Loving kids is greater than theology - Esther Goetz & Sarah Meassick

T/W - today's guests are deconstructing their former beliefs but they are not atheists.

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Today I spoke with Esther Goetz and her daughter Sarah Meassick. Esther grew up in an evangelical missionary family and later began raising her own family in a conservative evangelical church context, but ultimately heavily deconstructed as she critically examined the toxicity and harm her worldview was having on her and her family.

We discussed many topics, including:

Esther:
• Believing that the highest calling and the best way to show love to others was to keep people out of hell.
• Being told that she had the gift of evangelism and that her main role was to be a light to her neighborhood and world.
• Coming to realize the harm that her Christian worldview was causing to her and her children.
• Making the conscious choice to prioritize her children's wellbeing over her theology.
• Deconstructing the idea of eternal conscious torment in hell.
• Realizing that as an evangelical, she was ruled by manipulative fear and a desire to control her children.
• Seeing Jesus as an "archetype."
• Moving past the need to put compartmentalizing labels on ourselves and our beliefs.
• Understanding that religious texts describe the worldviews and culture of the people who wrote them, but that we are not restricted by those beliefs.
• The importance of asking, "How is this hurting me?" about our beliefs.

Sarah:
• Growing up with a spiritual OCD where she was constantly trying to jump through hoops to please god and be a good Christian.
• Giving herself permission to believe differently from her parents.
• Starting to move past a dualistic "black and white" mentality.
• Move away from a patriarchal background where women could be taught only by men.
• Seeing that many religious characters, including Yahweh, are pictured as extremely oppressive and narcissistic.
• Pursuing the mentality of the universe being full of healing, love, and growth.
• Seeing Christian theology as a form of manipulation and psychological abuse to children.

Many thanks to Esther and Sarah for sharing their stories and insights!
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Connect with Esther:

https://www.estherjoygoetz.com/

https://www.facebook.com/estherthedollymama

https://www.deconstructingmamas.com/

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Tim may be reached by email at: harmonicatheist@yahoo.com
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--Tim
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Ending music by Eyal Raz, "Friends"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qbqNO6DdAQ
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Видео Loving kids is greater than theology - Esther Goetz & Sarah Meassick канала Harmonic Atheist