjoy! — Our links: Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

“For the first time in my life I feel a freedom and a love and acceptance that Ive never had, ever. I can feel my power.” Today’s episode is the first in a series of episodes where we’re going to be turning the mic around and interviewing you - members of our Born Again Again community! And this first episode is with a wonderful personal trainer, writer, and momma of 2 named Stacy! Our conversation was deep and incredibly encouraging, and I am so grateful that Stacy was willing to open up about her story with all of us. It’s a good one! I hope you enjoy!   Stacy's Meditation E-Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W36RBXM/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_glt_BGJT5Q0MW5MQ4GXCDTN2   Resources that have helped Stacy on her journey: Books: You Are Your Own by Jaime Lee Finch The 5 Core Skills of Mindfulness by Terry Fralich Untamed by Glennon Doyle The Ethical Slut by Janet W Hardy and Dossie Easton Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Paul Walker   Podcasts: Born Again Again (seriously...your podcast and Jaime's book were the first that got me to believe healing was possible) The Thinking Atheist Good Christian Fun   Spiritual Stuff: Therapy (many years, many therapists) Journaling Tarot cards Yoga Chakra healing Inner child work Mediation Working with lunar energy (phases of the moon) Mushrooms, acid, and weed   — Our links: Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

Letting go of the promise of heaven is a really hard part of leaving the faith and leaves many of us with a fear of death. In this episode, we discuss this typically heavy topic with death doula Caroline Ingraham Lee. We talk about her story and how she became a death doula, and discuss what that means on a practical level. We end by talking about how facing her own mortality head-on has helped her to live a richer, more engaged and more fulfilling life, and she shares her thoughts about overcoming a lingering fear of hell and the unknown. I really, really enjoyed this conversation and hope you do too... Show links: Caroline's Insta (instagram.com/teamwoodnote) Death Meditation (https://www.goingwithgracecourses.com/courses/grace-in-dying)   Our links: Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)  

As ex-Christians, we understand better than most what it's like to live with an extreme worldview. In today's episode we talk about the unique perspective we've gained since leaving our faith, and how that perspective empowers us to relate to those that we disagree with. We talk about some common reasons that we can slip back into an 'us' vs 'them' mentality, and why ex-Christians are especially prone to that type of thinking.  We end the episode with some thoughts about seeing yourself in the other, and how this simple and subtle shift in thinking can have wide-reaching effects on your brain, your relationships, and on the world. Enjoy! Relavant Thoughts: "Thinking in duality will always reinforce duality. Only when you can see your enemy as a part of yourself that is in dysfunction due to their own suffering can you really work on the hearts and minds of the people you disagree with." "Wisdom is when you can see that you are both poles and you understand how it all is. Out of that understanding you may act, but at that point you act without passion, and that’s the secret of the game." - Ram Dass Focus on our fundamental equality - everybody is seeking pleasure and avoiding suffering. It makes it hard to hate someone when you see them as fundamentally the same as yourself - Beyond Religion by the Dalai Lama  “I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there.” - Mother Teresa “You may protest if you can love the person you are protesting against as much as you love yourself.” - Ram Dass Our links: Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

Healing ourselves using our own inner resources has been a major source of empowerment for us both. In today's episode, Katie and I talk through our experiences doing 'Inner Child' work, and share some ways that it's been helpful and eye-opening for us. As always, we try to keep things super light and practical. Hopefully our experience will encourage you to go within and try it for yourself. And if you're looking for a guided meditation, we made one just for you! 15-Minute Guided Inner Child Meditation: Katie Narrating: https://www.patreon.com/posts/45003352 Joe Narrating: https://www.patreon.com/posts/45003324 Our links: Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

We all want better sex and relationships. Today’s episode is an interview with Sex and Relationship coach Meg Cowan. During our conversation, we talk about understanding personal agency, autoimmune issues in a repressed body, and untangling from shame. We get into communication, both in relationship AND your communication with yourself, as well as some practical ways to begin building a new sexual ethic. And we wrap up by talking about navigating deconstruction with a partner who may not be on the same page.  Enjoy! Meg's Website - megcowan.com Meg's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/megccowan/ -- Our links: Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

Today I have a real-life, honest conversation with my Christian friend Mike.  In an effort to get better at having hard conversations, I put out a post on my Facebook account asking if there were any Christians out there who like to have a challenging but respectful conversation with me for our podcast. This episode is a result of that post. We touch on Mike's thoughts about me leaving the faith, about God's role in the coronavirus, we compare God with human authority, and talk about letting God off the hook for the 'sin' of the world, along with much, much more. Enjoy! -- Our links: Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

Today I have a real-life, honest conversation with my Christian friend and coworker Matt.  In an effort to get better at having hard conversations, I put out a post on my Facebook account asking if there were any Christians out there who like to have a challenging but respectful conversation with me for our podcast. This episode is a result of that post. We touch on Matt's thoughts about me leaving the faith, about morality and evil in the world, about coming back to faith, and much, much more. Enjoy! -- Our links: Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

Today’s episode is an interview with Jamie Lee Finch! Im sure many of you already know her from her book, You Are Your Own, but she is also an embodiment coach, acting (as she puts it) as a mediator between you and your body. In this episode we talk about that feeling of overwhelm when you are first leaving your faith, we talk about the importance of reconnecting with your body, and what that can look like.We also dive into the importance and beauty of grief, and about the healing power of connecting with your anger. How to find Jamie: Instagram Twitter The Coven Jamie's Website Our links: Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

