Read on Twitter
[A big 
] Been thinking a lot about decolonizing faith, thanks to @JoLuehmann who first put that language on it for me. Watching her defend herself & ideas from ruthless theobros on here & Insta has really solidified for me how crucial decolonization is as a project distinct...
] Been thinking a lot about decolonizing faith, thanks to @JoLuehmann who first put that language on it for me. Watching her defend herself & ideas from ruthless theobros on here & Insta has really solidified for me how crucial decolonization is as a project distinct...
[2] from deconstruction. If these theobros have proven anything, it’s that the process of decolonization is scary, and their fear that if you take away certain aspects of their faith, the whole thing will come crashing down. In some ways they’re right, because so much...
[3] white evangelical theology is built on unsound foundation (inerrancy of scripture, penal-substitutionary atonement, patriarchy, and white supremacy,) that when those things are removed the rest falls down like a Jenga tower. But the fear these theobros have is that God...
[4] will also be gone if that whole thing collapses. And that’s the heresy at the heart of it all - it's a colonization of God, making God in our image. Our institutions and systems of belief have themselves become "God," as if the loss of certain beliefs means the end of God.
[5] (Also worth noting that this is what Nietzsche was after with the "death of God" stuff but that's another thread.) The mystics have a tradition we could learn from that is designed to prevent this sort of thing: a regular, even daily, confession of our...
[6] perception of God, confessed to the unknowable God. Knowing that however we’ve been taught to perceive God will always be limited & imperfect, we build into our daily liturgies a recognition that we constantly implicitly make God out to be like us, and lay it down before God.
[7] However, in the context of american white evangelicalism, this isn't enough because we're not starting from scratch. We've done a lot of harm and colonization that has to be undone. We should engage corrective spiritual practices but not over-spiritualize the work.
[8] Decolonization in context will mean opposing actual religious and political beliefs, practices, institutions, structures, & laws, abolishing them from our lives and from our world. Internally, though, I think it finds itself embedded in a deeply personal theological place...
[9] that is scared to admit that God and religion might not be exactly what we thought it was, and ultimately what we wish it would be: a projection of our prejudices. Letting go of is only terrifying if you really believe that God is only as real as you've conceived God to be.
[10] If you can let go of that, you might find yourself listening to the experience of God and the divine from others, and be on your way with decolonization.
This did some big numbers overnight, and I’m grateful for the love and attention. But you should really follow some non-white folks who are really living this work: @JoLuehmann @andrehenry @ToriGlass and of course Willie James Jennings
please feel free everyone to drop some more names to follow, i just woke up and my brain's not working yet.
ok i've had coffee and breakfast now - definitely need to add @KaitlinCurtice @kat_armas and obvi @JemarTisby among those doing this work that you should follow over me.
