Sometimes you've just got to laugh at the crazy things you used to believe - Karen Alea

Подписаться 23 тыс.

Просмотров 7 тыс.

50% 1

*Apologies for the issue with the background changing a few times toward the beginning of the video. It's a very small percentage of the video, fortunately. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. --Tim
_________________________________________
Today I spoke with Karen Alea, who grew up in the Southern Baptist Church and gave her life to Jesus at an early age, but ultimately deconverted as the truth claims of Christianity fell apart.
We touched on many topics, including:
• Growing up in a very protective and sheltering patriarchal home.
• Answering an altar call at church and giving her life to Jesus.
• Realizing the strangeness of a "revival service" being "scheduled" by church leadership.
• Hearing purity culture messages pushing her to be ultra modest to the point of making her extremely self-conscious about her body.
• Finding, upon getting baptized, that she became extremely aware of her inherent shame and how much her body was tempting the men in the church.
• Being in church many times each week and attending the church's school.
• Finding that she got her purpose and meaning from serving Jesus as she felt that she owed her life to Jesus, yet still feeling that she was never doing enough and that she was disappointing him often.
• Being taught, by age 12, to pray for her future husband.
• Feeling compelled to do full time ministry and to be willing to sacrifice everything for Jesus.
• Focusing heavily on internal purity so god could use her for ministry.
• Recognizing the benefit of the Christian habit of being vulnerable but also realizing that it put her into a fight or flight mode multiple times every week.
• At YWAM's DTS, being guided by non-professional Christians to dig up and even make up personal stories and emotions during regular times of "openness and brokenness" and being urged to find something wrong in her relationship with her earthly father to contrast to her heavenly father.
• On missions trips, realizing that people in foreign countries with very different worldviews were truly joyful and at peace.
• Slowly being shaken up as she began to dig into the Bible more, such as when she realized the two sets of "10 Commandments" in the Bible were different.
• Studying the mythology tropes that are woven into the Bible.
• After deconversion, using humor as part of the healing process.
Thanks to Karen for sharing her story and insights!
_________________________________________
Connect with Karen!
www.deconversi...
beacons.ai/dec...
/ @deconversiontherapy
IG:
@deconversiontherapypodcast
TikTok
@deconversiontherapy
_________________________________________
Mentioned in this video:
"Misquoting Jesus" by Bart Erhman
www.amazon.com...
_________________________________________
Check out the other projects I'm working on and find other ways to connect with me:
linktr.ee/harm...
Tim may be reached on FB (preferred) at: harmonictim
Or by email at: harmonicatheist@yahoo.com
_________________________________________
Your support for my channel, Harmonic Atheist, is needed and appreciated!
One-time donations:
PayPal: paypal.me/harmonictim
Venmo: @harmonicatheist
Zelle email: harmonicatheist@yahoo.com
GoFundMe: www.gofundme.c...
Monthly donations:
/ harmonicatheist
Thanks!
--Tim
_________________________________________
Ending music by Kazuya / Eyal Raz, "Friends"
artlist.io/roy...
• Friends
_________________________________________
If you are facing emotional distress, please call 911 or the National Suicide Hotline
1-800-273-8255.

Опубликовано:

3 окт 2024

Ссылка:

Скачать:

Готовим ссылку...

Добавить в:

Мой плейлист

Посмотреть позже

Комментарии : 64

@jillhughes9009 3 месяца назад

Bart Erhman on a interview explaining how the bible came about, was written, and that there are other books like Enoch took me out of lifetime christiany in my 60,s. The anger that I was brain washed into believing the Bible was infallible and finding it isnt led me to the water andI chose to drink.

@unicyclist97 3 месяца назад

People without ADHD often underestimate how it impacts the most basic tasks: like putting on your shoes (you end up side tracked into doing the laundry via a convoluted chain of events).

@mr.c2485 3 месяца назад

Do you know where you are?? 😮😊

@unicyclist97 3 месяца назад

@@mr.c2485 on the Internet! Responding to Karen's initial comment about ADHD.

