My search for truth pulled me out of the religious right - Todd Stone

Today I spoke with Todd Stone, who grew up as the son of an Assemblies of God pastor, gave his life to Jesus, and was headed into ministry until he carefully examined the truth claims of Christianity, and ultimately deconverted.

We touched on many topics, including:

• Giving his life to the Lord at a young age.
• Seeing his parents focus on helping people in addiction recovery.
• Experiencing social pressure to speak in tongues.
• Watching his dad claim to audibly hear god's voice telling him to get much more publicly involved in the anti-abortion movement by walking across America.
• Getting arrested, along with his family, for protesting outside an abortion clinic.
• Seeing his parents engaging in "spiritual warfare" by "claiming for the Lord" every place where they walked.
• Meeting his wife and moving toward a life of ministry together.
• Struggling with the contrast of salvation by grace and yet trying to earn rewards in heaven.
• Observing that people in other Christian denominations, even those vilified by Evangelicalism, are often living much better and happier lives.
• Going through a 10-year phase of deconstructing his faith and thinking through the claims of Christianity -- starting with the inerrancy of the Bible, the Garden of Eden story, and the narcissistic and abusive nature of the Yahweh character -- ultimately leading him to escape the worldview entirely.
• The importance of trying to build bridges and have respectful conversations as much as possible with people still stuck in Christianity.

Thanks to Todd for sharing his story and insights!
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Check out Todd's YouTube channel!

https://www.youtube.com/@cybertrucktruckguy3347/videos
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Tim may be reached by email at: harmonicatheist@yahoo.com

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Thanks!

--Tim

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Ending music by Eyal Raz, "Friends"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qbqNO6DdAQ
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Видео My search for truth pulled me out of the religious right - Todd Stone канала Harmonic Atheist