The Divorcing Religion Podcast

Allie Monday - Erotic Photographer & Worshiper of Women DIVORCED: Fundamentalism TW: Eating disorder mentioned briefly  My guest today was one of our sponsors for Shameless Sexuality: Life After Purity Culture 2025. Allie Monday is an erotic photographer and the creator of Ladygroove, a body-led portrait experience rooted in healing, sensuality, and self-acceptance. Her work invites women to shed shame and come home to their erotic aliveness. With over a decade behind the lens & 500+ women photographed, she blends artful witnessing with deep playful presence to create images that feel like sacred artifacts. Today, Allie shares her evolution from growing up in a Southern Baptist-type tradition and being an abstinence-only teacher to working in the field of erotic photography and empowering women to love themselves and fully experience pleasure. Allie's work has recently been published in the book HER BODY: A Riotous Celebration of the Female Form, and it's available through her website.  FIND ALLIE:  website: www.iamladygroove.com [http://www.iamladygroove.com/] IG: instagram.com/ladygroove FIND JANICE: Janice Selbie's Best-selling book Divorcing Religion: A Memoir and Survival Handbook is now available in the USA: Amazon.com https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DP78TZZF  and CANADA  Amazon https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DP78TZZF Recordings are available for the Shameless Sexuality: Life After Purity Culture conference 2025! Get your Resource Ticket now:  https://www.shamelesssexuality.org/  Religious Trauma Survivor Support Group is happening on Tuesdays at 5pm Pacific and Thursdays at 6pm Eastern (starting April 17). Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with others for healing and support:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services  Need help on your journey of healing from Religious Trauma? Book a free 20-minute consultation with Janice here:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services Follow Janice and Divorcing Religion on Social Media: Threads: Wisecounsellor@threads.net BlueSky: @janiceselbie.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DivorcingReligion TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@janiceselbie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wisecounsellor/ Subscribe to the audio-only version here:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/religious-trauma-podcast  The Divorcing Religion Podcast is for entertainment purposes only. If you need help with your mental health, please consult a qualified, secular mental health clinician. Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/janiceselbie]

Cynane Shay - Tinfoil Hats and Lizard People PART TWO DIVORCED: Christianity TW: Antisemitism, violence, and satanism are all mentioned in this episode. Today, nuclear engineer and writer Cynane Shay joins me for Part 2 of our conversation, "Tinfoil Hats and Lizard People." Our discussion today is based on research Cynane has conducted over the past few years to gain an understanding of where and how QAnon beliefs and antisemitic conspiracy theories originated. This research has taken Cynane several hundred years into the past, so buckle up for our deep dive!  FIND CYNANE: More information, EXvangelical reading recommendations, and social media links are found on her website: www.TakingOffTheTinfoilHat.com FIND JANICE: Janice Selbie's Best-selling book Divorcing Religion: A Memoir and Survival Handbook is now available in the USA: Amazon.com https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DP78TZZF  and CANADA  Amazon https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DP78TZZF Recordings are available for the Shameless Sexuality: Life After Purity Culture conference 2025! Get your Resource Ticket now:  https://www.shamelesssexuality.org/  Religious Trauma Survivor Support Group is happening on Tuesdays at 5pm Pacific and Thursdays at 6pm Eastern (starting April 17). Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with others for healing and support:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services  Need help on your journey of healing from Religious Trauma? Book a free 20-minute consultation with Janice here:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services Follow Janice and Divorcing Religion on Social Media: Threads: Wisecounsellor@threads.net BlueSky: @janiceselbie.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DivorcingReligion TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@janiceselbie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wisecounsellor/ Subscribe to the audio-only version here:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/religious-trauma-podcast  The Divorcing Religion Podcast is for entertainment purposes only. If you need help with your mental health, please consult a qualified, secular mental health clinician. Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/janiceselbie]

Cynane Shay - Tinfoil Hats & Lizard People PART ONE DIVORCED: Christianity Cynane Shay is a nuclear engineer living in South Carolina. Her childhood in White Christian Nationalism normalized conspiracy theories like Obama Birtherism and the Biblical apocalypse; but 2020, with COVID and Qanon, finally made her realize something was deeply wrong. Now Cynane is writing a book, “Taking Off the Tinfoil Hat: How Lizard People and Space Lasers Dismantled my Christian Worldview,” to process the deconstruction of her fundamentalist evangelical faith and her propagandistic patriotism.  Losing loved ones to the pandemic was a tragedy, but losing loved ones to the rabbit hole was its own tragedy that left too many of us with unresolved trauma and unanswered questions. So from Flat Earth to the IBLP cult to Jewish space lasers, Cynane pulled the thread, cracked her faith, and found the inseparable link between cults, conspiracy theories, and American White Christian Nationalism.  FIND CYNANE: More information, EXvangelical reading recommendations, and social media links are found on her website: www.TakingOffTheTinfoilHat.com FIND JANICE: Janice Selbie's Best-selling book Divorcing Religion: A Memoir and Survival Handbook is now available in the USA: Amazon.com https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DP78TZZF  and CANADA  Amazon https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DP78TZZF Recordings are available for the Shameless Sexuality: Life After Purity Culture conference 2025! Get your Resource Ticket now:  https://www.shamelesssexuality.org/  Religious Trauma Survivor Support Group is happening on Tuesdays at 5pm Pacific and Thursdays at 6pm Eastern (starting April 17). Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with others for healing and support:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services  Need help on your journey of healing from Religious Trauma? Book a free 20-minute consultation with Janice here:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services Follow Janice and Divorcing Religion on Social Media: Threads: Wisecounsellor@threads.net BlueSky: @janiceselbie.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DivorcingReligion TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@janiceselbie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wisecounsellor/ Subscribe to the audio-only version here:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/religious-trauma-podcast  The Divorcing Religion Podcast is for entertainment purposes only. If you need help with your mental health, please consult a qualified, secular mental health clinician. Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/janiceselbie]