We were given WAY too much advice. In today's episode we talk about the importance of being really strict on who's voice you allow into your life. We talk about the abundance of input Christians had in our lives when we were younger and the implications of that. We also talk news, politics, social media, and the overwhelming amount of voices that we are subjected to every day. Then we talk about two major ways we've been able to quiet the outside noise and amplify our own intuitions, and how that's impacted our lives. Enjoy! -- Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

Season 2 is officially here! In this episode we examine the process of coming to belief in God/Christianity/Bible/etc. We discuss how the process of going from a human to a Christian is broken into many small, easy-to-swallow stages, and how this process allows normal, logical people to believe in things like speaking made up languages, pretending to drink human blood and eat human flesh, and in an invisible, silent, angry overlord. In the last few minutes we get really honest with you all. We talk about our plan, passion, and vision for season 2 as well as what the next chapter of this podcast and community are going to look like. Much love to each and every one of you! -- Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

Can you be proud of your own humility? Did Christianity make us over-analytical? Let's find out! In addition to a brief update, in this episode we discuss the idea of spiritual materialism, as discussed in Sam Harris's 'Waking Up' app. We talk about how Christian leaders feign humility by bragging about their awareness of their sins, about how being a Christian may have made us overly analytical, about how this spiritual pride is not limited to Christianity, and about our own journey with self-identity. We wrap up by talking about what spirituality means to us, how even positive practices can become a cage, and what we're doing to avoid that. Enjoy! — Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

Does "Let go and let God" make you cringe? Us too.  In this episode we discuss the idea of surrender and what it was like to have a higher power to surrender our problems to. We talk about the security and comfort we found in giving things over to God, and how jarring it was to lose that ability once we left the faith.  To bring it full circle, we talk about the idea of radical acceptance, bringing awareness to our worry and anxiety, choosing more loving thoughts, and about how we're learning to surrender on the other side of religion.  Stay healthy all ❤️ — Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

When it comes down to it, does anyone really believe? In this episode we talk about belief, and how it relates to life in the real world. We talk about the corona virus and how we would have responded to it when we used to be Christian. Is there a line where a person’s faith will inevitably take a back seat to reason? We finish the episode by talking about the huge (unnecessary) weight of balancing religion and real life, and the great sense of relief we are experiencing on the other side of the impossible standards of Christianity.  Enjoy… Links! Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

Today Katie is going to read you some Bible stories (is Katie writing this in the third person? yes). We’re thinking back on our childhood and all the Bible stories we were taught through picture books and children’s Sunday school skits. The Tower of Babel and Noah’s Ark are two such stories that we never batted an eye at, but now we’re re-reading them to see what we missed. Coming back to the Bible after taking a break was a shock for us. We talk about how our perceptions of God changed, how there are many details to these stories that were either left out or not understood, and how they pose many, many questions. If you didn’t believe these stories to be literal and assumed they were allegorical…well, you’re lucky. Sometimes it’s hard to come back to what now seems like a fairytale and embrace the fact that you believed it was fully true. Being kind to our inner child is key for us now. We wrap up by sharing “where we’re at” in this deconstruction process and how our mind has been a little less consumed by our Christian pasts. Enjoy… Links! Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

Turning the other cheek, being meek, being humble, are not particularly helpful when taken to the extreme. Today we’re so excited to be sharing a conversation we had with Tully O’Connor.  Tully is a personal development and relationship coach that I (Joe) have been working with over the last few months, and I have been hugely benefitted by my time spent with him. During this conversation we talk about people pleasing, and how disconnection from yourself, from your intuition, will inevitably cause you to be disconnected in your relationships. We talk about self compassion and the importance of having patience for yourself, and at the end we go through some really practical things we can all do to tame our inner critic, develop more self-compassion and self-connection, and some ways to process through the complex feelings that inevitably come up as we learn to live on the other side of religion. This was a really helpful conversation for us to have and I think it will be helpful for all of you as well, Enjoy… Episode Links: Tully’s Instagram (https://instagram.com/tullyoconnor) Breathing Exercises: O2 Awakening (https://www.theo2awakening.com)  Wim Hof (https://youtu.be/nzCaZQqAs9I) Links! Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)

We felt like we had to do a lot of studying before we walked away from our faith. In this episode we talk briefly about Rhett and Link’s deconstruction podcast episodes, specifically about how their story parallels ours and many of yours as well. Then we talk about how many people feel ill-equipped to leave their faith. We discuss how Christianity can teach you to “lean not on your own understanding”, and how that can keep a person trapped inside a worldview which does not suit them. Enjoy! Rhett’s Deconstruction (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/226-rhetts-spiritual-deconstruction-ear-biscuits-ep-226/id717407884?i=1000464459618) Links! Instagram (https://instagram.com/born.again.again) Facebook Group (https://facebook.com/groups/bornagainagain) Your Stories (https://bornagainagain.co/stories) Blog + Resources (https://bornagainagain.co) Patreon (https://patreon.com/bornagainagain) Merch (https://teespring.com/stores/born-again-again-podcast)