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Cass and Bob interview a woman using the pseudonym “Zoe.” She’s not entirely out to her family as an atheist, plus in her late teens she was lured into an affair with a married pastor, 12 years her senior so she would prefer to remain anonymous. 

Zoe’s story is a hard one. Not only did she endure the difficult work of deconstructing her faith, and the animosity that that creates with family and friends, but her faith involved falling in love with her pastor, and the pain of that church branding her with the Scarlet Letter. Then, as an adult, she found a man that loved her unconditionally. They’re happy, they have two children together, but her hardships were not entirely behind her. They endured a still-birth and a miscarriage in the process. Today she looks for beauty in our godless world through macro and conceptual photography and poetry which can find on her blog “Words to a Silent God." 

After the conversation with  Zoe, and Bob and I offer our post-show commentary, I tack on a section where I interact with an article posted in Psychology Today back in 2011 by psychotherapist Ken Page titled, “How To Love Yourself First: The least-honored and most powerful path to self-love.” Week after week, we talk with people who have not only done the difficult work of deconstructing their faith but invariably have had to discover how to love themselves after years, sometimes decades, of toxic religious self-debasement. Stories like Zoe’s embody the colossal achievement of raising one’s own chin to look one’s self in the mirror and affirm who you are…such that you can live out the remainder of your days looking people in the eye unashamed, unafraid, and free to bring your full human self—flaws and all--into the room.  This article prescribes some ways we can say yes to what is.

We taped these conversations on September 25th, 2016. We hope to encourage people in the process of deconstructing their faith and help curb the loneliness that accompanies it. We think the world is a better place when more people live by sight, not by faith. Please subscribe to our podcast, give it 5 stars, and/or leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Our show is available on most podcast platforms.  Also, you can support us monetarily in two easy ways: you can pledge one dollar per episode through Patreon; that’s www.patreon.com/eapodcast, or leave a lump-sum donation through PayPal at our website, www.everyonesagnostic.com. The smallest contribution is greatly appreciated. Our Indigogo fundraiser is here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ea-podcast-equipment-upgrade#/

Credits:
"Towering Mountain of Ignorance" intro by Hank Green https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3v3S82TuxU
Intro bumper "Never Know" by Jack Johnson
The segue music is "The Riddle" by Five for Fighting 

Thanks for listening and be a yes-sayer to what is.

Zoe’s blog site: https://wordstoasilentgod.wordpress.com/

National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Month October 15th: http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-pregnancy-and-infant-loss-remembrance-day-october-15/

http://www.october15th.com/

To raise awareness regarding Clergy Abuse of Power & Clergy Sexual Abuse: http://www.faithtrustinstitute.org/resources/learn-the-basics/ce-faqs

How To Love Yourself First: The least-honored--and most powerful path to self-love By Ken Page L.C.S.W. Posted May 21, 2011, Psychology Today