Alyona Smoky - A Beautiful Liberation CW: War in Ukraine Alyona Smoky was born and raised in Ukraine, where her mother joined a high-control, conservative evangelical church when Alyona was young. As a result of family stressors, Alyona shouldered much of the emotional burden in her family as a child, and she grew up very quickly in a chaotic and emotionally intense environment. When she was 16, Alyona moved to the U.S. with her family due to political unrest in Ukraine. She found coming to the U.S. disorienting, having left behind community and structure while carrying internalized religious control with her. Alyona felt stuck between two worlds — Ukrainian and American — and didn’t feel truly at home in either. In this episode, Alyona shares her fascinating story of immigration and her liberation from high-demand religion and purity culture. Don't miss her journey of becoming a coach, writer, and photographer, as she helps others recover from high-control systems, including religion, cults, and ideology-heavy environments. Alyona also hosts the Showing Up Sustainably Podcast. FIND ALYONA:  Alyona's Linktree: [https://linktr.ee/alyonasmoky?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=9c4ed103-f24b-4f70-8139-c914dbec5e59] https://linktr.ee/alyonasmoky?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=9c4ed103-f24b-4f70-8139-c914dbec5e59 FIND JANICE: Janice Selbie's Best-selling book Divorcing Religion: A Memoir and Survival Handbook is now available in the USA: Amazon.com https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DP78TZZF  and CANADA  Amazon https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DP78TZZF Recordings are available for the Shameless Sexuality: Life After Purity Culture conference 2025! Get your Resource Ticket now:  https://www.shamelesssexuality.org/ [https://www.shamelesssexuality.org/]  Religious Trauma Survivor Support Group is happening on Tuesdays at 5pm Pacific and Thursdays at 6pm Eastern (starting April 17). Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with others for healing and support:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services [https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services]  Need help on your journey of healing from Religious Trauma? Book a free 20-minute consultation with Janice here:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services [https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services] Follow Janice and Divorcing Religion on Social Media: Threads: Wisecounsellor@threads.net [Wisecounsellor@threads.net] BlueSky: @janiceselbie.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DivorcingReligion [https://www.facebook.com/DivorcingReligion] TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@janiceselbie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wisecounsellor/ Subscribe to the audio-only version here:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/religious-trauma-podcast [https://www.divorcing-religion.com/religious-trauma-podcast]  The Divorcing Religion Podcast is for entertainment purposes only. If you need help with your mental health, please consult a qualified, secular mental health clinician. Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/janiceselbie]

Michelle Moffitt - From Abuse to Freedom CW: Sexual Assault Michelle Moffitt Rogers is a licensed therapist, Enneagram expert, and author. In this episode, Michelle shares her story and explores the psychological impact of spiritual abuse, the complexities of leaving both faith and a toxic marriage to a pastor, and what healing looks like on the other side.  You won't want to miss her raw, honest exposé about the dangers of being a pastor's wife when the pastor isn't safe. Her book is called Cracked Open: A Journey to a Resilient and Independent Mindset. FIND MICHELLE: Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/michellemoffittcoach Instagram: instagram.com/michellemoffittcoach Book on Amazon: https://a.co/d/5uhrmnb Indie Books: bookshop.org/p/books/cracked-open-a-journey-to-a-resilient-and-independent-mindset/8fdfa2c36aade660?ean=9798889262671&next=t Website: https://fiveoakscounseling.com/ [https://fiveoakscounseling.com/] FIND JANICE: Janice Selbie's Best-selling book Divorcing Religion: A Memoir and Survival Handbook is now available in the USA: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DP78TZZF And Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DP78TZZF Divorcing Religion: A Memoir and Survival Handbook - Kindle edition by Selbie, Janice. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. amazon.com/dp/B0DP78TZZF and CANADA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DP78TZZF Recordings are available for the Shameless Sexuality: Life After Purity Culture conference 2025! Get your Resource Ticket now:  https://www.shamelesssexuality.org/ [https://www.shamelesssexuality.org/] Religious Trauma Survivor Support Group is happening on Tuesdays at 5pm Pacific and Thursdays at 6pm Eastern (starting April 17). Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with others for healing and support:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services [https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services] Need help on your journey of healing from Religious Trauma? Book a free 20-minute consultation with Janice here:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services [https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services] Follow Janice and Divorcing Religion on Social Media: Threads: Wisecounsellor@threads.net [Wisecounsellor@threads.net] BlueSky: @janiceselbie.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DivorcingReligion [https://www.facebook.com/DivorcingReligion] TikTok: @janiceselbie [https://www.tiktok.com/@janiceselbie?refer=creator_embed] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wisecounsellor/ Subscribe to the audio-only version here:  https://www.divorcing-religion.com/religious-trauma-podcast [https://www.divorcing-religion.com/religious-trauma-podcast] The Divorcing Religion Podcast is for entertainment purposes only. If you need help with your mental health, please consult a qualified, secular, mental health clinician. Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/janiceselbie]