Dec 19, 2017
Cass Midgley and Bob Pondillo interview Valerie Torico. Dr. Valerie Tarico is a psychologist and writer with a passion for personal and social evolution. Today, we discuss Tarico’s book, Trusting Doubt: A Former Evangelical Looks at Old Beliefs in a New Light, offers personal insight into how we can apply “constructive curiosity” to our most closely guarded beliefs.
As a social commentator, Tarico
tackles issues ranging from religious fundamentalism to gender
roles, to reproductive rights and technologies. A primary focus is
on improving access to top tier contraceptive technologies. To that
end, in 2015, she co-founded Resilient Generation, a family
planning advocacy hub based in Seattle, Washington. She serves on
the board of Advocates for Youth, a D.C. based nonprofit with
wide-ranging programs related to reproductive health and justice,
and is a Senior Writing Fellow at Sightline Institute, a think tank
focused on sustainable prosperity. Her articles have appeared at
sites including the Huffington Post, Jezebel, Salon, AlterNet, and
the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and they are
available at ValerieTarico.com.
Bob and I (Cass) wish you a wonderful summer solstice, time with family and friends, the giving and receiving of gifts from loved ones, and however else you recognize these year end holidays. If you're going to be with family with whom there is religious tension, I encourage you to stick to humanist values when you're with them and be present as a healthy, mature version of yourself. To that end, I will now read excerpts from the third Humanist Manifesto and David Richo's declarations of healthy adulthood:
As humans, you and your family members are an integral part of nature, the result of evolutionary change, an unguided process. Our ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience. Our fulfillment in life emerges from individual participation in the service of humane ideals. Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships. Working to benefit society, even a micro-society like your family gatherings, maximizes your own individual happiness. We humanists have respect for differing views in an open social context, as long as they are humane.
And from Richo, in preparation for potentially incendiary encounters with family and friends, say these to yourself before you engage:
I accept full responsibility for
the shape my life has taken.
I
need never fear my own truth, thoughts, or
sexuality.
I
let people go away or stay and I am still okay.
I
accept that I may never feel I am receiving – or have received –
all the attention I seek.
I
acknowledge that reality is not obligated to me; it remains
unaffected by my wishes or rights.
One
by one, I drop every expectation of people and
things.
I
reconcile myself to the limits on others’ giving to me and on my
giving to them.
Until I see another’s behavior with compassion,
I have not understood it.
I
let go of blame, regret, vengeance, and the infantile desire to
punish those who hurt or reject me.
I am
still safe when I cease following the rules my parents (or others)
set for me.
I
cherish my own integrity and do not use it as a yardstick for
anyone else’s behavior.
I am
free to have and entertain any thought. I do not have the right to
do whatever I want. I respect the limits of freedom and still act
freely.
No
one can or needs to bail me out. I am not entitled to be taken care
of by anyone or anything.
I
give without demanding appreciation though I may always ask for
it.
I reject whining and complaining as useless
distractions from direct action on or withdrawal from unacceptable
situations.
I
let go of control without losing control.
If
people knew me as I really am, they would love me for being human
like them.
I
drop poses and let my every word and deed reveal what I am really
like.
I live by personal standards and at the same
time – in self-forgiveness – I make allowances for my occasional
lapses.
I
grant myself a margin of error in my relationships. I release
myself from the pain of having to be right or competent all the
time.
I accept that it is normal to feel that I do
not always measure up.
I am
ultimately adequate to any challenge that comes to
me.
My self-acceptance is not complacency since in
itself it represents an enormous change.
I am
happy to do what I love and love what is.
Wholehearted engagement with my circumstances
releases my irrepressible liveliness.
I
love unconditionally and set sane conditions on my
self-giving.
So get out there and be
your self. Your "self" and presence are precious. Someday you and
all your family members will be dead, never to be experienced ever
again. You and they will not be sitting around the dinner table
someday. But this Christmas, you and they will be there,
together, in the same rooms, and that is valuable beyond measure.
Bring your body, mind and soul into those rooms. As much as you're
able and comfortable, be the miracle that you are with those
people, whether they understand that or not. Be gentle with
yourself. Don't do anything you don't want to do. Be as honest as
you can and look for the magic moments, as brief and rare as they
may be. And remember Bob and I and the relationships you've made
through this podcast and the larger atheist community and that you
are LOVED just as you are, even if your family is unable to do
that. Happy Holidays my agnostic friends!
We taped the conversation with Valerie Tarico on November 19th, 2017. We interview people you don’t know, about a subject no one wants to talk about. We hope to encourage people in the process of deconstructing their faith and help curb the loneliness that accompanies it. We think the world is a better place when more people live by sight, not by faith. Please subscribe to our podcast, and leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Also, you can support us monetarily in two easy ways: you can pledge one dollar per episode or more through Patreon; that’s www.patreon.com/eapodcast, or leave a lump-sum donation through PayPal at our website, www.everyonesagnostic.com. The smallest contribution is greatly appreciated.
Credits:
"Towering
Mountain of Ignorance" intro by Hank Green https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3v3S82TuxU
Intro bumper "Never Know" by Jack
Johnson
The segue music
on this episode was created by Cass Midgley
Thanks for listening! And be a Yes-sayer to what is.
https://valerietarico.com/
Twitter: @valerietarico
The movie, "The Mask You Live In."