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A person peacefully fishing using a question mark as bait but a huge shark is about to take the hook. (He's going to catch and release this endangered species.*) WHEN YOUR DECONSTRUCTION COMES AT YOU LIKE A SHARK I see some parallels between fishing for fish and fishing for the truth.  There were times in our deconstruction when it’s like tiny little nibbles. You can tell something is there but there is no clear bite. Then there are times when it chomps down hard and a fight commences.  You catch small fish. You catch big fish. In our deconstruction, we...

Here's an old cartoon. Nine years old! God said to Adam and Even, "Go forth and multiply!" Adam starts doing his multiplication tables on paper. Eve says, "You idiot!" He says, "WHAT?!?!" Once in a while I draw and post cartoons that don't really mean anything serious theologically but instead are on the level of a dad joke. I do like a good dad joke. Like one I just heard this week, "What's Forrest Gump's password?" "1FORREST1". That's hilarious. To me anyway. However, this cartoon could be about... how it's okay to be sexual...how it's okay to challenge our partners...how...

SOME THINGS YOU MIGHT HEAR WHEN YOU ARE DECONSTRUCTING: A woman with her head on the table obviously distressed. Around her are a bunch of words, like, "When did you decide to change?" "I can't believe you think that!" "Sin!" "It's because of who you hang out with!" "What do your parents think?" and so on. When you are deconstructing and people find it... and they eventually will... you will hear all kinds of things. Basically, though, I think they can all be summed up in one opinion: "This shouldn't be happening to you, and you are weak for letting...

I remember when I first read James Fowler's book, STAGES OF FAITH, It blew my mind because it shattered my fears of going off track and backsliding. Instead, it helped me to frame the most anguishing periods of my spirituality as potential progress. I happily discovered that doubts and questions are a crucial part of a healthy spiritual life. Instead of being avoided, they were encouraged. It was the same joy I experienced when I took my first personality test in preparation for ordination into the ministry. To discover that my personality wasn't weird but legit was so liberating! I was...

Christianity’s Antisemitism Jesus says to Christians, "The difference between me and you is you use scripture to determine what love means and I use love to determine what scripture means." This popular cartoon of mine “Love Versus the Bible” is its second iteration. The first showed Jesus talking to his male contemporaries. Jewish friends informed me that it felt antisemitic. I intended for Jesus to be talking to random men, but it conveyed that Jesus’, and by implication Christianity’s, interpretation of scripture was more loving than the Jewish one. Acknowledging it could indeed communicate this, I swiftly deleted and redrew...