So I obviously had the phone pointed too far down, but that only affects things at the very end. Apologies. I decided to get a closer shot, and didn’t doublecheck it.

My dad and I had a wonderful conversation. I hope you enjoy it.

And finally, here is a definition of atheism that resonates with me right now.

“Canadian Christians frustrated with the Church have come ‘Undone’ and are leaving politely, almost apologetically, in what this book dubs a Quiet Deconstruction. Blessed are the Undone asks: what aspects of faith are being questioned, and why?

This book neither condemns nor condones the trend of those deconstructing their faith. It seeks to describe and document the Canadian ‘deconstructing faith’ scene while also providing a theological and sociological frame through which to understand it.”

I’m excited to talk with Angela about her work on deconstruction. I am skeptical of Christianity’s ability to change; Angela is more hopeful. It should make for a fruitful conversation. I may ask her to respond to this video from Britt Hartley, who will be our guest on October 1.

On another note, I will be writing more after August 6. I’ve been focusing my efforts on TikTok for the last few months. It’s been fun and rewarding. Here are two TikToks I made featuring Mayor Mamdani, both of which have been pretty popular.

This one currently has 977k views and 190k likes.

This one has 110k views and 11.5k likes.

And here’s one on foreign countries meddling in our elections. This one has a modest 28k views, and 3,500 likes.

My dad and I have been kicking around some clips and ideas for tomorrow night. We want to focus mostly on what and how we are reconstructing after going through religious deconstruction. How have our worldviews changed? What do we think of Christianity, Jesus, the Bible, church?

Here are a few more videos we have exchanged. This first one is from an astrophysicist.

This next one comes from a colleague that we worked with in Bethlehem. His name is Sami Awad, the founder of Holy Land Trust.

This one comes from Britt Hartley, who will be our guest at Still Processing on October 1.

Finally, here’s something from James Talarico who is running for the U.S. Senate.

Joel and I discuss art, imagination, creativity, and more. Enjoy!

It’s been a minute since my dad and I led a gathering! But for those who don’t know, this is how Still Processing began!

My dad and I have been doing this for decades, honestly. It started with church and the Bible, and thankfully, our conversations have expanded, especially over the last ten years.

We have been through a lot together. Some of it was painful and could have led to disconnection. But we respected and loved each other enough to listen and repair. It’s been a gift.

Here are three short videos that have caught out attention.

My partner, Nicoly, and I spent a week in San Diego recently. We were hoping to see blue whales. That didn’t happen, but we did have this beautiful encounter.

Most of you probably realized that I meant July 9 when I wrote June 9. But I didn’t want there to be any confusion.

Joel and I will be discussing his life as an activist and artist this Thursday, July 9.

I don’t think we’ll have time for these two videos, which I love, but I’ll leave them here for you to watch and consider.

Artist and Activist Joel Schoon-Tanis joins Still Processing to discuss the creative process, imagination, resistance, and joy. Joel has spent his life as an artist, primarily as a painter, though he also sings in a band. Joel and Josh will dig into the mystery and importance of creativity, especially in times of uncertainty, pain, and injustice. Below are two short videos that we will be responding to. I hope to see you Thursday evening!

This first one is from the On Being podcast with Krista Tippet. Adrienne Maree Brown, activist and organizer, talks about the importance of imagination.

And here is Ethan Hawke, again, discussing how art is not a luxury.

Kate and I had a wonderful conversation on Michigan politics, national politics, Israel/Palestine, and immigration. It was a great night.

Artist and activist, Joel Schoon-Tanis joins Still Processing on July 9. As we all struggle with meaning, hope, rage, sadness, joy, and helplessness, it is imperative that we look to art and creativity for inspiration. As the creative director of Still Processing, I have spent the last four years intensely reimagining myself and my relationship to reality, ultimately leading me out of Christianity and religion. Together, Joel and I will unpack our own creative processes and explain how imagination is critical for resistance and for a life of joy and purpose.

Art is not a luxury, as Ethan Hawke powerfully explains.

Kate and I always have a meaningful and fun time together. On TikTok, I started a new series called, “Is it profound, or is it just in the Bible?” I asked Kate to think about John 3:16 for Thursday. And specifically, how would I (and maybe Kate) complete this sentence, “For God so loved the world…”? The old logic, that love and violence go together (Jesus died for your sins, for example), just doesn’t work for me anymore.

Kate Kooyman follows state and national politics closely. Before becoming the District Director for a Michigan state senator, she worked in the now defunct Office of Social Justice in the Christian Reformed Church. Much of her time there was focused of immigration reform, which Marco Rubio helped to craft and John Boehner effectively killed by simply not allowing a vote on it in the House. Somehow, that was 2014, only 12 years ago.

I’ve been following the Iran debacle closely, which is now a part of our state and national politics. Israel is at the center of it all.

I’ve been working hard on TikTok over the last two months, crafting engaging videos that educate on deconstruction, the Bible, Israel, U.S. politics, and culture. The two videos above are a part of that project. Here’s another recent one on Eve in Genesis 2-3.

