Welcome to Deconstructionology with Jim Palmer
"Sometimes I think it is my mission to bring faith to the faithless, and doubt to the faithful."
- Paul Tillich
Hi, I’m Jim. This Substack is where I share my thoughts on post-religion spirituality. After a crisis of faith and walking away from my former life as a megachurch superstar pastor, I rebuilt my life and cultivated an authentic and liberating non-religious spirituality.
This publication is named, “Deconstructionology”. Yes, it’s a word I made up. The term deconstruction means to disassemble something into its separate parts in order to understand it more deeply and meaningfully. The lived human experience is filled with all kinds of tensions, contradictions, nuances, lessons and complexities, which may not be apparent on the surface or through the lens through which we most familiarly see the world.
As a public philosopher, theologian, religious trauma counselor and promoter of existential health, I often deconstruct life’s biggest questions, and issues of ultimate significance. Whatever your religious, spiritual or philosophical beliefs, they relate to every aspect of our lives. As a published author and founder of the Center for Non-Religious Spirituality, I especially connect with nones, free-thinkers and all those interested in becoming more profound human beings.
There are countless people who are trying to make sense of religion, spirituality, cultural issues, personal growth, and complexities of the lived human experience, in light of their past religious conditioning or indoctrination, and learning new mindsets and tools for doing life differently. In my experience, there are all kinds of nuances and grey areas in terms of how people choose to put the pieces together in their post-religion spirituality and outlook on the world.
Six months ago when I started publishing articles with these thoughts in mind, I wanted to create a space for people to think through their own path forward without my telling them what they should think or do. While it's true that I often address what I believe to be the fallacies, corruptions, and abuses of toxic religion, I don't write it all off. I feel like I've succeeded in these articles if an Atheist, deconstructing Christian, or any open-minded person of faith or philosophy, finds something that challenges or inspires them to be a more profound human being.
Having spent half of my adult life in Christian ministry and theological scholarship, I understand how religious thinking and culture works. The past twenty years in my post-religion life, I have published five books about my leaving-religion journey and life, and devoted myself to religious trauma and deconstruction counseling, training others for this work, and the founding of the Center for Non-Religious Spirituality.
For a season of my life I traveled abroad doing human rights work with the International Justice Mission, which was a life-changing experience. I enjoy teaching, which I have done as an adjunct professor in Philosophy of Religion, Comparative Religion, and Ethics. Photography, thru-hiking, and ultra-endurance sports are a few of my personal interests.
You don’t have to pay a penny in order to support this endeavor—I’m just grateful to have you here. Anybody who picks the free option will get at least one newsletter a week, regular Notes, and unannounced extras. Paid subscriptions allow me to dedicate as much time to this endeavor as possible. This includes writing more content and giving me the opportunity to support and amplify other work and other creators I believe in, while collaborating with others for other worthy projects.
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