Seth and I were both pretty nervous to release this episode. Cause we get weird and share very personal things and mystical experiences we've both had in our lives. We're either drunk, sick, fucking nuts, or completely normal. My bet is on normal, but we were enjoying Crown Royal Rye and light beers.
We chat briefly about Joel Osteen’s brand of happiness, spirit animals, seeing angels and mystic beings. Seth has some fascinating ideas of how and why we created a leader like Mark Driscoll, and why many of us hunger for ideologies and religions.
There may be wounds we are medicating. I know I have many. It takes work to find the wound. But in finding the wound, we can find the healing so that we stop using alcohol, drugs, sex, porn, religion and other things to cover and medicate ourselves away from living lives of freedom.
This episode is deep and weird, but therapeutically amazing. Seth is such an encourager, wisdom dropper. While I seem to just ramble on and on he has a knack for making sense of it all and helping me process what I am going through.
"Barriers, religion, ideologies, and fear stop us from experiencing freedom, and if we can understand that the barriers, religion, and ideologies are a creation of the fear. We can then move more quickly away from the creations of the fear. We created these things (barriers, religion, ideologies) because we needed them. Some part of us needed it. All we need to do is come to the point that we don't need these things to medicate us anymore. Then all we need is the human experience, and we find that in human experience is God experience because he is in the middle of it."
- Seth Taylor and Zac Gandara, Episode 031
Tickets for LA Show March 10, 2016: http://www.losingourreligion.org/lashow
Join the CounterCulture Society: http://eepurl.com/bwqMWT
Become a Producer: https://www.patreon.com/losingourreligion
Find Out More: http://www.losingourreligion.org
This Episode's Landing Page: http://www.losingourreligion.org/episodes/2016/2/23/031-lets-get-weird-mystical-experiences-and-confessions-seth-taylor-osteen-driscoll
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LosingRReligion
"All religion is born from anxiety." Seth Taylor
Seth is a crazy ass, mystic, shaman-like, wise, amazing guy. At least, he is to me. He was featured in EPISODE 014, one of your favorite episodes. He's also a husband, father, and author whom you can read on XXXChurch and his new book. Much of his story of healing has come through his struggle with pornography and his desire for freedom. In reading Seth's writings, you'll often hear him reminding us that porn, and other addictions are not the problem, they're the symptom.
Seth has become a friend through our experience with him through Losing Our Religion. It's something I've grown grateful for while still being highly skeptical of the mysticism he embraces. We both divulge some very vulnerable things we are going through right now, and he has a natural wisdom that flows out of him that is arguably the most helpful therapy I have had in a long time.
Midlife Crisis
When you're going through a midlife crisis, when your marriage is starting to break down, when you just want to start life over. Religion is what used to hold us together, but what it often does is tear us apart. It causes us to avoid the deep issues inside of us, it leads us to suppress, developing coping mechanisms, by wearing masks, and arrogantly pushing others down, rather than digging deep within ourselves to do the healing work we need.
Ego
When ego leads the way we have big dreams, want to be rich, have celebrity status, and rule the world. But it comes with a significant cost and doesn't lead to joy and peace. Sometimes religion is what used to promote that for some of us, and for many it's what tore us and our real dreams down. When desires are led by ego, it leads to unhappiness, forceful living, not peace.
Desire
When you don't need anything, you can want anything. It's a state of being that dreams can come from a creative place, free from ego, and selfish desire. A place where you can create without demonstrative driving forces running over others, and hurting people. You can, instead of forcing things into reality, begin to live in the now that doesn't need anything else. Where you get to work from rest instead of resting from work. In this peaceful place, real desires can really begin to manifest rather than be forcefully taken.
"And we cannot be honest unless we recognize that we have to live in the world etsi deus non daretur [as if God did not exist]."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, 360-361)
Join the CounterCulture Society: http://eepurl.com/bwqMWT
Become a Producer: https://www.patreon.com/losingourreligion
Find Out More: http://www.losingourreligion.org
This Episode's Landing Page: http://www.losingourreligion.org/episodes/2016/2/16/episode-030-midlife-crisis-ego-desire-part-1-seth-alan-taylor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LosingRReligion
Now that you're almost a month into the New Year and the resolution talk has faded. How are you doing?
This new Losing Our Religion format highlights losing New Years Resolutions and the religious imposition they enforce upon us. It's a discussion about setting our personal agendas without imposing it on others. It's a chat about my struggles with expectations and whether they are worth having.
If you're like a lot of Americans, you've already become disillusioned with your goals and resolutions. Upset at yourself and frustrated that the promises of the social media "life coaches" for New Year change have left you the same, or worse, just depressed that you can't be all they say you can be.
