Today Cass and Bob interview Marie Kent, an ex-Christian Preacher's kid who recently took over the “My Book of Mormon podcast” from David Michael. Marie is a computer programmer by day and a nerd by night. She was raised Baptist and has left Christianity, but like many, she finds religion fascinating. She wonders how it is that so many people believe they’ve found the ‘right’ god, yet that version of god changes so drastically. Many people who were never religious, like David Michael, the founder of the podcast Marie now co-hosts, were driven by their curiosity to read the sacred texts of religions in hopes of understanding why so many people have given their lives to this. He decided to read the entire Book of Mormon on the air, word for word, with commentary. Perhaps we can see in a few passages some truths that people could latch onto, and also discover passages so inane, at best, or morally repugnant at worst that they merit outright rejection.

Marie Kent works in the same office as our former guest on episode 108, Marie LePage (which was a great episode). But Marie Kent is a pastor’s kid from Minneapolis. Marie underwent sexual abuse from a boy in the youth group for 7 years, right under the nose of the church. Like so often happens, there were opportunities along the way for ethical adults to intervene, rescue Marie, and stop the predator, but they chose to protect themselves, the perpetrator, and the status quo leaving Marie to bear it alone.

We taped these conversations on August 28th, 2016. If you’re liking our show, please subscribe to it, give it 5 stars, and/or leave a review on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also, you can support us monetarily on a per episode basis through our Patreon page. That’s www.patreon.com/eapodcast. Or leave a donation through PayPal at our website, www.everyonesagnostic.com.

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 by Sam Maher recorded on a handpan in the NY subway.

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

Marie Kent’s podcast “My Book of Mormon”