Inside: A vivid childhood memory of a good Christian family friend telling me why she always voted Republican – and never for socialist Democrats. Because if the government met people’s basic needs, would they ever need Jesus? When I was a child, we were visiting a family friend, and somehow politics came up. I must have innocently asked why this family friend was against the…
Inside: Not sure what could possibly be wrong with friendly fruits and veggies telling Bible stories? I couldn’t put my finger on it at first either…but once I could, I knew they definitely had to go. I threw away the Veggie Tales DVDs today. Apparently I felt the subconscious urge to cross off another space on my “Deconstruction Bingo Card” in 2024. When the kids…
Inside: A response to the claim that Jesus is happy about all the extravagant Christmas church services. My mom visited before Christmas for our annual tradition of making Christmas cookies with Grandma. (It’s actually my favorite visit of the year with my mother, all opinions in this post aside.) She mentioned how excited she was about singing in her church choir for the big Christmas…
Inside: The problems with the phrase, “God is good”. Examining the belief systems underneath this common Christian phrase and considering whether omnipotent and good can coexist when evil still exists. My father-in-law died yesterday. It’s the first death I’ve experienced post-deconstruction. I’m wrestling with things like making room for my husband and I to explain death differently. He still believes in heaven and being with…
Inside: Thoughts on loving Jesus…and what does the word love even mean, anyway? It’s the day before Easter. Such an odd day for a deconstructing Christian. Coincidentally, someone on TikTok asked me yesterday if I loved Jesus. I responded with, “Hmmm, that’s a tough question. How much time do you have?” An odd answer, I know. I’m sure it seemed especially odd to the commenter,…
Inside: When evangelical churches glorify missions and teach the great commission, they might not realize the message children are internalizing. And those messages? They’re so very far from healthy. Last week, a post popped up in my Facebook feed. The teen daughter of a dear friend shared the intense disappointment the past two years had brought, especially how it had derailed her plans to spend…
Inside: A response to Matt Chandler’s statement about deconstruction, from someone who is actually deconstructing. Twelve years ago, I had a baby. Because I hate all things dieting, I decided to run a half-marathon to lose the baby weight. While logging mile after mile around the Charles River, I listened to hours and hours of podcasts – mostly sermons. Looking back on those runs, the…
Tell me. What do you believe about children? Because in my experience, what you believe about children reveals what you believe about God. And what you believe about God determines what you believe about children. In fact, it’s because I’m a parent that I started deconstructing in the first place. I heard how the church wanted me to raise my kids, and the reasoning was…
Faith deconstruction isn’t something that happens overnight, and it most certainly isn’t something you want to start. You don’t wake up one day and say, “Hey, how about I question everything I once thought was certain? Everything that makes me feel like an insider? That gives me a sense of belonging in this crazy world we live in?” Yeah, no. No one wants to deconstruct…