The Weightless Space Podcast

Season 1 Trailer

Sat, 20 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Hi, this is Lindsay and Robert, and you are listening to The Weightless Space Podcast where we discuss topics from a post-Christian perspective that are near and dear to our hearts and relevant to our days.

1 - Introductions, What's in a Name?

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Hi. This is Robert and Lindsay Johnson here.

We have spent the last few years picking up the pieces of our spiritual lives after leaving an evangelical mega-church. In this episode, we discuss why creating this podcast is an important step for us both.

Also, what’s in a name?
Future podcast episodes (what’s to come)
Fears
Transparency
Goals

As you will hear in this introductory episode, we will go over why we are doing this and what we hope to achieve.

Disclaimer:

We want to recognize that each person’s path in life is unique and can only be experienced by them.
We respect many walks of faith, anti-faith, backgrounds, and histories.
We are not trying to sell something, assert something or prove something. We are only sharing our thoughts and experiences.

Interest Piqued? Dig Deeper:

Community Connection:

As always, feel free to discuss this episode on our community forums.

2 - Starting with the End

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Lindsay and I start with the end.

What was it that drove us away from evangelical Christianity and the church? We also discuss what effect these events had on our faith.

Join us for an intimate conversation.

In the meantime, enjoy this wonderful song by David Wilcox

Community Connection:

As always, feel free to discuss this episode on our community forums.

3 - The Hole

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0400

In this episode Lindsay and I discuss the hole left behind by Christianity.

Did we fill it?
With what?
Did it work?

These questions and more are discussed.

How about you? If you’ve left institutional Christianity, how did you respond to its absence?

Also, there is always help if you need it: https://988lifeline.org/

Digging Deeper

Our friend Cliff’s website is https://www.cliffravenscraft.com. The episode I mentioned was episode 156 and the gentleman’s name was Tony. 😉️
More about Peter Rollins can be found at his website: https://peterrollins.com/ and the book mentioned is called The Idolatry of God: Breaking Our Addiction to Certainty and Satisfaction
More about Richard C Schwartz and IFS can be found at his website: https://ifs-institute.com/introduction-internal-family-systems
Dave Matthews - The Space Between
Religions of Bangladesh: 91% Islam

Community Connection:

As always, feel free to discuss this episode on our community forums.

4 - Apostles of Unbelief

Fri, 03 May 2024 00:00:00 -0400

In this episode Lindsay and I discuss an article published by The Gospel Coalition on the deconversion of YouTubers Rhett and Link.

Are we culpable for the salvation of others?
Are we too, Apostles of Unbelief?
Are we in or out?

These questions and more are discussed.

Digging Deeper

A YouTube Playlist of all of Rhett and Link’s Spiritual Deconstruction Stories

Community Connection:

As always, feel free to discuss this episode on our community forums.

5 - I Want To Believe

Fri, 10 May 2024 00:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Lindsay and I discuss my epiphany after watching the docu-series Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God on Netflix. Afterward, I realized I could’ve easily fallen for that and likely already had fallen for a cult myself.

Digging Deeper

Amy Carlson, Mother God
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill
Stanford prison experiment and later, the Heroic Imagination Project
What makes a cult?

Community Connection:

As always, feel free to discuss this episode on our community forums.

6 - 2016

Fri, 17 May 2024 00:00:00 -0400

In this episde, Lindsay and I talk about our impressions of Trump and the evangelical reponse. This is an informal conversation filled with impressions, obersavations and feeling and thus is not to be listened to as a “record of what happened,” rather, it’s more appropriate to think of it as being included in one of our post dinner or early morning conversations, as we tend to do. I have tried to include relevant links that you can click through as topics come up in the conversation to give more color (and more importantly, accuracy) to our conversation.

Editorial Corrections

The shooting mentioned was in Charleston (June 2015, not Charlotte) and the event mentioned in question was in Charlottesville (August, 2017) regarding our house church prayer.
I (Robert) was wrong, the Bible was right side up: Did Trump Hold the Bible Upside Down?

Digging Deeper

Intro

The year was 2015 YouTube Link
Make Like a Tree and Get Outta Here! YouTube Link
Trump launches 2015 presidential bid atop the Trump Tower escalator YouTube Link

Character Matters

The Deeper Reason Trump’s Taco Tweet Is Offensive NPR.org Link
The Real Record of the Reagans on Gays and AIDS Slate.com Link
How Trump talks about women - and does it matter? BBC.com Link
National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey PDF
Donald Trump criticised for mocking reporter with disability BBC.com Link
Donald Trump: I could “shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters” CBS News Link
Peanuts? YouTube Link
How Trump talks about his faith: ‘God is the ultimate’ YouTube Link

Was America Great?

