FreedHearts Susan & Rob Cottrell, FreedHearts

Have you ever wondered why the conservative nonaffirming rules-based church is so upside-down? They focus downline, shaming and threatening regular people who are just trying to live.Meanwhile, these leaders are hiding rampant child sexual abuse and promoting teachings that are racist, misogynistic, queerphobic, especially transphobic.We’ve been talking about how the teachings of religion are Teachings of Contempt, at every level.In this episode, we continue our deconstruction of the "7 deadl...

June is Pride Month—a time dedicated not just to parades and rainbow flags but to profound affirmation and resistance against discrimination.The skewed Christian view of pride involves a self-centered attitude, placing oneself above others and, most critically, above God. But the LGBTQ+ community is not declaring themselves above anyone else.Pride Month was born from a necessity to stand against oppression and claim a rightful place in society—not out of a desire to dominate but a need to exi...

We have all heard it: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Actually, this is one of the worst translated passages in all the Bible – and one of the most harmful because of that. What if what Jesus REALLY said was, “Deconstruct, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Would that change things? Would it have eliminated a lot of the shame and guilt and harm? In this powerful episode, we deconstruct this harmful passage and take the blinders off, so we see things a...

Today we deconstruct one of the most insane ideas in Christianity: The alleged fall of humanity, when one person ate forbidden fruit, and now, there is not one shred of goodness in us, not a spark, unless we have asked Jesus to be our Savior. That’s the story.The actual theory and false teaching is that because Eve and Adam sinned, the rest of us are born utterly depraved, beyond redemption.Wow.As for me — and for you — we have good in us, and we always have! It IS our nature.Enough is enough...

Rules, laws, shoulds, shouldn’ts... the Bible is full of them. And the church has even added more to that list!The religious leaders approached Jesus and asked, “Hey Jesus, Uh, lot’s of rules here, lots of laws, what are the ones that are the most important?”And Jesus deconstructed ALL the law, ALL of those rules, ALL of the rules the church adds to it and answered… “Love. Love God, love others – and those two are really the same thing. EVERYTHING ELSE IS WRAPPED UP IN THAT.”So, what th...

We’ve been wanting to talk for a while about how the conservative evangelical church traps people. It is deliberate.They draw you in, telling you: God loves you just as you are — yes you’re a sinner, we’re all sinners, duh. But God loves you — just some minor tweaking here and there, and you’ll be good as new.They dismantle you, making you an enemy of your own heart, mind, body, and spirit - making you doubt yourself at every turn.Then they seal the exits, so you can’t leave… or think you can...