Photo by Ron Lach I live in a county that is 75% Republican. There are various, small Protestant churches and no Catholic or Episcopal churches in the area. The main line denominations are represented, but woke theology and progressivism is limited. The sheriff’s vehicles have “In God We Trust” imprinted on them. So even though 60 to 80% of the population do not go to church regularly, it would be terribly unpopular to criticize organized religion publicly here. Because religious... Read more
Even though I am hard on pastors, I still see them as casualties of organized religion. I know some of them seem like monsters, but it may be that most of that is either trauma inflicted by the church or preexisting conditions they didn’t have time to address while doing ministry. I’m not making excuses for them because, sometimes, this has devastating consequences. It’s fairly predictable that when I raise a critique of the Western church or suggest its demise,... Read more
When I was a child, we lived within an hour of both sets of grandparents. Our routine was consistent throughout the years. On Christmas Eve, we drove to my mother’s family gathering. It was organized chaos at best with tons of food and a sea of people all gathered in a tiny farm house. Even the gifts were consistent– we drew names so we got one gift and gave away one, with the exception of the grandparents who gave and... Read more
Is God like a man, Or is man like a god? Are we made in the image, Or is He made in ours? Is God like a tree, With branches and leaves? Does he stand tall in the sun, And tether in the breeze? Is God in all things, Or are all things in God? Do we need Her to save us, Or to give us a nod? Is God like a man, Or is man like a god? Are... Read more
I’m gonna write a letter saying “all letters are inspired by God.” Some other people will also surely write letters of their own. We will keep them around for 300 years, then someone somewhere else, like Putin, will edit them into a book and claim these are the letters I was talking about in my letter. The letters will span hundreds of years and 40 different authors, but the recipients will just keep insisting this compilation is holy. It won’t... Read more
Since the release of our book, Out Into the Desert, I’ve been writing blogs and having discussions about organized religion in the 21st century. We’ve received a lot of feedback and, surprisingly, not everyone agrees. LOL Believe it or not, I’m okay with that–I just wanted to have a discussion. But this discussion is sure to be an electric one. I know who will have the most visceral reaction, but I think we should still have the conversation anyway. We... Read more
Occasionally someone accuses me of hating God or Religion. Neither one of these things is true, at least not in the strictest sense of the word hate. I realize that I have benefited from lessons I learned and experiences I had with God and organized religion. But, starting around 2016, I began to question my faith and the further I went, the more perspective I gained and the more troubling my view of God and the state of religion became. ... Read more
In my best evaluation, people have always been drawn towards things like religion to try to explain the things we could explain. The ceremonies and communities we built around our understanding and misunderstanding helped us shape some meaning into the world. I believe we can honor those traditions and, sometimes, even memorialize them while boldly and consciously moving into the future. Just because we were certain about things at one time doesn’t mean we possessed the wisdom for all time.... Read more
Recently I listened to a discussion about a book I’m involved with called Parenting Deconstructed. It’s a great book for people that are making changes in their spiritual life and exploring different options, commonly known as deconstruction. A couple of the authors that I love talked about making space for their children. What they meant is that when they addressed their inner issues that were taking up all their attention, then they had space to spend time with their children... Read more
by Jason Elam The day we had been dreading had finally arrived. Our oldest child, Alex, was moving out on her own. I had always expected to be relieved to see our kids spread their wings and fly away from the nest. After all, raising healthy, well-adjusted kids who can thrive on their own is nearly every parent’s goal, right? Recently though, as my faith continued to evolve, I realized we had not done a good job of representing spiritual... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In