This week our guest is Carr Hagerman, speaker and Artistic Director of the Minnesota Renaissance festival. We start with talking to Carr about his journey to atheism and then he tells us a remarkable story that changes the direction of the entire conversation. We start to explore the ideas of sexual abuse and religion failing to fix the cycle. Basically, we cover a lot of ground. Special thanks are due to Molly’s mom for letting us use her dining room table!
Show notes below the fold:
Here’s the Alain de Bonnon TED talk Carr referenced.
Here’s the Steven Colbert interview with Rick Santorum.
Want to know more about Grace megachurch? Here’s their website!
“It’ll all make sense by the end” -Tim
It can’t be good to start the show with a lie.
“I miss all the trappings of the church.” -Carr
The Unitarians are right over yonder!
I just read the mission statement from the Grace Church website. It says “Our Mission:
We exist to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus across the street and around the world. ” ACROSS THE STREET? Sounds like they are going after Molly and Nick. Personally. Too funny.
Rut roh.
Carr’s camp abuses reminded me of my own not-nearly-so-awful but church-camp related incident. Our church sent us on a seven-day camping trip in the BWCA (my only time up there). The chaperone was completely uninterested in doing anything except sitting by the fire and drinking whiskey-fortified coffee. Me being me, I ended up taking charge of the group, despite being the youngest person there (I was 14 I think) and being the only one not from the local high school. I made sure we reached our campsites each day, and divided the day’s paddling up into manageable chunks to make sure we got there.
One night, sunburned and having paddled and navigated all day, I passed out in my tent immediately after dinner. I woke up to the sound of heavy breathing. A couple had decided that the best place to have sex was in the tent next to me. I feigned sleep while they got it on.
The next day the guy of the couple confronted me in the woods and pulled a bowie knife. He told me I didn’t hear anything the night before, and if I said anything to anyone he’d kill me.
Somehow I survived the week (don’t even ask about the bear, the moose, or the overturned and bent canoe). Several months later when the girl started showing Mr. Bowie Knife called her a lying slut and denied paternity.
All this from church camp.