Part One: Deconstructing God -- 1. Blood and Fire -- 2. Political Cartoons and Rattlesnake Worship -- 3. The Brutality of Fact -- 4. Shut Up, Galileo -- 5. Cats, Cosmic Horror, and Chaos Monsters -- 6. God of Evil -- Part Two: Deconstructing Humanity -- 7. Cocaine Meltdown Somewhere in Middle America -- 8. Baptized in Empire -- 9. My Father Was a Racist and I Loved Him -- 10. Brood of Vipers -- Part Three: The Final Deconstruction -- 11. Broken Tooth, Infected Skull -- 12. Everyone Is Going to Have to Die -- 13. The Sermon in the Suicide.
Summary:
""Another Christian renounces the church and Christ." "Former Christian music star turns her back on faith." "I kissed Christianity goodbye." Headlines like these are becoming common. It seems like the most popular trend in faith circles lately is to deconstruct, then deconvert. Joshua Porter knows that story from the inside out. He was raised in the tangles of American evangelical Christianity, and the church he knew was conservative, fundamentalist, and politicized. It feared culture, music, art, Dungeons & Dragons, Harry Potter, and anything else that was slightly suspect. This foundation of dread and fear was full of holes he nearly fell through . . . and out of faith altogether. His story put him on the road to deconversion--but that isn't where he ended up. Despite his years of being surrounded by disaffected former Christians and living large in the punk rock lifestyle, Porter now finds his faith closer to the historic Christian tradition than ever. This book is more than Porter's own story. It also invites those who may be in the deconstruction process themselves to consider the perspective of someone who was tempted to leave his faith--yet stayed. And it provides theological insight and pastoral support to those who worry that everyone is bailing out on the church"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.