Podcast appearances and mentions of carter warden

"You have ALS" - Dave was shocked and adjusted upon hearing this diagnosis, but the events earlier in the decade served as his true "reboot".  After 35+ years as an evangelical minister, he deconstructed and became an atheist.  This wasn't the easy path, yet he learned there were others like him through "The Clergy Project", an organization who help other religious leaders who no longer believe in the supernatural, many of whom are harboring that secret.He's choosing to "Die Out Loud" and "Carpe The F***'in' Diem."  You'll hear a generous man making the most of the time he has left.Thank you to listeners Jim Dells and Matt MacKellar for your questions, Carter Warden of Johnson City TN for your song, and Danny Pellerito for our show's theme music. SHOW LINKSDaveOutLoud Website with Dave's social media Dave on "The Atheist Experience" March 14, 2021The Clergy ProjectEveryone's Agnostic Podcast (as mentioned by Dave during show)"Let's Live Like Dave Does" by Songwriter Carter WardenSupport the show (https://rechoicepod.com/patreon-virtual-tip-jar/)

Carter Warden is a former conservative pastor of 25 years, now openly atheist. Using the pseudonym “Adam Mann”, he was a founder of The Clergy Project, an on-line support group for clergy who no longer believe the doctrines of the churches they serve. “Adam” was one of the original five interviewees in the 2010 Dennett-LaScola article, “Preachers who are not Believers.” While still in ministry, he was interviewed undercover by ABC World News Tonight and the Canadian Broadcasting Company. Last fall he "came out" publicly as an atheist at the Freedom From Religion Foundation's annual gathering. A press release was picked up by the Johnson City Press and Carter was outed to his church, friends, and extended family. In this interview, he talks about that experience, the challenge facing clergy who no longer believe yet who make a living for their families by serving their churches, and the liberation when people are able to be honest with themselves and others about what they really believe. Hear previous interviews on Progressive Spirit with individuals connected to the Clergy Project including Linda LaScola, Daniel Dennett, Dan Barker, Gretta Vosper, Ryan Bell, David Hayward, Pat Green, John Loftus, Bart Campolo, and Jerry DeWitt.

This week we celebrate victories in three federal lawsuits (Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and California), and three other state/church victories won without going to court (Wisconsin, Washington, Kentucky). After listening to former preacher Carter Warden’s new song, “Freedom From Religion,” we talk with two of the victorious litigants: Jerry Bloom, who ended censorship of freethought views in Shelton, Connecticut, and Marie Schaub, the “atheist mother” who finally got the huge Ten Commandments monument removed from her daughter’s school in New Kensington, Pennsylvania.

Tis the season for FFRF’s winter solstice and Bill of Rights displays to appear in state capitols and other locations around the country, some of which have been defaced and destroyed. We celebrate the secular solstice by hearing Tom Lehrer’s irreverent “A Christmas Carol,” Ken Lonnquist’s “Isthmus Tree,” and the hilarious South Park classic “Merry Frickin Christmas” performed by Dan Barker. Then we listen to the very moving speech by former Christian pastor Carter Warden who came out publicly as an atheist at FFRF’s annual convention in Pittsburgh.

After listening to the “Moment of Bedlam” at FFRF’s annual Non-prayer breakfast, we hear the Newseum Institute’s shout-out to the Freedom From Religion Foundation as a “well-organized” and “very effective” force fighting for the “nones” in today’s society. We play the new song, “Life After You,” then talk with the songwriter, Carter Warden, a former evangelical Church of Christ minister and founding member of The Clergy Project who came out as an atheist at FFRF’s convention in Pittsburgh this month. Carter describes why he left the ministry and how difficult it was to find employment outside the church.