Cass and Bob interview Marie D'Elephant.

Early in the interview, Marie confesses that as she was graduating from high school, she seriously doubted her own intellect, so between that and her obsession with kingdom things, she decided against college and instead entered the mission field with YWAM. She also admitted that just 2 years ago she wouldn’t have had the confidence to come on a podcast like this, but the Marie we witness here today is really bright, really courageous, and is all out fucks for the cultural standards that oppressed as a woman for the first 30 years of her life—and she expressly says so in this episode. She drops more f-bombs than any guest in our history, even more than me.

What this episode brings up for me is the power and maturation that BEGINS when one leaves an oppressive Christianity. There are Christianities that postpone one’s maturation. This has largely to do with the absence of personal responsibility, the surrendering of autonomy and decision making and problem solving to God. I get the sense that in the last 6 years, since I resolved there were no gods, that it’s just us here, and I joined the human race and reality, that for the first time in my life, at age 50, the wheels and gears of the natural maturation process, the wisdom that comes from truly being a student of life, that were suspended by Christianity, have begun turning again and I’m becoming something and emerging as a truly free, self-determining agent and a true steward of my life. It’s really exciting to see myself emerging and get to know myself and to garner this power to embrace my identity, which is intentionally surrendered in Christianity. “You are not your own, you’ve been bought with a price.” “your body belongs to god” “your mind belongs to god” Coming out from under voluntary serfdom and into free agency has been one of the biggest positives of deconverting. No, I do not think I’m god, no, this is not pride…this is just getting honest with reality and shedding the fairy tale narrative that there ever was a god who was in charge of everything. The “how now shall I live” goes from horrifying to a most exciting thing to explore. What Marie calls, “re-owning my brain.”

We taped this episode on June 18th, 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 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

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

Episode 27 of Secular Sexuality featuring Marie as “April” Marie's story starts at the 30:20 mark