Some people have accused me of being cynical, and I don't in any way argue with their assessment. However, I consider myself a realist and consumeristic Americana just doesn’t work for me anymore. So what's the alternative? Maybe this show can spark our imaginations to find new ways.
Join the CounterCulture Society: http://eepurl.com/bwqMWT
Become a Producer: https://www.patreon.com/losingourreligion
Find Out More: http://www.losingourreligion.org
This Episode's Landing Page: http://www.losingourreligion.org/episodes/2016/2/15/im-a-loser-losing-new-years-resolutions-marc-maron-wtf
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LosingRReligion
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LosingOurReligion
This is part two of a conversation with Christian Grindstaff. In our first conversation, we covered a lot of ground. We reminisced about our times together in the Christian institutional church, how I kicked Christian out of youth ministry, and where we're going now and how we're trying to do it together. He's known me longer than my wife, he's a great conversationist and a great drinking buddy.
Apparently Christian and I are reaching the bottom of the bottle of Rye at this point. I even end up spilling beer in the middle of our conversation cause I talk with my hands; of course, it has nothing to do with the fact that we've drunk almost a 5th of whiskey together. Right?
There's a strong "God believer" factor in this slightly drunken episode of questioning everything and offending almost anyone, including ourselves. We discuss a lot of topics, from how humanities access to information these days gives us the ability to grow and educate ourselves far beyond greater generations. How that fact creates an opportunity to question leaders and authority over us in a way our parents may not have been able to. We even get into a little laughing about Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders
Our view of White Privilege and the Black Lives Matter movement has changed much over the years, and Christian seems to have a fascination with Canada and the new Candian Prime Minister, who has chosen a truly diverse Cabinet.
This Episode ends much differently than any other on LOR so far. Christian explains the song he has recently written about his journey out of religion and he shares the hope he has. That if God does exist, that he is a lot different than Christian was ever shown through the church.
"If you're afraid to explore other ideas, other people, or other things then you are more than likely bound to what you believe and are in religion." - Christian Grindstaff
Join the CounterCulture Society: http://eepurl.com/bwqMWT
Become a Producer: https://www.patreon.com/losingourreligion
Find Out More: http://www.losingourreligion.org
This Episode's Landing Page: http://www.losingourreligion.org/episodes/2016/2/8/episode-029-maybe-theres-something-more-part-2-christian-grindstaff
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LosingRReligion
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LosingOurReligion
Thanks to Danny E.B. Tracks for the Opener to this Episode:
"F*ck Haters" - Inspiring Rap Beat Hip Hop Instrumental
▶Business / Negocios : t_hedany2@hotmail.com
Christian is a talented songwriter and music producer. In fact, almost all of the music in the episode is Christian's work. He is a salesman by trade, extremely articulate with his words and a great drinking buddy.
Christian has known me longer than my wife has. We have a lot of history together. We've been through the institutional church fire together and come out the other side enlightened, sometimes confused, full of questions, but happier than ever.
There have been few people in either of our lives that have caused us more frustration and anger, but continual support and love for one another. We're always honest with each other. We fight it out and find a way to respect, love, and hug each other in the end. We rarely agree with each other - which is great.
In these episodes with Christian, we reminisce about our times together in the Christian institutional church, how I kicked Christian out of youth ministry, and where we're going now and how we're trying to do it together.
We talk about everything from our past lives in the institution to our slow transition from once being Evangelical Conservative Republicans to now Liberal Democrat Socialists and how it happened. As well as our personal convictions, how we saw and I used my past "Christian" leadership to impose personal dogmas onto congregations and people.
We even get into the lie that our old church Christian Faith Center in Washington consistently preaches of happiness, prosperity, and the good life being what Jesus gives you. Hmmmm? Sounds a lot like Christian's sales pitch for a timeshare presentation.
(All of Christian's music can be found on this episodes landing page below.)
Join the CounterCulture Society: http://eepurl.com/bwqMWT
Become a Producer: https://www.patreon.com/losingourreligion
Find Out More: http://www.losingourreligion.org
This Episode's Landing Page: http://www.losingourreligion.org/episodes/2016/2/2/028-religious-sales-pitch-christian-grindstaff-conservative-liberal-socialist
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LosingRReligion
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LosingOurReligion
Thanks to Danny E.B. Tracks for the Opener to this Episode:
Hard Trap ✘ Hip Hop Instrumental Free 2015
▶Business / Negocios : t_hedany2@hotmail.com
▶Facebook: https://goo.gl/M3bf2c
▶Followme for more beats: https://goo.gl/WEuTtp
▶Beats Download: https://goo.gl/O6ZYvf