The Liminal

This episode discusses the ways that religion and deconstruction can affect our mental health, and why I believe we should prioritize emotional healing before we get too deep into theological arguments. Emotional intelligence skills can help us mediate our biases and get better at critical thinking. But more importantly, our psychological well-being is too important to be treated like collateral damage to theology debates. That’s how churches sometimes treat us, but that’s not how healthy spirituality works.

I share some of my own experience working through mental health struggles from deconstruction including healing a childhood trauma in therapy, and I offer some insights from scholarly research around topics like mindfulness and emotions. The resources I share in the episode are listed below:

If you are having thoughts of suicide and are in the United States, call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or visit https://988lifeline.org

Crisis resources in other countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines

Stress and coping resources: https://nowmattersnow.org

LGBTQ support: https://thetrevorproject.org

Support for new parents: https://postpartum.net

Veteran resources for PTSD and other rehabilitative needs: https://woundedwarriorproject.org

Substance abuse: https://samhsa.gov or 1-800-662-HELP.

The Holy Hurt podcast about spiritual trauma and healing: https://holyhurtpodcast.com/

For many of us, faith has been a tangled web of constructive & beautiful experiences mixed in with harmful ideas & baggage. “Deconstruction”  is a necessary process of untangling the good from the bad. However, deconstruction culture can be so good at the  tearing down part that ultimately, the people brave enough to question the intellectual or ethical foundations of their faith group are the ones  left without all the benefits that come from belief and community: things like a hopeful/redemptive worldview, community care, and empowerment for activism rooted in love and justice. In this episode, I offer a framework that has helped me untangle the constructive parts of Christian spirituality from the baggage, and why I see the wilderness as more hopeful and holy of a place than it feels (even when it sucks).

Launching next week: a refreshing take on Christian deconstruction and reconstruction that focuses on emotional resilience and intellectual honesty.

The Liminal is a space to search for the best examples of Christian faith in scholarship and in action, not as a means of apologetics or persuasion, but rather as a means of healing from past baggage and finding empowerment in our spirituality again.

Follow along for topics that intersect with faith such as mental health, theology, church history, science, and activism.

Hosted by Kristin Calderone, MSED and alumna of The Living School