From Evangelical to Atheist, As a Family: Part 1

The Big Chew Podcast

What happens when you and your young family are counting on your career path as an Evangelical Christian minister--and you realize you've become an atheist? Steve and Krissy Hilliker were deeply religious. They married young, had two kids right away, and believed that God had a plan for them. Every element of their lives tied into their faith--until Steve started losing his religion. Do you disrupt your whole family when your beliefs change? What if your wife still believes? And, as Krissy recalls her situation, how do you reconcile the intellectual honesty of your husband's religious questioning when you believe he's going to hell for it? How do you build lives together once the religion that guided you both doesn't work anymore? Steve and Krissy started the Voices of Deconversion Podcast to help others moving from religious belief to agnosticism and atheism. In this two-episode conversation, which is both insightful and funny, we talk about the comforts, drama, and pressures of religion; how this kind of transition affects a family; and where they find meaning now. Music in this episode is "You Need Sleep" by the Colin L. Orchestra, from Live on WFMU's Airborne Event, used via a Creative Commons license. The Big Chew theme song is "She Say Go" by the Birdinumnums, from the album She Say Go, used via a Creative Commons license.