"When Religious Leaders Lose Their Faith"--Talk of the Nation

I just drove home listening to a show called "Religious Leaders Lose Their Faith" on NPR's "Talk of the Nation." I pulled over -- never safe to drive and talk on the phone! -- and called in 17 times, but the line was busy. I would have loved to be part of the conversation.

I think what makes my story different from the ministers interviewed is that I didn't lose my faith, I left it. That is part of the reason I use the analogy of a break up to describe my departure from institutional religion in Breaking Up with God: A Love Story. The version of God in which I had always believed became ethically untenable for me to hold on to, and I had to walk away, even though I was in a doctoral program studying theology, even though I was in the ordination process to become an Epsicopal priest.

The show on "Talk of the Nation" was a response to an earlier piece on "All Things Considered" -- "From Minister to Atheist: A Story of Losing Faith" by Barbara Bradley Hagerty. That story is the first in a series about losing faith, so look for more interesting conversations to follow. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to add my voice to the mix!

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