Hopelessly Religious & Moving to the Country (#372)

Hopelessly Religious & Moving to the Country (#372)

Author: Dan Koch January 8, 2026 Duration: 37:18
I reconnect with my friend Brian Hall to explore his family's move from Portland to rural Oregon—driven by their kids' special needs, exhaustion with sociopolitical polarization, and Brian's ongoing “reconstruction” of his spirituality. We discuss the tension between liberal values and individual family choices as Brian deliberately exposes himself to conservative religious spaces. I push back on his embrace of Trump-supporting communities while acknowledging my own growing interest in center-right perspectives, and we wrestle with questions about schooling, how to teach kids about systemic injustice and related issues, and whether spiritual practice requires suspending judgment. Brian describes finding unexpected vitality in charismatic worship with older Black Pentecostals and why Portland's progressive culture started feeling like a fundamentalist Bible study. We're both tired of performative resistance, yet neither wants to abandon genuine insights. This leaves us in the messy middle, trying to be present for our kids while staying intellectually honest. In the Patron-only second half of the episode, we discuss the therapeutic wisdom of Brian's approach, his specific reasons for leaving Portland's school system, attempted nuanced takes on gender ideology and trans issues, and Brian’s experience with improvisational worship music services. Brian's Album | Reconstruction in C Major Spotify Link Previous Episode with Brian | Still Christian & Spiritual: Brian Hall (#244) ___________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG: www.instagram.com/dancoke/ Or Twitter: twitter.com/DanKoch Faith deconstruction resources: www.soyouredeconstructing.com/ Join the Patreon for exclusive episodes (and more) every month: patreon.com/dankoch Email about the "sliding scale" for the Patreon: youhavepermissionpodcast@gmail.com YHP Patron-only FB group: tinyurl.com/ycvbbf98 Website: www.dankochwords.com/yhp.html Join Dan's email list: www.dankochwords.com/ Artwork by sprungle.co/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hosted by Dan Koch, Religion on the Mind digs into the messy, fascinating, and deeply personal space where our inner lives meet our search for meaning. This isn't a sermon or a debate; it's a series of conversations that feel more like late-night talks with curious friends. Each episode brings in a different voice-psychologists, scholars, writers, and other experts-to explore how our beliefs, doubts, rituals, and spiritual yearnings are intertwined with the workings of the human mind. We get into the psychology behind religious experience, the spirituality that emerges outside traditional structures, and the very real ways these forces shape identity, community, and coping. The tone is thoughtful but unvarnished, embracing complexity without pretension. You'll hear genuine curiosity, nuanced perspectives, and, yes, the occasional bit of cussing when the topic calls for it. The goal is to offer a space for reflection on how these fundamental aspects of being human collide and coexist. If you've ever wondered about the psychological roots of faith, the spirituality of non-belief, or just how our brains make sense of the profound, this podcast provides a grounded, accessible entry point to those questions.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Religion on the Mind
Podcast Episodes
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Healthy vs. Unhealthy Anxiety: Anxious Times, Part 1 (#385) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:24:59
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Duration: 1:22:35
In this episode, I sit down with Tim Burnette — founder of The Way Collective in Santa Barbara — to explore what it looks like to build a psychologically astute, contemplative Christianity for our fractured moment. We di…
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Duration: 1:26:40
In this conversation, Ryan Burge joins me to explore the evolving landscape of religion in America, focusing on the concepts of “nones” and “dones”—those who identify as non-religious or have distanced themselves from or…
C. S. Lewis's "The Great Divorce" (Part 4) (#381) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:15
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Dan Tries AI Biblical Counseling (#380) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:30
I invite previous guest Heather Patton Griffin back to the pod to discuss biblical counseling—but this time through the lens of AI. After our previous conversation about white evangelicalism's navigation system, I decide…
C. S. Lewis's "The Great Divorce" (Part 3) (#379) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:37
I'm back with Kristen Tideman for Part 3 of our conversation about C.S. Lewis's 'The Great Divorce,' and honestly, I wasn't prepared for how much these chapters would make me squirm. We're diving into chapters 6-9, where…