Todd Ormsby is a sociologist who studies both gay male culture and religion, and teaches comparative religion at San Jose State University. Most recently he has been researching people who choose to leave Mormonism and transition into some degree of “unbelief.” His deeper interests are in understanding how and why people change their personal religious practices and beliefs. He’s especially curious about what happens to individuals as they make those religious transformations—their emotions, their day-to-day lives, their perceptions of the world, and indeed, their very “Selves.” This interest has been shaped by his own life story: being raised in the Brighamite strand of Mormonism, exploring Kabbalah in university, settling into a Buddhist Vipassana practice, and ultimately converting to Judaism. Support the show______________ To participate live and be notified of upcoming speakers in advance, please Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/gaybuddhistfellowship) or visit https://gaybuddhist.org/calendar/ To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit www.GayBuddhist.org.There you can: * Donate * Learn how to participate live * Find our schedule of upcoming speakers * Join our mailing list or discussion forum * Enjoy many hundreds of these recorded talks dating back to 1996 CREDITSAudio Engineer: George HubbardProducer: Tom BrueinMusic/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter