This week’s guests are Brian and Troy of the podcast, I was a Teenage Fundamentalist. They interviewed David at the end of 2022, and now it’s our turn to hear from them.

Brian and Troy “used to be loyal Christians megachurch leaders. They’re not anymore.” Their parallel stories are fascinating, as we are given a glimpse into their past lives and the Pentecostal movement in Australia.

Today, Brian and Troy’s “honest and often hilarious podcast peeks behind the curtain at the weird, the worrying and the sometimes traumatic world of Evangelicals and Pentecostals.” This is a great episode that you won’t want to miss! 

Links

Website
https://www.iwasateenagefundamentalist.com/

I Was A Teenage Fundamentalist podcast
https://pod.link/1558606464

Twitter
https://twitter.com/WasTeenage

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/TeenageFundamentalist

Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3188989997871128

Link Tree
https://linktr.ee/iwatf

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs0jrFsxPsg7rGNfgqzAGug

IWATF interviews David from the Graceful Atheist Podcast
https://pod.link/1558606464/episode/f8067a71cf74f38205420663954fceaf

Quotes

“I say, ‘I started to deconvert,’ but I think I had started to deconvert the day I joined…because as you’re studying, as you’re looking into it all, you come across these issues, these contradictions…”

Troy

“I would say I felt accepted [in the church]. I would say it was absolutely conditional…on me behaving and conforming. But I was happy to do that at the time as long as that meant connection.”

Brian

“Bit by bit, I just started to think, This just isn’t actually true. But I didn’t want to come out and say it.”

Brian

“When you’ve been in Christianity for so long. When you’ve operated in such a confined environment…[and then] you open the floodgates and start to use some of your brainpower, sometimes it can become a scary place for people.”

Brian

“Anyone can tell their story. There’s such a power in human connection. There’s such a power in sense-making and story-making in our lives.”

Brian

“Pentecostalism is a very small slice in Australia, but it’s a very influential slice of Christianity.”

Brian

“I would bet there are more ex-Pentecostals than there are Pentecostals.”

Troy

“[In] most of the progressive groups, most of these progressive denotations, there are very few converts. It’s mostly refugees from conservative theology who…end up there.”

Troy

Interact

Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group!

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

Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/

Support the podcast
Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist
Paypal: paypal.me/gracefulatheist

Attribution

“Waves” track written and produced by Makaih Beats