On My Recent Posts on Christian Religious Violence and Trauma

Via Unspash

Dear Loves,

I know my recent posts have brought up a lot for folks recently because of how pointedly I've spoken about religious violence, trauma, fear, and pain in and related to the Christian tradition. Some of you have felt validated, others triggered, and others still holding a mixed bag of emotions. That's why I wanted to share something with you.

I see you and I understand. I've actually seen you for years but feel to start saying some very pointed things to trouble spiritual waters in you and around us that were stilled by the violence of our pain and exploitation.

There are toxic Christian faith practices that have pushed some of us to make choices and decisions from a place of needing to survive and not out of the full exercise of agency we possess as spiritual beings. There are things we love or hate about Christianity that still feel to dangerous to explore or even think about because we've not been given tools to do grief navigation or be honest due to our pain.

I feel this is where my work comes in. I want to help people exercise agency stripped away by others or that still needs fuller activation by someone naming the bullshit and speaking to a different way of faith practice. My only aim is liberation.

Seriously.

I just want to see us be free to really heal, be well, and operate in our power as humans in ways I know we're not doing right now.

If you peep my use of communal language, it’s intentional cause the “us" includes me too. I’ve spent the better part of my adult life with the wonder and questions I'll be sharing in this season. My sitting with them helped me develop some concrete tools and resources that have changed my life and sparked my imagination.

So my heart is to give you the tools I've found and made on my journey because I think they'll help you too. Our belief systems will continue to be all over the place and I delight in that because I think what I have to give will let us make choices that were unimaginable to us before.

Because I’m an educator, differentiated instruction will always be a thing for me. So y'all bout to get these social media posts, TokToks (aka what I call TikTok), IG Lives, teach ins, a brand new podcast (where I will live out my Radical Millennial Oprah dreams lol), and yes - a book. We’ll it’s books but that’s a story for another day. I’ve spend the last 3 years intentionally positioning myself for this sharing because I sensed we were approaching a place where we would need to share and explore in new ways.

So Dear Ones - we will do this work, we will do it together, and will celebrate and grieve what all we find in community.

With Love and In Solidarity,

Alicia