Bob and Cass interview Rodney and Trish Thompson—a religiously mixed couple. He’s atheist, she’s Catholic and we discuss how they make it work.  In this age when so many fearful people run to their polemic corners, demonize those that are different, and are unable to compromise, listen or learn from their opposites, Rod and Trish Thompson model a real-life example of how it can work and work well. To borrow from 1 Peter 4:8, “Love covers a multitude of faults.” In other words, when we love someone, we’re much more prone to overlook their faults, cut them some slack, and give them the benefit of the doubt. In this context, we’re less likely to take things personal, be easily offended, or retaliate. Love is that cache or freecell that absorbs the human difference instead of keeping it in play, further escalating the blow for blow mania. Love also helps us respect the other person’s right to think differently. It may even help us realize that that person’s different perspective does not necessarily have to be a threat to our perspective, unless it reveals weakness in it and can then serve as a catalyst to amend and strengthen our own. Staying in the room with difference has a way of maturing us and deflating the insecure ego that desperately needs to be right. The Thompson’s give us a window into how this type of harmony might be realized in religiously mixed marriages. We taped this episode on July 31st, 2016. If you’re liking our show, please subscribe to it, give it 5 stars, and/or leave a review on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.  Also, you can support us monetarily on a per episode basis through our Patreon page. That’s www.patreon.com/eapodcast. Or leave a donation through PayPal at our website, www.everyonesagnostic.com. Credits: "Towering Mountain of Ignorance" intro by Hank Green https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3v3S82TuxU Intro bumper "Never Know" by Jack Johnson Thanks for listening and be a yes-sayer to what is. Rod’s blogsite “Devotion to Reason” YouTubes featuring Rod & Trish Thompson Obama funny skit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7QwOFgpIFU Electric farmer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdjy4HcGhmM out take https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RaVahpYibI marriage advice for morons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4wki5jSeec Announcements: Dr. Marlene Winell was our guest back on episode 35. She’s a counselor for those recovering from religious trauma. It’s our most poplular episode to date. She called and asked me to plug a retreat she’s got coming up September 9-12th in Berkeley, California. More info is available on her website, journeyfree.org, I’ll put a link in the show notes. A Journey Free Retreat weekend is a chance to come together in a small group with the shared goal of taking steps to recover from harmful religion.  Led by Dr. Winell, it provides a safe place to process experiences with the support of others who understand. The 3 day program includes presentations, discussions, and guided activities to facilitate both intellectual insight and emotional growth, providing a leap forward in one’s personal development.  Getting through the fear, grief, anger and stress isn’t easy but you don’t have to do it alone. The cost of the retreat is scaled according to your income, so it’s gonna cost between $500 to $700 and they’ll even work out a payment plan. She just wants you to come.  So check that out at  http://journeyfree.org/retreats/ I also want to mention that I was the featured guest on The Wayward Atheists podcast recently, episode 12. One of the hosts of that show is David E up in Canada. He was our guest on episode 83.  So check out episode 12 of the Wayward Atheists, available wherever you listen to podcasts. http://waywardatheists.com/category/podcast/ I also want to thank Carol Kuruvilla, Religion Associate Editor for the Huffington Post, for including the Everyone’s Agnostic podcast in her article, “17 Great Podcasts For The Spiritually Curious.” Most of the other podcasts