The Newsroom Speech by Jeff Daniels YouTube Link
Jim Crow Laws end in 1954 Britannica.com Link
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act Department of Justice Link (When women could apply for a credit card.)
List of things prohibited to women in the US USAToday.com Link
Marital rape in the United States Wikipedia.org Link
Donald Trump’s long history of racism, from the 1970s to 2020 Vox.com Link
Fidel Castro Britannica.com Link
Trickle-down economics Wikipedia.org Link

Women’s Issues

Single women were given the right to birth control 50 years ago today (Mar 22, 2022) TheHill.com Link
7 in 10 Women Who Have Had an Abortion Identify as a Christian LifeWay Research Link
Percentage distribution of U.S. women obtaining abortions in nonhospital settings and of all U.S. women aged 15-44, and abortion index, by selected characteristics, 2014 and 2008 Guttmacher Institute PDF
Can Endometriosis Increase Your Risk for Miscarriage? Endofound.org Link
Did Trump Claim Credit for Overturning Roe v. Wade? Snopes.com Link

Guns, Violence

Civil War (2024) IMDb.com Link
Gun Laws in Florida Pensacola News Journal
Inside the Capitol Riot: An Exclusive Video Investigation NYTimes.com Link

Community Connection:

How about you? What was your first impression of Trump? Did you have similar experiences? As always, feel free to discuss this episode on our community forums.

7 - Joe and Michelle's Story

Sun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 -0400

This is part 1 of a 2 part series. In this episode, we sit down for an intimate conversation with our friends Joe and Michelle. Michelle, Lindsay and myself worked together. Until we didn’t. Listen in on what happened.

Part 2 will be a conversation around us recontextualizing our spiritual trauma to be released next week.

Digging Deeper

Lindsay’s contribution: 10 Key Bible Verses on Evangelism 😉️
Michelle’s recommended reading on grief: 5 stages of grief: Coping with the loss of a loved one
The book I barely read: Faith Shift: Finding Your Way Forward When Everything You Believe Is Coming Apart

Community Connection:

As always, feel free to discuss this episode on our community forums.

8 - Recontextualization of Spiritual Trauma

Fri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 -0400

This is the 2nd part of our conversation with Joe and Michelle, you can listen to the 1st part here. In this episode we discuss our what our spiritual traumas were and how to re-contextualize them.The questions we asked can be found in our community forums here: https://connect.theweightless.space/t/healing-trauma-with-re-contextualization/26.

After listening, I invite you to add your own thoughts and experiences to the forums too.

Digging Deeper

Community Connection:

As always, feel free to discuss this episode on our community forums.

9 - What even is "A Calling?"

Sun, 09 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Lindsay and I sit down to check in and have a loose conversation about being called. It’s doozy. It’s a little bit spicy and a little bit silly. Be sure to have your earbuds in before you start it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Digging Deeper

Below are some links that we mentioned and even some scripture 😯️.

“… though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.””

— Romans 9:11-13 ESV

The Purpose Driven Life website asks the following questions:

What on earth am I here for?
Why am I alive?
Does my life matter?

The answer: It’s not about you.

lol. Enjoy.

Community Connection:

As always, feel free to discuss this episode on our community forums.

10 - What is a Father's Role?

Sun, 23 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Join Lindsay and I (Robert) in this informal discussion regarding gender, family and the patriarchy.

Digging Deeper

The Vox had a pretty good write-up at the time regarding the Spider-Woman cover art. Be warned, some of it is a bit Not Safe For Work.
Here is a pretty great science article discussing the history and traumas of the patriarchy.
HIV/AIDS in the 80s

Community Connection:

As always, feel free to discuss this episode on our community forums.

11 - The Meaning of Nothing

Sat, 27 Jul 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Lindsay and I discuss the tension between, effort, fulfillment and meaning. Why dreaming is important and Rob can’t stop thinking about nothing.

Digging Deeper

In this episode, we talked about effort and fulfillment, along with the importance of having dreams. We touched on the following ideas in our conversation:

Community Connection:

As always, feel free to discuss this episode on our community forums.