MJ: Dissident Daughters

Published: Aug. 21, 2023, midnight

b'This week\\u2019s guest is MJ, the heart and mind behind the Instagram account, @dissident_daughters

MJ grew up in a conservative evangelical home where Focus on the Family reigned and her whole world consisted of family, church friends, and a few Christian homeschooling families. She believed wholeheartedly, feeling all the existential pressure as a child to \\u201csave\\u201d everyone around her.

As a young woman, MJ was surrounded by social workers while in college, and these colleagues were curious. They didn\\u2019t ask theological questions; they asked political questions, but for MJ it was all connected. She went to her pastor and was dismissed again and again.

\\u201cI started asking myself, What are the criteria? What are [church leaders] really looking for? They\\u2019re looking for somebody who doesn\\u2019t question, doesn\\u2019t challenge the status quo, doesn\\u2019t have a viewpoint that encompasses anything that includes the world along with Christianity.\\u201d

Now MJ uses her love of books and art to encourage others to hear different perspectives\\u2014one\\u2019s inner life, relationships, systemic injustices, religion, and spirituality. Besides lengthening Arline\\u2019s personal To-Be-Read list, MJ\\u2019s Instagram has shown her that whatever one is convinced is true, there are other possible ways to view it.

Links

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/dissident_daughters

Interact

For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/08/20/mj-dissident-daughters/

Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion

Graceful Atheist Podcast Merch!
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Support the podcast on Patreon
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Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/

Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/

Deconstruction
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/

Attribution

"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/
'