I hope to see you Thursday night.

Kate Kooyman follows state and national politics closely. Before becoming the District Director for Winnie Brinks, she worked in the now defunct Office of Social Justice in the Christian Reformed Church. Much of her time there was focused of immigration reform, which Marco Rubio helped to craft and John Boehner effectively killed by simply not allowing a vote on it in the House. Somehow, that was 2014, only 12 years ago.

Now we have mass deportation, which is actually just a way for Republicans to do as much ethnic cleansing of non-whites as possible. It requires terrorizing millions of immigrants and citizens. Two American citizens have been murdered by the government for protesting the terrorization of their neighbors. No one has been prosecuted for these murders, even though there is video evidence of both murders.

There is widespread abuse and neglect of detainees at ICE detention centers, which are nearly all privately run (90%)/. Detainees in Camp East Montana on the U.S. Army's Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas, have filed a lawsuit against the government. NPR notes, "Detained people are regularly subjected to severe beatings or sexual harassment by guards; squalid living conditions; spoiled and inadequate food; no meaningful programming or recreation; inadequate access to basic hygiene products such as soap, razors or nail clippers, outbreaks of disease; and limited or no access to sunlight," according to the complaint.1

Kate and I will discuss the Senate race in Michigan. The Democratic primary for the Senate is fascinating. Support for the state of Israel is figuring prominently in this primary as Israel bleeds support amongst Democrats. I’m a big fan of Abdul El-Sayed. I’m anxious to hear Kate’s thoughts on this race.

We will discuss all of this, and probably a bit more. I apologize for not writing more. I will be getting back to it soon. I’ve been putting out a lot of videos on TikTok and Facebook. Here are a couple of my more recent posts.

This one focuses on the racism that is so prevalent in Israeli Jewish society.

This one focuses on Jesus’s racism toward Gentiles/non-Jews.

Nadine Burke Harris is one of the pioneers in the field of Adverse Childhood Experience (ACES). Her book, The Deepest Well, is wonderful. Here is an excerpt on how adverse childhood experiences affect our DNA. This clip is five minutes long. If it piques your interest, I hope you’ll come tonight.

Dr. Emily Helder will explain the science behind ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and their effect on neurodevelopment. In other words, how do experiences of abuse (emotional, physical, sexual), neglect (physical, emotional), household substance use or mental illness, mother treated violently, household member imprisonment, parental separation or divorce affect our brains and our nervous systems? And what can we do about it?

This is such important stuff. I’d love to see you there.

In my research on Incarceration for the April gathering, I listened to Dr. Nadine Burke Harris on the Ezra Klein show. I am now reading her book, The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity. It’s fascinating. Here is a clip that I saved from her conversation with Ezra Klein.

And here are some of my thoughts on the genocide in Gaza.

Dr. Emily Helder will explain the science behind ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and their effect on neurodevelopment. In other words, how do experiences of abuse (emotional, physical, sexual), neglect (physical, emotional), household substance use or mental illness, mother treated violently, household member imprisonment, parental separation or divorce affect our brains and our nervous systems? And what can we do about it?

Here’s a chart with the classic categories of ACES.

Here’s a quick video explaining ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences).

And here’s a pep talk that made me feel seen. I expect it will do that same for many of you as well.

My audio from last week’s gathering is a little annoying because it picks up some of the microphone I used so the people in the room could hear me clearly. But Sara and Daryl do most of the talking so it shouldn’t be too distracting.

We had a wonderful discussion about the challenges of religious deconstruction. I hope you enjoy it and find it helpful.

Daryl and Sara will be joining us virtually for this gathering. You can join this gathering in person at Port 393, or on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84315411167

We will make plenty of time for questions, both from those online and those in person, tonight.

Daryl and Sara have been writing about and working on the challenges of life after deconstruction for years. Their newest book, “Sacred Unraveling: A Therapist’s Guide to Helping Clients Navigate Religious and Spiritual Change,” comes out this summer. In this book, Daryl and Sara introduce their existential distress, growth, and engagement (EDGE) model to help clients make sense of their religious/spiritual identities, develop new worldviews, adjust their morals and values, and cultivate meaningful social connections.

I came across this short video from Britt Hartley, who will be our guest on October 1. She speaks to my concerns about the role religion is playing in American society, and many others societies. Meanwhile, Denmark is moving on from religion, and people are thriving.

Daryl and Sara will be joining us virtually for this gathering. You can join this gathering in person at Port 393, or on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84315411167

Daryl and Sara have been writing about and working on the challenges of life after deconstruction for years. Their newest book, “Sacred Unraveling: A Therapist’s Guide to Helping Clients Navigate Religious and Spiritual Change,” comes out this summer. In this book, Daryl and Sara introduce their existential distress, growth, and engagement (EDGE) model to help clients make sense of their religious/spiritual identities, develop new worldviews, adjust their morals and values, and cultivate meaningful social connections.

