Info

Losing Our Religion

A former megachurch pastor leaves religion behind to rid himself of the exclusivity created by its dogmas in order to open himself up to learn from the lives, stories, and experiences of everyone else. To prove we are more alike than we think and we can all get along no matter what we believe. Topics range via guest's experiences growing up in religious homes, where Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Secularism, Judaism, Hinduism, Tao, Heathenism, Satanism, Wicca and all forms of dogmas and ideologies programmed into the mind of a child. What happens when that child becomes an adult? What good things do they hold onto? What things do they lose? Where are they now, and in what ways are they finding the peace that we all desire, with or apart from the religions they were raised with? Losing Our Religion is a wild ride with a community of diverse humans each seeking their desired life away from dogma and exclusivity.
RSS Feed Subscribe in Apple Podcasts
2020
December
June
May
April
March
February
January


2019
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2018
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2017
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2016
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2015
December
November
October
September
August


All Episodes
Archives
Now displaying: September, 2015

Losing Our Religion is a hilarious and candid look at religion and culture, with former pastor, now commune living lover of sinners, Zac Gandara.  As he has drinks with former religious freaks, and others he used to shun.  Gays, Anarchists, Queers, Atheists, Transsexuals, Punk Rockers, and the rest of us that are considered rejects on this island of misfit toys.

Sep 30, 2015

Jeff Bettger & Matt Johnson have known each other for over 20 years. They've played in multiple bands together in and outside of Tooth & Nail Records. Ninety Pound Wuss, Raft Of Dead Monkeys, Suffering And The Hideous Thieves together and then Matt has played been in Blenderhead, Roadside Monument, and a shit ton of other bands.

They also both happened to be drawn into the Mars Hill Church culture and served as Pastors.

These Tooth & Nail boys and I sit down with whiskey, beer, beards and glasses to chat about the state of our faith and our hopes for the future. Jeff and Matt also have some great times reminiscing about the record label days while I ask them the questions we all really wanted to know back then. Where the bands doing drugs? Having sex with groupies? And did MXPX pee on stage?

These whiskey induced theological ramblings are an important and joyful conversation about things we may never be able to prove but hope life could be like. Matt does a rad job summing up the rambling and gives us things to think on, and then we hug it out.

Tip Losing Our Religion: https://www.patreon.com/losingourreligion

Join the CounterCulture Society: http://eepurl.com/bwqMWT

Check Out the Goods: http://www.losingourreligion.org/

Call and tell us your story:  (206) 395-5608

Sep 23, 2015

It's funny how often the friends that you need in certain seasons tend to show up. Although I know that's not all of our stories, because there's been many seasons of hard times in my life that no one showed up.

Seth was a friend that came into my life right after I left the machine (aka institutional mega-church). We've both had a lot of institutional detoxing to do over the years, and it was nice to do it together. Seth was also an elder with an Acts 29 Network church, yes the Network that Mars Hill Church started.

He was drawn to this church family because at the beginning they really wanted to live out being the church as we see in the scriptures. Within communities of love and service, not with big liturgies, rock concerts, and programs. But that only lasted so long as the pressures of building an institution in America often do.

He transferred from eldership to move to Phoenix because he wanted to continue to progress in the values of being the church not going to church, but the institution desired otherwise and moving on was inevitable.

The institution of things often take over the heart of things and when that happens people have to move on. This is not to say that everyone in the institution is bad or evil or silent. Many helped him in the transition and treated him as family. But unfortunately, others did not.

So, when your forced to move on from what you thought was family because the machine wants to institutionalize not communalize you're left with our conversation. Maybe we should start having these conversations before we are kicked out or have to move on.

Website: www.LosingOurReligion.org
CounterCulture Society: http://eepurl.com/bwqMWT
Seth McBee: http://sethmcbee.me/

Call and tell us your story: (206) 395-5608

Sep 16, 2015

Labels are STUPID!  I hate titles, categories and the boxes we put each other in.  SO many of us have this need to label ourselves and each other.

Far too often we embrace the labels they put on us; we put them on our chests like scarlet letters.  We even put them on other people and miss out on the beauty that's in their life, because we can't see past the label..

I mean, labels work great when you're organizing your junk drawer, but somehow they always fall short when we use them to describe people.

In this episode, Michael (From EPISODE 004) has some questions regarding the void religion fills, the labels we attach to, and what do we fill religion fails to fill the void.

He baits me into discussing theology which I don't want this podcast to be about because theology is another way to label shit.  But we might as well go there since he baited me to it.

LET'S STOP LABELING OTHERS!  DON'T LET THEM LABEL YOU!  

 

WEBSITE:  www.LosingOurReligion.org

Sep 9, 2015

Welcome, my friend Nathan Parrish to the show.

Nathan does tattooing - art - and music - IN FACT he's currently touring with Christian Mega Group KUTLESS, that's what he does.  But what we do, doesn't define who we are.  Nathan is a good man, an inquisitive doubter like myself, and someone whose curiosity just doesn't let him roll over and obey someone's commands just because they said so.  Like me, he wants to know why.

What happened to that?  When we were kids, we asked why about everything.  Or at least until annoyed parents or insecure, non-compassionate loud mouth authority figures shouted, "BECAUSE I TOLD YOU SO!"

Well like me, "because I told you so", didn't work for Nate.  So he began to study, to read, to learn why he couldn't ask why, and what he found...well...he can tell you for himself.

But unlike me, Nate still believes in institutional religion.  His experiences are different, and his desires are different, and he believes there's hope still in the machine.  If you know me, you know I'm at a different place in life.  But that's ok.  Just because people disagree doesn't make them enemies, it makes them human.  Just because we disagree doesn't mean we can't be friends, or that we don't love each other.  In fact, the opposite is true.

The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves and have the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image.

As Nate shares, the story of his dad passing and then his exit from the mega machine.  Let's envision how we can continue to love and have organic, not forced relationship and conversation with those we disagree with.  By doing so, we prove that we can put people over religion, and over our ideologies.

P.S. We even chat about some good things Mark Driscoll may have done.

 

Nathan Parrish: http://www.parrishband.com/

FREE Music: http://noisetrade.com/parrish/parrish

 

Losing Our Religion: http://www.losingourreligion.org

 

Sep 2, 2015

What if you had spent 20 years giving your life to an institution, then as you began to see what was on top of it, knew you couldn’t do it anymore and resigned?

But instead of a thank you, you were given a bribe.  A $12,000 nondisclosure agreement to keep you quite about your experience there.  Then a threat that if you didn't sign it they would make you pay back the $22,000 scholarship money that had given you?

WELCOME TO THE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS CORPORATION…where you are no longer an actual person, but a means to an end to someone else's corporate greed and institutional cover-ups.

My friend Taylor had this exact experience about a year and a half ago, but he's still smiling, still loves God, and has returned to his childhood dream of professional magic.

He is one of the only people to have performed in all three showrooms at the World Famous Magic Castle before the age of 21.

He is a featured act on the television series “Masters of Illusion” and was recently presented the awards for “Best Illusion” “Best Comedy Magic” & “Best Showmanship” by the Society of American Magicians in Los Angeles.

I could go on about his talents, but I'd rather you get to meet this wonderful man and hear his amazing story.

We both hope it challenges you, encourages you, and makes you think outside of the boxes of religion and personal ideologies.

CONTACT TAYLOR FOR BOOKING: www.taylorhughes.com 

LOSING OUR RELIGION: www.LosingOurReligion.org

 

JOIN US

 

 

1