Brief interludes in which I give my readers smaller prompts or ideas to consider as they explore their own deconstruction path.
Today, August 30th, is the 225th birthday of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Her mother invented feminism, her father founded anarchy; her step-mother translated fairy tales for the Grimm Brothers, and for her whole life, Mary was surrounded by the greatest philosphers, theologians, poets, and artists of her age. So how remarkable is it that, at the …
Continue reading Exvangelical Meditation: Happy Frankenstein Day, or: Finding Your Sacred Text
I wanted to give my readers an update: Writing has slowed down here at Surviving the Spirit, but it isn't because I'm taking a break. It's because I've been busy writing an exvangelical memoir, in which I rework much of what I've written here while both expanding existing content and writing entirely new material. With …
Growing up as Christians, we were taught from childhood that our theology was the "Absolute Truth," and that it would never change not collapse under scrutiny. When doubts arose as they inevitably do, it was explained to us as God "testing us" or Satan "tempting us." This is framed in a way that suggests that …
Continue reading Exvangelical Meditation: The Courage to Question
The Christian mystic Instagram page Gnostic Alchemy just published a really interesting overview about sacrificial god folklore in many cultures before Christianity utilized it for its Christ liturgy. Their brief essay reads: "Among those connected historically or allegorically with a crucifixion are Prometheus, Adonis, Apollo, Arys, Bacchus, Buddha, Christna, Horus, Indra, Ixion, Mithras, Osiris, Pythagoras, …
Continue reading Exvangelical Meditation: The Many Faces of Good Friday
Forgive me if the tone of this particular meditation. But you see -- I'm angry. In a speech delivered on today -- April 1, 2022 (the timing of which shouldn't be lost on anyone), Pope Francis finally got around to apologizing for the Catholic Church’s participation in Canada’s long and tumultuous residential school system, which …
Continue reading Exvangelical Meditation: “For Those Members.”
"The Global Center for Religious Research (GCRR) has established the world's first and most comprehensive psychiatric research group to study the causes, manifestations, and treatment options for those suffering from religious trauma (RT). GCRR has built a team of approximately 30 licensed psychiatrists, therapists, sociologists, university professors, religion scholars, and Ph.D. candidates from around the …
Continue reading Exvangelical Meditation: Global Center for Religious Research
One of the questions I often get asked when in dialogue with evangelicals who have found out that I've left the faith is, what do I now use as a standard for truth in my life now that I no longer believe in the Bible? This question usually comes from a very sincere place that …
Continue reading Exvangelical Meditation: My Internal Compass
Since starting this blog, I've always maintained that when it comes to paths forward for Christianity to survive its long history of genocide, white supremacy, and empire building, I simply don't have a horse in this race. If religion is the act of picking a metaphor that best enables you to walk into life's mysteries, …
Continue reading Exvangelical Meditation: The Greatest Trick the Devil Ever Pulled?
I've found many wonderful anthems for my deconstruction – from artists who were once part of the evangelical crowd and now have the courage to ask questions publicly (Kevin Max, Derek Webb), to artists who clearly grew up in the Church as seek to find meaning in its symbolism while breaking free of its confines …
Continue reading Exvangelical Meditation: “Plowshare Prayer”
Earlier this year, a poet friend of mine and I had a conversation about returning to normalcy after the chaos of 2020 and beyond. It stirred some speculations on what "normality" looks like and how it is defined. I was in therapy at the time for work-related PTSD, which I was processing both in its own …
Surviving the Spirit 