@tinyshepherdess7710 3 месяца назад

People especially underestimate how ADHD affects women. Everything that women are "supposed" to be good at: managing a home, organizing schedules, nurturing children, keeping the house tidy, etc., are all extremely difficult if not impossible for women with ADHD. (I know this because I have ADHD and it's in all the literature and studies to date.) This affects women's self concept in profound ways. As a cis-het ADHD woman, I'd love to have a wife to organize and manage my home, to cook and clean and plan schedules! What a luxury that is for all men who have it.

@unicyclist97 3 месяца назад

@@tinyshepherdess7710 I hear you! My aunt has crippling ADHD and I have no idea how she manages so well raising kids and grandkids on her own. It's so much harder than for neurotypicals and harder still when you consider that women have additional expectations compared to men.

@stephenmansfield2722 26 дней назад

@@tinyshepherdess7710Not all men.

@tonymiller3788 3 месяца назад

It's so powerful to give yourself the credit you deserve. My believing wife one day said to my kids that they should thank god for my job. I immediately said, "no, thank me for my job. It is an insult to thank god for the work I do. God doesn't go to work for me. Don't diminish my efforts in that way."

@MrBadway_636 2 месяца назад

😅...truth

@heatherclark8668 3 месяца назад

I had very serious health problems that I was hoping god would heal me of But I was frightened of being healed because I felt that I had to give god something in return, namely getting married and having children even though I didn't want to do that! That was what good Christian girls did Crazy stuff.

@cindiballard900 3 месяца назад

I LOVE Deconversion Therapy Podcast! I've listened since episode one and was so excited to see Karen as today's guest! Karen, I hope you and Bonnie will continue because we need your voices! (And I live in Nashville and love knowing we're neighbors. 😊) Wonderful interview. Thank you, Karen and Tim! 💞

@dagg310 3 месяца назад

the fascinating thing with all this is, if u have a relationship with god people call u religious. if u have a relationship with aliens, people call u insane. i think there's a fine line between the 2

@scottred6408 3 месяца назад

Indeed, perhaps no line at all. Do you think the AMA will ever add god belief to the official list of pathologies?

@sharongood8257 3 месяца назад

Is this my sister? I’m only 30 minutes in and I can’t wait to hear how she survived religion and what recovery has been like. I want my sister to be free from religion, maybe this is the video that will help❤

@sharongood8257 3 месяца назад

If you say ishouldaboughtahonda really fast 10 times go heavy on the Honda part and just like magic you’re speaking in tongues

@helencahn7293 3 месяца назад

Yet again, a very good interview! Thank you, Tim and Karen. I was very impressed with how introspective and truthful Karen was. But I am so disturbed by how the education of many Christians like Karen is neglected by parents and the community. These are highly intelligent people who don't know basic history and science including learning about other cultures, world politics and the reality of colonialism.

@johnjohnson1657 3 месяца назад

You're 100% right about that. You just got to laugh...completely bamboozled...I just sit sometimes and smile and shake my head...wow, I fell for it all. Hook line and sinker. Whew that was close.

@KELLY-maybeiCudBeUrGirlfriend 8 дней назад

Fantastic video! Thank you Karen Alea for sharing your story. I love your personality! And thank you dear Tim Mills for having her on your show. You always do such a good job interviewing people. And a very big heartfelt THANK YOU for everything that you do.❤❤

@TurkPowers 3 месяца назад

Got to love Karen and Bonnie. I listen to their podcast ever week. Great interview Tim. #SmurfLivesMatter

@loisanderson6918 3 месяца назад

I was in YWAM as well back in the 80s! I deconverted only a year ago.

@HarmonicAtheist 3 месяца назад

Thanks for sharing, Lois! Please feel free to reach out if you'd ever consider sharing your story. facebook.com/harmonictim

@mainecoonmami 3 месяца назад

Me too. It’s fun to hear other experiences with them that match the strangeness of my own.

@stephenmansfield2722 26 дней назад

Great episode! Really enjoyed listening to your discussion, Tim and Karen. The former missionary deconversion pipeline is something else. The more you know about the cult (Christianity) the more you realise it’s just a cult. The closer you get to its heart the more inescapable its fallacies appear. I’m looking forward to listening to your podcast, Karen - as well as the Sexvangelical podcast.

