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FreedHearts — Religion & Spirituality
FreedHearts

Freeing hearts to love and be loved! Love. Inclusion. Affirmation. Susan Cottrell is the Mom of two LGBTQ+ children; the founder of FreedHearts; an international speaker with a viral TEDx talk; a pastor and theologian; an acclaimed author; and a fierce advocate and ally. In her unique tender, relatable style, Susan is a prominent voice of unconditional love and lavish inclusion. Powerful, authentic, and relevant in today’s society, Susan has a lot to say. The Advocate calls her their “Favorite Affirming Matriarch.” OutSmart magazine calls her “The Mother of all MamaBears!” Reverend Ashley Harness from Auburn Seminary says, “Susan has this fierce, loving, don’t mess with me, Mom vibe.” If you have been excluded, or if someone close to you has been excluded because of who they are or who they love – or maybe you have been the one doing the excluding – the FreedHearts podcast is for you. Join Susan, along with her husband Rob, on the journey. You are not alone. Welcome home!

Copyright: ℗ & © 2020 FreedHearts

Latest Episodes:

Hurting & Hope: A Letter from a Transgender Friend Oct 26, 2022

Show notes

Today, we share a letter we received from a beautiful soul – a transgender woman who found hope in the midst of deep pain.
We have called this space, our time together the FreedHearts Deconstruction Zone.
Our goals are to help you deconstruct false, damaging beliefs that are often deeply ingrained.
We want to bring clarity in the midst of confusion, to bring freedom instead of fear, and bring hope to your heart.
That is what we do. That is what this episode is all about.

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Religious Liberties Are Not Even Biblical! Oct 19, 2022

Show notes

Recent and possible upcoming Supreme Court rulings, battles in conservative states over books and transgender human rights – and remembering back to a clerk in Kentucky, a baker in Colorado, a florist in Washington... All of these, in one way or another – sometimes direct, sometimes indirect – are all discriminating against LGBTQ+ people, women, children, people of color, and many others, all in the name of 'religious liberty.'
It is indefensible to just add God to it, and expect to get away with all this hate and harm.
Well, we are doing this episode because we want to join the growing voices who will not remain silent, who are not going let them get away with it anymore.

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For Dads of LGBTQ+ Children – A Very Special Episode Oct 12, 2022

Show notes

Just Rob today… talking to Dads. But this is good for all parents, for LGBTQ+ kids, for allies. It helps us all better understand and support.
So, Dads…Your child is gay. Your love for your child seems to somehow conflict with your faith - at least according to what you may hear from Christian friends.
Like it or not, you are on the first steps of a journey. What do you do? What kind of Dad will you be?
Being gay is not a choice. Whether or not you unconditionally love, accept and affirm your gay child is.
Rob is the father of five children, two of whom are part of the LGBTQ+ community. In this episode, he shares with you three real responses from other Dads. And he asks you to think about which one is the most like you?

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When Your Child Condemns You For Being Gay Oct 05, 2022

Show notes

We often talk about parents who accept their LGBTQ+ kids, and about parents who don’t.
Today, we flip the script and talk about children who condemn their LGBTQ+ parents, and how to respond to that.
Maybe this is for you, maybe for someone you love.
Let’s talk about how we can best protect our hearts against what can feel like a relentless, intimate attack, and how we can respond to these common arguments.

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When an Affirming Parent Defends Their LGBTQ+ Child Sep 28, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, we talk about how affirming parents respond! When they are a child’s advocate and ally, a child’s defender and protector – to family members, sometimes very close family members, and friends, who are NOT affirming. Not accepting. Way too often openly anti-gay and cruel.

We want to share a letter a mom wrote on behalf of her transgender daughter. It is beautiful.

Sometimes we stand behind our LGBTQ+ kids in support. Sometimes alongside them in solidarity. And sometimes we stand in front of them to take the arrows coming their way.

It’s called love and it’s what a parent should do.

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Have You Had It With Church? Sep 14, 2022

Show notes

How are you doing? Are you a bit discouraged? Disillusioned?
For those of you with a faith background, those of you deconstructing… How are you doing with your faith overall, spiritually, with church even as a concept?

Have you had it with church? Don’t really know what do to with what you’re feeling?

Yeah, I hear you.

This is the perfect episode for you. Let’s talk.

Send us a private message. *Note: INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS if you'd like us to answer. :-)

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One of the Deadliest Teachings in All of Humanity Sep 07, 2022

Show notes

Today we’re doing something very special.

We’re going to revisit the most popular episode we have ever done!

It was first broadcast in October 2020. But now, two years later, it’s even more important than ever.

It’s about one of the deadliest teachings in all of humanity. In all of human history.

And, unfortunately, it’s a teaching that seems to have become normal today.

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5 Ways Parents Can Avoid Gender Stereotypes for Kids Aug 31, 2022

Show notes

There are lots of issues in the news about gender, and about transgender children.
We talk a lot about the binary teachings on gender and sexuality that are so prevalent in the patriarchal, nonaffirming church.
These false teachings have led to so much harm to marginalized people. So much hate masked by false teachings.
We are NOT going to let hate win, and part of that is helping free our hearts from all the junk we have heard for so long. Deconstructing those false teachings and harmful beliefs.
Today, we want to do that around parenting a child – and how parents can avoid gender stereotypes for kids!

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What Do We Do With All This Divisiveness? Aug 24, 2022

Show notes

We’ve all seen the increasing divisiveness in our culture over every little thing! It’s funny, they used to make jokes about how a church can split over the color of the carpet! Well, now that religion and politics seem so entwined, these private divisions have spread into the general public, and we continue to divide over Every. Single. Thing.
A mom brought us a verse she saw a religious leader use—Luke 12:51—that talks about how we are not here to be "politically correct" or cater to society, but to follow God’s teaching.
This has been misused as permission to be so cruel to each other in the name of religion.
But when a nonaffirming Christian throws out a verse like this, it can be hard to answer. Let’s talk about that today, and about how we respond to divisiveness.

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When People Don’t Even See The Damage They Do Aug 17, 2022

Show notes

We hear it every day… horror stories from LGBTQ+ people, and other outliers, about how they have been mistreated by families, so-called friends, community… their lives have been ruined. And the people, the churches, who have done this just explain it away, ignore it. Frustrating. Infuriating.
People are so easily ruining lives.
In this episode, we talk about a Mom who is so blinded that not only does she not see the damage she has done with her beliefs, she thinks that WE are the ones who ruined her relationship with her son!
You need to hear this.

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