Holy Heretics: Losing Religion and Finding Jesus
Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
Episode Summary:
(CW): Mental Illness, Suicidal Ideation, Depression, and Anxiety)
Anna Gazmarian’s new book Devout: A Memoir of Doubt, investigates the overlapping complexities of religious faith, mental illness, and doubt. If you grew up in religiously conservative spaces, odds are you either never talked about mental illness or you were made to believe only people with a demonic spirit could suffer from mental and behavioral disorders. According to research by the National Institutes of Health, evangelical Christians often see mental health as the outworking of a harmful spiritual condition and therefore, the solution is to just have more faith in God. This is not only completely erroneous, it’s harmful. In this deeply personal conversation, Anna shares her struggles with depression, bipolar disorder, darkness, and doubt. For those of us who have lived on the dark side of the human experience, we have gifts to give to the world that only we can give because we know what it is like to lose touch with reality, to be in pain, to question the entire human experiment, to suffer with anxiety, to struggle to get out of bed in the morning, and to fight to find meaning in an otherwise meaningless existence. I’m honored to share this space with Anna and have this needed conversation about mental health and faith.
Bio:
Anna’s debut, Devout: A Memoir of Doubt is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster in March 2024. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Bennington Writing Seminars. Her essays have been published in The Guardian, The Rumpus, Longreads, The Sun, and Quarterly West. She works for The Sun Magazine and lives in Durham, NC.
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Show notes:
http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/Christianity-and-mental-illness
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This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor. Music is by Faith in Foxholes.
Ep. 21: Should I Stay in Church? with Dismantle Pod
Ep. 20: What Is the Bible? with Dr. Pete Enns
BONUS: “I Just Want Real Friends”: Finding Community Post-Deconstruction (Roundtable Discussion)
Ep. 19: How Complementarianism Feeds Sex Trafficking with Meghan Tschanz
Ep. 18: Is Christianity Harmful? with Will Thorpe (Heretical Theology)
Ep. 17: From Fundamentalism to Nuance: Rediscovering Ancient Spiritual Practices w/ Travis Wade Zinn
Ep. 16: Recognizing and Healing from Religious Trauma with Jess Hugenberg of Welcome to the Process
Ep. 15: Who’s on Top & Why It Matters: Rethinking Christian Sex Advice (with Sheila Wray Gregoire)
Ep. 14: Gaining a Deeper Understanding of God from Muslim Friends with Rachel Pieh Jones
Ep. 13: Moving beyond Biblical Literalism with Fr. Brendan Ellis Williams
Ep. 12: Deconstructing Toxic Christianity One Joke at a Time with Kristina Harutoonian (The DTR Blog)
Ep. 11: ChurchToo: What’s Purity Culture Got to Do with It? with Emily Joy Allison
Ep. 10: What happened to Joshua Harris? The I Kissed Dating Goodbye author shares about purity culture and deconstructing his faith
Ep. 9: How “Christian Values” Gave Rise to Toxic Masculinity with Kristin Kobes Du Mez
Ep. 8: The History of Christianity in America with Chris Staron of Truce Podcast
Ep. 7: Loving Your Enemies with Dr. Russell Johnson
BONUS: Responding to the Ravi Zacharias Report
Ep. 6: Unholy Trinity: Power
Ep. 5: Unholy Trinity: Patriarchy
Ep. 4: Unholy Trinity: Purity Part 2
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