@thaddeusmusser2187 3 месяца назад

“I would go out, I would get parasites,” you crack me up!!!! I love it!!!! Lol!!!!

@Crimenocerous 3 месяца назад

1:21:55 "I don't trust your judgement." Man, this was really what did it for me. Once I hit that point, it all fell apart. Once you realize most of the reasons you hold a belief have to do with the people who told you to believe that way instead of the actual beliefs themselves, it doesn't take long for the whole thing to come down.

@VashtiPerry 3 месяца назад

I relate to her so much. Growing up in the church. I grew up in a church where we would have revivals all the time. We were always praying doing like local missions. I felt so close to Jesus. I would talk to him all the time. I was ashamed of myself a little bit cuz I didn't have a testimony cuz I felt like you know I didn't like her. She said she didn't have sex for her marriage or whatever at the time. Yeah I was always so confused about what my testimony was going to be because I never did anything in order to come back to God. I just was always with God😂😂😂😂 I realize the confusion and like shame that was put on me for being myself was just ridiculous

@altavanderwesthuizen1472 3 месяца назад

STUNNING!!!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤

@The-Doubters-Diary 3 месяца назад

You can laugh or cry. Glad you can laugh!

@JewelEzra 3 месяца назад

I did both.

@JoyRBradford 3 месяца назад

Thanks!

@vitabrevis4669 3 месяца назад

Starting to think the apologists are right. After listening to Tim and most of his guests, maybe I wasn’t a true Christian 😊. These people were all in.

@bernardofitzpatrick5403 3 месяца назад

Awesome interview with a great woman !

@annmariethompson4587 3 месяца назад

Love your channel! Keep up the great work Tim!

@herbevans2727 3 месяца назад

Great discussion....well done again Tim ✌

@martinelzen5127 3 месяца назад

Hi Tim and Karen, good to hear from you.

@shelld4706 3 месяца назад

Oh my Gosh, Karen is awesome! Used to watch her tiktok live all the time. You both helped me so much when I was struggling after leaving the faith. ❤

@Eyesopeningheartrealigning 3 месяца назад

Managed to listen to this in its entirety over the week and LOVED 🥰. Thank you Karen and Tim for this. Karen’s journey was incredible and her communication and articulation just beautiful. 14 months out and although it’s hard to heal just now you guys are definitely my delight. 😅

@John-sl3lu 3 месяца назад

Great show mate ♥️♥️♥️💪💪💪

@RobertCharles-i1k 3 месяца назад

Wonderful interview. Thank you both 🙏🙏

@turnerturner3281 3 месяца назад

Thank you for introducing us to Karen! Love listening to her and I'm definitely going to check out the podcast. I'm with Tim, Karen. Your voice and perspective are invaluable, don't give up!

@sharongood8257 3 месяца назад

Karen of course you should take a break! (A short one❤)Take care of you because after listening to you for the first time I felt like your ability to recall all the small details is so important. Your work is needed but at your pace not my demand. ❤

@subcitizen2012 3 месяца назад

Great talk as usual. It's amazing how much we all have in common. For example, it's the person of faith and truth that leads us to where we are. I used to describe it has having gone "through" Christianity. It came and went for us. Imagine if secularist humanists and university professors and scientists went preaching the "faith" and "gospel" and performed "miracles." We could go convert the world too. It's not like including people is anything terribly special. Which is remarkable considering what so many - especially American conservative protestant evangelicals - make of that and do instead. So what fruits of what spirits do they hear when they're so hateful and want the church and state to unify into one thing and enforce their amalgamated religion and politics. Being 2nd generation American born Cuban American myself, it can't be said enough what that community is like. I was lucky enough to grow up and experience life and adulthood well away from Miami (I can't even begin to imagine the existential and social crises I may have bypassed by virtue of that). I can understand where they're coming from, but they tend to be hyper conservative. Everything is communism to them. Which is a trauma response more than any kind of reality. What she said about deconstructing and inverting the values of the conservative Christianity was really powerful too. If you've exited Christianity but you don't support LGBTQ, women, minorities etc, then you have t fully exited Christianity yet. Bigotry isn't exclusive to that; and inclusiveness isn't exclusive to non Christians alone either - but she's right in what she said, there's more work to be done. I should've taken notes throughout to leave a better comment but I'm at work and gotta get moving. Thank you for all the work everyone is doing, the world's needs it. If there's were actually a just and loving God, y'all are doing his work. But there's not, so you're doing the world's work, doing your own work, doing the good work for humanity. We need to break all these shackles of minds, hearts, and if they ever existed, souls. Everyone deserves to live free of control and coercion. And by God, if the damned churches and the damned politics could simply absorb some of that, how much of a better world it could be for all of us.

