The Burning Eden Podcast: With Baph and Mel

We have a nice chat with our friend Russell, board member of The Clergy Project. He shares his story of being a believer, becoming a preacher in the Southern Baptist Church, and then losing his faith. Great conversation!

We have the absolute pleasure of speaking with Cait West, author of the upcoming book "Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy". Cait shares her personal story of escaping an abusive home environment where she was trapped as a "stay-at-home daughter" and was subjected to constant manipulation and abuse by her father. An inspirational and courageous story!

We have a great chat with our friend Skippy Malkovich. We have known each other for a few years, but this is the first time we get to chat. Skippy shares his personal story of leaving the Catholic faith and becoming a filthy sinner, as well as his passion for music and theater.

We are back! Our apologies for not posting, Baph was busy with his speech (the video is now posted!) and then everyone got sick after the atheist convention. But we made a new friend and she joined us for a nice chat. Jessie Effing-Devine was raised secular (lucky!!) and we had a fun conversation about what that was like.

We have an awesome chat with Darante Lamar, who used to be a pastor for several years. He shares his personal story of how became involved in the church and how he realized that he didn't believe any of it. He also shares how he raised the dead.

Our friend Will (thank you for your service!) joins us again, but this time to share his experience creating a support group for non-believers while deployed in Kuwait. Check it out!

We have a chat with our new friend, Kayla, who shares her story of deconstruction. She shares how she started doubting her religion from a young age and how she discovered herself.

We have a nice chat with our new friend Miranda, who happens to be our friend Will's wife. She shares her story of growing up in the Mormon church and eventually getting excommunicated. She also tells us how she was once a vessel for baptisms of dead people. Yeah.... super weird.

We have an awesome time with Leif Andersen, host of the "Let's Get High and Read the Bible" podcast. Leif tells us about his story of being brought up homeschooled in a conservative household and becoming an atheist later in life. Hilarious conversation!

We have a chat with Luke, who shares his story of how he left religion once, then re-joined, and then left again (this time for good). Luke has also decided to run for congress. Best of luck to him!

Our newest friend, Frank, shares how he has been a skeptic from a young age, and how atheism saved his life. What a delightful time! Also, fuck you Trudy!

We kick off 2024 with a great interview. We have a chat with Shane Larsen, a former member of the Mormon church. Shane shares his personal story and how he was able to question his own beliefs, ultimately leading him to the deconstruction of his faith. We learn a lot of culty stuff!

This is our last episode of 2023! We have a great chat with James Aames, author of "How to Become a non-Christian. James shares his experience with religion and how he was able to break away from its chains and write a book about it. Due to privacy reasons, James is unable to show his face on camera.

We sit down with our new friend Caleb, who shares his personal story of faith and faithlessness. Caleb was a believer but then found out that his prayers fell on deaf ears all along.

We sit down to chat with Apostate Anne, co-host of Apostate of Mind Podcast and wife of Mark Peralta. Anne discusses how she didn't start being too religious until later in her adult life, then deconstructing those beliefs and becoming interested in the supernatural.

We have the absolute pleasure of speaking with Glenda Jordan, artist, performer, and all-around badass. Also, the daughter of the amazing Gayle Jordan, Executive Director of the nonprofit organization Recovering From Religion. Glenda shares her personal story and how breaking away from religion was an extremely liberating experience.

We have a great conversation with Mark Peralta, co-host of the Apostate of Mind Podcast, and collaborator with the Nuestra Experiencia Atea YouTube channel. Mark shares his story of how he became involved in the evangelical church as an adult and was able to see the hypocrisy with his own eyes, leading him to deconstruct his faith.

We have a fun conversation with Jeremy Schumacher, an actual, professional therapist, who specializes in marriage counseling and religious trauma. Jeremy shares his personal story of growing up indoctrinated as an evangelical and finding out how religion simply makes no sense. Also, fuck you, Trudy!

We have an awesome time with our newest friend, Nicole, who shares her personal story of how she lost her faith and became a filthy heathen (who sometimes dresses up as a hamburger and does burlesque dancing). Get ready for a wild ride! Also, fuck you, Trudy.

We have a nice chat with our new friend, Ari J, who found us on TikTok and apparently hit a point in her life where she thought it was a good idea to be a guest on our show. On purpose. Ari shares her deconstruction journey, growing up evangelical, attending a Christian university, and later coming out as an atheist.

We have a great chat with Anna, who is one of our listeners! She found our show and now willingly decides to lower her standards to be interviewed by us. Is she a masochist? Anna shares her deconstruction journey, starting as a missionary kid in Laos, and ending up as a godless Sign Language teacher.

We have a lovely chat with The Godless Granny! She shares her story of how she became religious as a teenager, but then deconstructed her faith much later in life.

We chat with Igtheist Earthling, formerly known as "UnTestimony". She shares her personal deconstruction journey and how she came to define herself as an Igtheist. She also defines what an Igtheist is (thank god!).

We had a nice chat with our friend John Verner, who is an author, podcaster, and speaker who specializes in religious cults. Is Christianity a cult? He seems to think so.

We chat with our new friend, Jay, who shares his personal story of how he started to question his faith after delving deeper into the Bible (who would've known?!), and eventually led him to become an atheist.

On this very special crossover episode, we are joined by the lovely ladies from the Cheers to Leaving Podcast! Molly and Rachael share their individual deconstruction journeys and how they overcame difficult hurdles. We have a fantastic time!

Our guest this week is the hilarious Sarah J. Ruthless! Sarah shares their personal story of religious indoctrination, trauma, and deconstruction, all with lots of good humor.