They explore the five existential realities that clients often struggle with when their faith is in crisis. These include freedom (the conflict between autonomy and responsibility); isolation caused by loss of community; identity, which includes lacking a clear narrative of one’s life journey; death anxiety; and meaninglessness, both in the grand scheme of things and in one’s day-to-day life.

Daryl and Sara will be joining us virtually for this gathering. You can join this gathering in person at Port 393, or on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84315411167

Daryl and Sara have been writing about and working on the challenges of life after deconstruction for years. Their newest book, “Sacred Unraveling: A Therapist’s Guide to Helping Clients Navigate Religious and Spiritual Change,” comes out this summer. In this book, Daryl and Sara introduce their existential distress, growth, and engagement (EDGE) model to help clients make sense of their religious/spiritual identities, develop new worldviews, adjust their morals and values, and cultivate meaningful social connections.

They explore the five existential realities that clients often struggle with when their faith is in crisis. These include freedom (the conflict between autonomy and responsibility); isolation caused by loss of community; identity, which includes lacking a clear narrative of one’s life journey; death anxiety; and meaninglessness, both in the grand scheme of things and in one’s day-to-day life.

I cannot wait to unpack this with Daryl and Sara on May 14!

Friedrich Nietzsche and the Death of God

For the longest time, I misunderstood philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s proclamation, “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.” Because I was swimming in Christian circles, I learned that Nietzsche was just an arrogant atheist who thought religion was stupid. That’s a little bit right, to be fair. But it’s not the main point of Nietzsche’s analysis.

Nietzsche was born at the end of the Enlightenment, which came on the heels of the Scientific Revolution. This is from Google Gemini:

The Scientific Revolution was a period of drastic change in scientific thought and understanding that took place in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. It marked a fundamental shift from relying on ancient Greek and Roman traditions toward a worldview based on empirical observation, mathematical modeling, and the scientific method.

And here is a summation of the Enlightenment from Google Gemini:

The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was an intellectual and cultural movement that flourished in Europe and the Americas during the late 17th and 18th centuries. It was defined by an emphasis on reason, science, and skepticism over tradition, superstition, and religious dogma.

The authority of the Bible and Christianity had been dramatically weakened.

Nietzsche writes the “Parable of the Madman” in 1882, in which the madmen says these famous lines: “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.” We killed God through our search for knowledge, truth, and goodness, desires which were ironically kindled in us by Christianity. But our search for truth was not confirming the worldview of the Bible, but undermining it. This problem has only deepened.

Though Nietzsche celebrated our liberation from Christianity, in the Parable of the Madman, Nietzsche is warning intellectuals that the death of God will be highly disruptive. The madman appears in the market and pretends to be looking for God. He is mocked by those who have understand and appreciate the insights of the Enlightenment.

Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market place, and cried incessantly: “I seek God! I seek God!”—As many of those who did not believe in God were standing around just then, he provoked much laughter. “Has he got lost?” asked one. “Did he lose his way like a child?” asked another. “Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? Has he gone on a voyage? emigrated?”—Thus they yelled and laughed

The madman is speaking to intellectuals who have learned the insights of the last few hundred years and understand that the God of Christianity is false. Nietzsche also believes this, but he worries that others are underestimating the magnitude of the loss of religion. How will people cope?

“Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it? There has never been a greater deed; and whoever is born after us—for the sake of this deed he will belong to a higher history than all history hitherto.”

For so many people, everything rests on the truth of Christian belief, including much of the morality upon which societies function. This was still the case when Nietzsche was writing. Since then, Christianity has lost many of its adherents and much of its social capital in Europe. In the United States, we are decades behind.

The Death of God arrives in the USA

Near the end of the Parable of the Madmen, the madmen says this to those who mock religious belief.

“I have come too early,” he said then; “my time is not yet. This tremendous event is still on its way, still wandering; it has not yet reached the ears of men. Lightning and thunder require time; the light of the stars requires time; deeds, though done, still require time to be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than most distant stars—and yet they have done it themselves.”

Nietzsche writes this in 1882; he had indeed “come too early.” But the death of God did indeed come to Europe, and has now come to the USA.

In 2000, 8% of U.S. adults identified as Nones (No religion). In 2025, Gallup puts the percentage of Nones at 24%. Ryan Burge, who studies religious trends in the U.S. puts the number of Nones at about 32%.

As you can see, the share of Nones appears to have leveled off over the last five years. But here’s the thing, The Silent Generation and the Boomers are the most religious generations. In the next 25 years, those in the Silent Generation will be gone and the number of Boomers will be cut in half.

The generations behind the Boomers (X, Millennial, and Z) are neither big enough nor devout enough to make up for the loss of the Boomers.

Ryan Burge, professor of practice at the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University, sums up the next few decades in this way.

So here’s where we land. In the next twenty years, a very large and reasonably devout generation will die. Behind them are generations that are smaller and considerably less religious. The pews will empty. The offering plates will get lighter. Short of genuine religious revival at a scale this country has never seen, this is a statistical inevitability — and the data has been telling us so for years.

We have some tough decades ahead of us.