https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-godless-in-dixie-podcast--3579867enReligion & SpiritualityCopyright Neil Carterhttps://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/c4927105c563d8dd7153de4b50f5628d.jpghttps://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-godless-in-dixie-podcast--3579867Sat, 11 Nov 2023 01:23:30 +0000Neil CarterNeil Cartergodlessindixieblog@gmail.comThoughts and struggles of a former Evangelical Christian learning to relate to life as a skeptic in the Deep South.cleanepisodichttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-107-rhett-sings-himself-overboard-album-review--51733384https://api.spreaker.com/episode/51733384Sun, 30 Oct 2022 21:29:10 +0000Neil CarterWhen Rhett McLaughlin of Good Mythical Morning left his faith, he felt like a man thrown overboard. Now he's put his journey to music. Here is my review of Human Overboard, released this September.992deconstruction,good,mclaughlin,morning,music,mythical,rhettcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-106-when-your-faith-is-so-heavenly-minded-it-s-no-earthly-good--50574074https://api.spreaker.com/episode/50574074Thu, 14 Jul 2022 17:56:10 +0000Neil CarterEvangelicals want to leave the world, not save it. Until then, all they want is to be recognized as the true protagonists of the universe.610christianity,evangelicalism,politics,theocracycleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-105-why-christians-are-so-obsessed-with-israel--48994913https://api.spreaker.com/episode/48994913Tue, 08 Mar 2022 17:25:24 +0000Neil CarterPreachers like Pat Robertson can't stop making everything about Israel, even the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here's why.468apocalypse,armageddon,christianity,israel,putin,robertson,russia,ukraine,zionismcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-104-your-god-has-boundary-issues--48865157https://api.spreaker.com/episode/48865157Fri, 25 Feb 2022 01:17:14 +0000Neil CarterIf trees are known by their fruit, then the God of evangelical Christianity has some serious boundary problems.585boundaries,christianity,evangelical,exvangelical,god,jesus,relationships,religioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-103-there-s-nothing-sexy-about-deconstruction--48635179https://api.spreaker.com/episode/48635179Tue, 08 Feb 2022 00:48:01 +0000Neil CarterA preacher recently suggested people are leaving the Christian faith--or at least they're mentally dismantling it--because it's the cool thing to do. He has no idea what he's talking about.723christian,deconstruction,deconversion,evangelical,exvangelicalcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-102-marriage-advice-to-a-half-believing-couple--48432344https://api.spreaker.com/episode/48432344Tue, 25 Jan 2022 02:51:28 +0000Neil CarterOne partner remains a devout evangelical Christian while the other left the faith. What will they do about the children?837christianity,deconversion,evangelical,exvangelical,marriagecleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-101-what-s-next-for-godless-in-dixie--48256442https://api.spreaker.com/episode/48256442Tue, 11 Jan 2022 21:02:57 +0000Neil CarterAfter a long but necessary hibernation, Godless in Dixie is back at the podcasting game, this time using a more traditional format. Soon the blog itself will relaunch alongside a number of others on a new platform called OnlySky.814agnosticism,atheism,onlysky,patheos,secularcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-30-screen-doors-and-porch-swings--30353220https://api.spreaker.com/episode/30353220Fri, 12 Jun 2020 00:23:34 +0000Neil CarterLori Arnold explains what it feels like to be unintentionally "othered" by those still in the community of faith. It's less of a door slammed in your face and more of a screen door between you all the time, reminding you that you are still on the outside.621apostasy,atheism,faith,relationships,religioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-29-what-atheists-wish-christians-knew-about-them--22522184https://api.spreaker.com/episode/22522184Fri, 07 Feb 2020 18:01:23 +0000Neil CarterA pastor once invited me to talk to his congregation about what atheists wish Christians understood about them, fielding questions from the church afterwards. Here are the eleven things that came to mind first.915atheism,christianity,godless,interview,podcastcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-28-deconstructing-the-end-of-the-world--22276547https://api.spreaker.com/episode/22276547Fri, 31 Jan 2020 19:11:46 +0000Neil CarterToday the church is waiting around for someone to swoop in and fix everything that's broken through divine cataclysm, removing all responsibility from them. As it turns out, the events they've been waiting for already happened a long, long time ago.1089bible,christianity,eschatology,jesuscleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-27-hell-2-0-now-with-fewer-flames--21958570https://api.spreaker.com/episode/21958570Wed, 22 Jan 2020 18:07:09 +0000Neil CarterBack in my day, Hell was a lake of fire. But times have changed, and modern folks want a kinder, gentler Hell. Hell 2.0 is basically like putting yourself in Time Out...forever.1007bible,christianity,hellcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-26-absolving-god-from-hell--21724428https://api.spreaker.com/episode/21724428Wed, 