@someonesomeone25 3 месяца назад

Christianity is quite crazy. Most worldviews are.

@uncleanunicorn4571 3 месяца назад

Will totally check out her channel.

@kevincameron1567 3 месяца назад

Wow! At about 1:45.00, regarding death. I thought the exact same thing as I watched my devoted, Christian father pass away. That peace that passes all understanding was replaced with anxiety and terror. I thought, he lived a lot of his life for Jesus and Jesus can't even give him peace now. I know the Christian counter arguments bc I was a devoted Christian for decades. But when you see it, you really see it.

@tinyshepherdess7710 3 месяца назад

Enjoying listening to Karen's story. Love her quick wit. Her funny short quips point out the absurdities of belief, like seeing a Thai restaurant or a man wearing a tie, and feeling called by God to missions in Thailand 🤣. Can also relate to "deconversion" not being a word 25 years ago. I started my 30-year-long deconversion way back in the mid-80s and didn't talk to a soul about it. I thought I was the only one who had the audacity to reject the Good News after being saved. I too struggled with demons after I quite believing. Had these horrible recurring nightmares of Satan and/or demons pulling me on one side and God/Christ/angels trying to save me on the other. Would wake up in a cold sweat and be terrified.

@antonius_006 2 месяца назад

It is incredible how people dare to have babies in such poverties.

@exvangelicarol5336 3 месяца назад

EE. !! 😖 oh that was one of the most cringey things I did as a christian. I might still have my little lapel pin. "??" good grief 😂🤣💖 so cool to have Deconversion Therapy Karen on here!! 🥰

@sharongood8257 3 месяца назад

1:16 wow! I never thought of the default being set to heaven, now that would be a loving god. I always wonder why I didn’t have a choice to be in Adam but had to choose Jesus🤔

@mittelwelle_531_khz 3 месяца назад

Hello "HA", I don't know whether you read ths comment but if you do I'd recommend you read Chapter 10 of Julian Barnes' book: _"A History Of the World In 10½ Chapters"_ I dont want to spoil the story here, not even the gist of it, neither for you nor for others who will read it now. But I'd be curios IF you or anybody else really reads that story whether you still want (and therefore miss) the Christian version of an afterlife. All the best for you and the good work you do. -- Martin

@jimgillert20 3 месяца назад

👍

@coralieofjumpwithnofear 3 месяца назад

2:06:26 who is this mentioned here? I couldn’t quite decipher it.

@carolebingham7262 3 месяца назад

Hi Karen I get terrified of god hurting me to draw me back to himself

@Pinklotus8886 3 месяца назад

If the God of the Old Testament is the same one as the God of the New Testament then why did the Jews reject Jesus. The Old Testament is part of the Hebrew Bible. Jesus didn’t meet the criteria of the Jewish messiah that’s in the Hebrew Bible. Why would God give the Jews a messiah that didn’t match his own prophecies???

@wdc_nathan 3 месяца назад

The background changing every couple seconds is driving my AuDHD brain crazy. Must look away. So distracting.

@HarmonicAtheist 3 месяца назад

Sorry, that was a mistake on my part in post-production. Not intentional. Thanks for letting me know, I'll be triple checking for that issue on future videos. Again, my apologies. --Tim

@wdc_nathan 3 месяца назад

@@HarmonicAtheist I was half convinced it was a reference to the guest’s ADHD. No worries! I’ll make it through just with the video minimized 💕

@wdc_nathan 3 месяца назад

@@HarmonicAtheist oh maybe it’s static after about 13 minutes in