Welcome: It’s About Pain

Welcome, reader!

Thank you for visiting my blog.

I am excited to have you here and I value your time. So, let’s get to it.

I want to talk about pain. I want to talk about your pain. Specifically, pain caused by Christianity and the church. If Christian ideology has hurt you, I believe we can help each other. I can be your voice. Christianity wields a lot of power and influence. Few people know how to stand up to that kind of power to express pain due to harms done.

Now, imagine one book that could speak for you. A book that deconstructs fundamental Christianity from the inside out. Imagine a book that starts out for Christians as Christians, undermining fundamentalism without triggering defenses and emotional landmines. Imagine a book written with the sophistication of a Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology, the experience of a pastor’s son and grandson, and the poetic charm of an accomplished writer. A book you can point to and say: “here is where I stand” with confidence and assurance. I want to write a book to resolve your own internal tensions and help you support your convictions. Nothing like this has been done before.

FROM CHRISTIANITY TO GOD: AN ONTOLOGY OF CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM delivers a trojan horse to fundamentalism in the form of a popular trade book. It approaches Christian defenses with the sensitivity of a clinical psychologist confronting psychological defenses and anxiety in a client. It starts by building rapport and establishing its method, then draws its reader through conflicts, one concept at a time. Ultimately, this book is an act of sedition, a coup, a guerrilla insurgency, balancing love and pain with the maturity and nuance of someone whose cradle and home the church was for decades. It strikes with the acumen of a trained academician without ever losing its common voice or emotional appeal. In all that, it hides its tools, drawn from contemporary developments in secular philosophy and psychology: existential phenomenology, psychoanalysis, and ontology.

The first thing I need to do is convince you that the project is worthwhile so that I can elicit your assistance. That helps me help you. I will go into more detail concerning the contents of the book and my approach to publishing it in later posts.

Here’s the deal.

I have am posting chapters here to engage your confidence and support. I believe I can win you over with my writing. Vulnerability, transparency, engaging content, and a clearly formulated, strategic plan for publication will be part of ongoing communications with you, without flooding your inbox. I value your pain and your time.

What I need more than anything is for you to tell your friends about this project. Making connections to disgruntled Christians and ex-Christians does several things for me. First, it helps me build a platform to convince a literary agent, and eventually a publisher, that this project is worthwhile. Second, it allows me to test this work in real conversation with you: I need your feedback, no matter your credentials or experience with the topic. This will help me hone the book to its target audience. Third, it affords me time to write the book by providing financial support for the project (subscription service pending).

The immediate plan is to setup accounts using Wix, Substack, and Patreon to publish content regarding the progress of this work and to solicit monthly support through subscriptions and paid content. This will include chapters and portions of the book as well as threads for discussion to help hone my ideas and anticipate anxiety traps and turn-offs for readers. I am also 100% open to your help in building my brand, strategizing, and making connections. What skills can you offer? My commitment to readers will be dense, engaging content related to important issues advocating for your pain. I promise not waste your time.

If you do nothing else, please try the first chapter of the book and see if you find it engaging. Then, share THIS POST with your friends, using the URL link in your browser presently. Give me feedback on how this lands for you: good, bad, or ugly! Then, if you find it in your budget, please consider sponsoring this project.

Thank you.

NOTE: SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE NOT YET RUNNING.

Chapter One: Where to Begin?