15 Jan 2020 21:47:34 +0000Neil CarterResponsibility for every soul condemned to Hell would fall squarely into the lap of the God of the Bible, were any of these beliefs actually true. You cannot absolve an all-powerful deity from something like this, nor does the Christian faith in its...701afterlife,bible,christianity,god,hell,jesuscleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-25-seven-reasons-to-reject-hell--20897250https://api.spreaker.com/episode/20897250Thu, 19 Dec 2019 20:58:00 +0000Neil CarterHere are seven reasons absolutely everyone---even those trying to believe the Bible---should reject the notion of Hell. And shame on anyone who feeds this horrific nonsense to children.697abuse,bible,hell,jesus,reasoncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-24-the-bible-s-attitude-toward-the-life-of-the-mind--20717876https://api.spreaker.com/episode/20717876Fri, 13 Dec 2019 16:38:44 +0000Neil CarterThe Bible begins with a story disparaging curiosity and exploration, a mood it maintains for the rest of the book. But when you view the mind strictly as a tool of worship, you invalidate learning for its own sake. Free inquiry utterly depends on,...754bible,education,faith,intelligence,jesus,paul,reason,religioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-23-paul-the-true-founder-of-christianity--20664682https://api.spreaker.com/episode/20664682Wed, 11 Dec 2019 21:45:36 +0000Neil CarterVirtually everything we are told Jesus said or did came to us from churches founded by Paul. As it turns out, this single detail explains more than almost anything else. Ultimately it was Paul, not Jesus, who founded the religion which eventually...964bible,christianity,jesus,paul,skepticismcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-22-the-most-failed-prayer-in-history--20515405https://api.spreaker.com/episode/20515405Fri, 06 Dec 2019 00:03:18 +0000Neil CarterA lot of prayers have failed to materialize over the centuries, but none so fantastically as this one. And as it turns out, this one was extremely important.635apologetics,bible,christianity,doubt,faith,jesus,prayercleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-21-the-greatest-story-never-told--20439903https://api.spreaker.com/episode/20439903Tue, 03 Dec 2019 01:14:46 +0000Neil CarterDo you know how many people the Bible says were raised from the dead on Easter weekend? Here's a hint: It's a more than the number of biblical scholars, even conservatives ones, who believe this story actually happened in real life.864bible,infallibility,jesus,resurrection,skepticismcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-20-five-times-jesus-sounded-like-a-humanist--20362535https://api.spreaker.com/episode/20362535Fri, 29 Nov 2019 14:45:34 +0000Neil CarterJesus said a lot of things which directly contradict what humanists believe, but composite characters like him say self-contradictory things quite often. Here were five times Jesus said things which modern humanists could have said themselves.1119atheism,bible,christianity,humanism,jesuscleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-19-the-christmas-that-wasn-t--19610961https://api.spreaker.com/episode/19610961Mon, 21 Oct 2019 12:31:03 +0000Neil CarterThe historicity of Jesus is still up for debate among historians. But the historicity of Christmas? Not so much.790atheism,bible,christianity,christmas,jesuscleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-18-was-jesus-a-real-person--19558737https://api.spreaker.com/episode/19558737Thu, 17 Oct 2019 20:52:24 +0000Neil CarterExactly how much evidence would you expect to find proving that a poor, itinerant rabbi lived and died in an area of the ancient Roman empire which the authorities scarcely cared about? And yet we have a decent amount of evidence pointing to the...1174bible,christianity,history,jesus,romecleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-17-what-does-the-bible-say-about-abortion--19264647https://api.spreaker.com/episode/19264647Sat, 28 Sep 2019 11:22:53 +0000Neil CarterA brief look at what the Bible does (and doesn't) say about abortion, along with the story of how the Pro-Life movement took over evangelical Christianity.879abortion,bible,christianity,religioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-16-i-drew-the-line-at-canaan--19233440https://api.spreaker.com/episode/19233440Wed, 25 Sep 2019 20:04:25 +0000Neil CarterThe only good thing one can say about the biblical account of the conquest of Canaan is that it never actually happened. Morally speaking, the story is a mess, and modern attempts to justify it show everything that's wrong with the Divine Command...760atheism,bible,canaan,christianity,israel,religioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-15-father-abraham-had-many-psychoses--19220871https://api.spreaker.com/episode/19220871Wed, 25 Sep 2019 01:07:13 +0000Neil CarterThe New Testament doesn't praise Abraham because he didn't kill his own child, it praises him because he was going to. Nothing is innately wrong if whatever God says is right.912abraham,atheism,bible,religioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-14-why-we-make-gods--19058506https://api.spreaker.com/episode/19058506Tue, 