We sat down with Erin Louis, who is a published author and an activist in the secular community. Erin shares her personal deconstruction story, how she started working in the adult entertainment industry, as well as her passion for books and writing. Erin's work also focuses on destigmatizing and humanizing those who chose to work in the adult entertainment industry.

Eric is the host of the "Skeptics and Scoundrels" YouTube channel and he joins us to share his personal story. Eric grew up in the Jehovah's Witnesses and was able to leave the cult as an adult. He shares his deconstruction process and the red flags that led him down this path.

We sit down with comedian and bird lover Sydney Davis Jr. Jr. (yes, two JRs!), who shares her personal story of deconstruction. Sydney talks about how she grew up a fundamentalist Christian and how she was able to deconstruct from religion in her 20s after tripping on shrooms and waking up as an atheist.

*TRIGGER WARNING: This episode might be too woke for Trudie*

Our friend Laynie shares how purity culture and indoctrination put her through unfortunate and traumatic situations. Laynie was able to break the chains and realize how damaging religion and purity culture are, especially to children.

*TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains topics of sexual abuse. Discretion is advised.*

We chat with Holly Gennero, host of The Secular Parachute Podcast. Holly was not raised religious and seems to be proud to be a lifelong godless heathen. Hilarious conversation!

Calvin Smith is the social media manager for The Secular Alliance of Michigan. He shares his story of how he deconstructed from religion and decided to become an atheist activist. Calvin decided to read that Bible, and shockingly (not really), he realized it was all bullshit.

We sit down with Micah Allen Losh, author of Mentally Diseased and Gangrenous Speeches. Micah is a poet, author, and comedian, who shares his personal story of growing up indoctrinated into a cult and how this led to self-destruction and despair. His story is one of empowerment and recovery.

*TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains topics related to religious cults, severe trauma, abuse, violence, self-harm, substance use, and suicide. These topics can be triggering to some audiences, especially to those who have lived through similar experiences. Viewer discretion is advised. *

We have a conversation with Cynane Shay, who is working on a book about the link between religious cult mentality and conspiracy theories. We talk about Q-Anon, vaccines, adrenachrome and Jewish space lasers. Get ready for some whackadoodle time!

We have a great conversation with Dave Capozzi, host of The Dig New Streams Podcast. Dave shares his personal story of growing up with religion, becoming a pastor, and ultimately deconstructing from his faith. Dave also shares his passion for anti-racism work.

**TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of child abuse. Discretion is advised.**

We welcome back Chad Harris and Lindsey Williams, who have previously been guests on the show. This time, Chad and Lindsey join us to discuss their participation in the new documentary "Shiny Happy People", an exposé on the Duggar family and the Institute for Basic Life Principles (IBLP) religious cult in which they grew up. They share their stories about indoctrination and abuse, as well as healing and hope.

In this completely normal episode of the Burning Eden Podcast, we have a chat with our friend Matthew (MatthewDiscussingBelief from TikTok). He shares his story of being brought up religious and deconstructing while serving in the Navy. Also, does Mel want to fuck aliens? Find out on the newest episode!

Jeff (The Atheist Troll) fills in for Mel while she finishes packing and moving to another state. Our guest for this episode, Sherrie D'Souza, joins the show all the way from Australia, the land down under where Vegemite and kangaroos are part of daily life. Sherrie is an ex-Jehovah's Witness and she shares her personal story of leaving the cult, as well as the amazing work she is currently doing with Recovering From Religion. Sherrie talks the talk AND walks the walk!

Our newest friend, Gabrielle, shares her story of being a queer Latina and being raised in a religious household. Gabrielle also talks about her experiences doing missionary and outreach work, and how the churches exploit people.

We have the privilege of sitting down with the one and only Andrew Seidel! If you don't know who he is (shame on you) he is a constitutional lawyer and author whose work is centered on the separation of church and state. We have a great conversation and learn how screwed we are in this country.

Will had the pleasure of meeting us in person at AACON and he likes getting spanked with the Bible. We don't judge. Will tells us his personal story of deconstruction and his experiences with religion in the military. And no, he is not a child, he just has a baby face!

We sit down with Krystal Shipps, a Licensed Clinical Counselor and life coach who helps clients with religious trauma. Krystal shares her personal story of deconstruction and her pursuit of logic and reason, instead of "staying dumb". We learn about narcissistic personality and how to deal with it.

We have a great conversation with Christ West from The Humanist Being, a non-profit (and non-prophet) organization dedicated to making the world a better place through humanism. We are reminded that human problems are solved by human solutions. Chris had the absolute pleasure of meeting us last year and he totally regrets it now. Can't blame him!

Our friend, Dan, shares his personal story of religious indoctrination, grief, and deconstruction. Can we also get drunk in the spirit?

Our new friend, Jessica (who is definitely NOT Irish) shares her personal story of religious deconstruction. We discuss very important and serious topics, such as god's obvious obsession with dick skins.

We interview our friend Lissette Martinez from the Nuestra Experiencia Atea Youtube Channel. Lissette is Canadian and Chilean....yes, another Canadian...but she's also from Chile, so it's cool! Lissette shares her personal immigration story and how she became an atheist. Did Mel find a new best friend?!

Stacie is probably one of the nicest guests we've had on this show! Maybe it's because she's from Canada and she gets to enjoy actual freedom and free healthcare (totally overrated!). Stacie shares her personal deconstruction story and how she was able to break the chains of religion by having a curious mind and being courageous enough to seek Truth.