Brandi Carlile: A Theology of Belonging
After spending dozens of hours absorbing Carlile’s music, interviews, memoir and lyrics, an undeniable theme emerged that I call a Theology of Belonging. It’s a theology that is concerned with real life experiences, and causes us to make room for others.
Master’s Project: The Seattle School 2023
This project examines the connection between Christian fundamentalism’s strict model of womanhood and Complex-PTSD, which misshapes personal identity, atrophies agency and stunts the imagination.
When Religion Becomes Traumatic
Religion is largely recognized as being beneficial to the lives of humans. It can help us make sense of the world by answering the big questions of life. Religion can also bring comfort, healing and a sense of safety from a traumatic world. So…what happens when it’s religion itself that is the source of distress and trauma?
Feminist Theory (video)
Feminist Theory = Call to Action As a subset of critical theory, a feminist lens can be used as a framework for research to critique institutions, culture, art, literature and more, in order to initiate change. It allows us to bring the discussions out of the think...
Remembering Is a Gift
Remembering Is a Gift Remembering truly is a gift, especially when we take the time to reflect and anchor our remembrances for the sake of those we hope to serve. One of my professors says that “Knowing where you come from is crucial to serve street-involved kids [or...
Religious Trauma Resources
“Religious Trauma Syndrome is the condition experienced by people who are struggling with leaving an authoritarian, dogmatic religion and coping with the damage of indoctrination.” - Marlene Winell, Leaving the Fold Post traumatic church syndrome (NY Times) Why...
Searching for Truth
Never before have humans been able to spew our immediate thoughts out into the world with such urgency, precision and speed. We stake a claim in a particular camp of opinion and target hate and vitriol towards those who disagree. But, how often do we think deeply about how we know what we know
Engaging Our Creativity
Engaging Our Creativity “The primary creative act is the living of our daily lives, making it a work of art.” - Christine Paintner We often think of creativity as the private domain of artists, dancers, musicians or writers, each possessing special and unique talent...
Healing is Messy!
In this episode I am joined by three friends who have spent 12 weeks talking about this material and exploring how we might conceive of healing in the aftermath of religious trauma. One thing is for sure….healing is MESSY!
Trauma & the Artistic Impulse
Many people who have come out of fundamentalist/evangelical trauma struggle with what to do with their creative side, with many describing a kind of artistic brokenness. In this episode, my guests and I talk about what happens to the creative/artistic impulse in white, fundamentalist spaces and how do we do better at sitting with suffering.