10 Sep 2019 15:04:53 +0000Neil CarterA message delivered on Sunday, September 8th, 2019 to the Universalist Unitarian Church in Ellisville, Mississippi wherein I discuss three reasons why we make gods.1699atheism,faith,gods,mississippi,religion,unitarianismcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-13-what-lot-s-wife-tells-us-about-the-bible--18898558https://api.spreaker.com/episode/18898558Fri, 23 Aug 2019 15:22:51 +0000Neil CarterAll I ever needed to know about the Bible I learned from the story of Lot and his wife. It is a microcosm of all that is wrong with this book.775atheism,bible,gomorrah,lot,religion,sodomcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-12-none-of-this-really-happened--18866831https://api.spreaker.com/episode/18866831Tue, 20 Aug 2019 16:38:55 +0000Neil CarterIt's not just about the miracles. Even the history in the Bible is made up. There never was an Egyptian captivity. There was no Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. No Moses, no Aaron, no Joshua, and no Canaanite conquest. Archaeology has spoken, but the church...848atheism,bible,egypt,history,inerrancy,religioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-11-the-absurdity-of-a-perfect-bible--18648020https://api.spreaker.com/episode/18648020Fri, 26 Jul 2019 14:22:32 +0000Neil CarterHere are six reasons why the Bible, even when taken on its own terms, cannot be a perfect book.802atheism,bible,doubt,faith,inerrancy,religion,skepticismcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-10-why-smart-people-believe-nonsense--18604594https://api.spreaker.com/episode/18604594Sun, 21 Jul 2019 18:05:50 +0000Neil CarterSmart people can still be made to believe nonsensical things...if you get to them young enough. Here are four reasons why religion works on even intelligent people, and why it's difficult to let go.512atheism,christianity,doubt,faith,religioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-9-how-faith-breaks-your-feeler--18590790https://api.spreaker.com/episode/18590790Fri, 19 Jul 2019 15:15:19 +0000Neil CarterHere are 8 ways the Christian faith speaks to you, and about you, that sound remarkably like an abuser.1040abuse,christianity,faith,religioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-8-how-faith-breaks-your-thinker--18571571https://api.spreaker.com/episode/18571571Wed, 17 Jul 2019 13:18:07 +0000Neil CarterYou can't raise people to believe things that don't make sense and then expect them to value rationality. Here are a handful of ways faith normalizes bad thinking.1519atheism,christianity,faith,logic,rationality,religioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-7-how-christianity-teaches-you-to-hate-yourself--18546812https://api.spreaker.com/episode/18546812Sun, 14 Jul 2019 14:04:29 +0000Neil CarterIn order to be saved, you have to believe it's something you need. So no matter how low your view of your self may be, Christianity will lower it for you even further.818christianity,religion,self-esteem,self-hatred,self-loathingcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-6-what-i-lost-when-i-lost-my-faith--18482774https://api.spreaker.com/episode/18482774Sun, 07 Jul 2019 17:38:06 +0000Neil CarterThese are the things we miss the most after leaving the evangelical Christian faith.943atheism,christianity,evangelical,faith,religioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-5-what-i-gained-when-i-lost-my-religion--18442142https://api.spreaker.com/episode/18442142Tue, 02 Jul 2019 14:47:09 +0000Neil CarterHere are 11 things I found got better for me after leaving my religion.630apostasy,atheism,christianity,faith,religion,skepticismcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-4-leaving-my-religion-was-nothing-like-entering-it--18417964https://api.spreaker.com/episode/18417964Sat, 29 Jun 2019 14:19:32 +0000Neil CarterHere are six ways that leaving my faith tradition was completely unlike entering it.584atheism,christianity,evangelical,faith,religioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-3-our-biggest-mistake--18370224https://api.spreaker.com/episode/18370224Tue, 25 Jun 2019 12:05:18 +0000Neil CarterWe didn't leave our faith because we cared too little, we left because we cared too much. We did exactly what we were told to do, but evidently we did it a little TOO well.1086atheism,christianity,deconversion,doubt,evangelical,faith,religioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-2-the-two-main-reasons-i-left-my-faith--18345797https://api.spreaker.com/episode/18345797Sat, 22 Jun 2019 12:53:25 +0000Neil CarterI left my faith (or rather it left me) after 20 years of devoutly following Jesus. It was a death by a thousand cuts, but if I had to boil it down to two main reasons, these would be the ones.580atheism,christianity,evangelical,faith,religioncleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-1-why-i-broke-up-with-jesus--18327432https://api.spreaker.com/episode/18327432Thu, 20 Jun 2019 13:39:15 +0000Neil CarterAll my young life I was told I needed a personal relationship with Jesus, so I threw myself into it, but in time we had to go our separate ways. Here is why I broke up with Jesus. For more articles like this one, visit GodlessInDixie.com (music by...281atheism,christianity,faith,humanism,jesus,relationshipcleanfull