Shari A Smith
@shariasmith.bsky.social
✍️Writer & author in progress
❤️🩹Navigating healthy faith after spiritual abuse
✨Rebuilding authentic spirituality w/o the formulas
🎙️ Podcast cohost of Survivors Discuss
🎗️
https://linktr.ee/Shariasmith
❤️🩹Navigating healthy faith after spiritual abuse
✨Rebuilding authentic spirituality w/o the formulas
🎙️ Podcast cohost of Survivors Discuss
🎗️
https://linktr.ee/Shariasmith
Absolutely. That’s why deconstruction has to go further than beliefs. People need to get curious about what worldview they hold and whether that’s actually healthy or helpful
March 2, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Absolutely. That’s why deconstruction has to go further than beliefs. People need to get curious about what worldview they hold and whether that’s actually healthy or helpful
The court of public opinion is a cruel place, and it cannot be trusted to hand out justice appropriately.
Read more on my latest Substack post:
Read more on my latest Substack post:
2025: New Year, New Focus
Moving Intentionally Through The New Year
open.substack.com
February 15, 2025 at 4:01 PM
The court of public opinion is a cruel place, and it cannot be trusted to hand out justice appropriately.
Read more on my latest Substack post:
Read more on my latest Substack post:
I see it every time the public square of social media zeroes in on someone they believe is bad, and then they put all of their energy into doxing, harassing, and cancelling that person to the point that they lose their ability to work or function in society.
February 15, 2025 at 4:01 PM
I see it every time the public square of social media zeroes in on someone they believe is bad, and then they put all of their energy into doxing, harassing, and cancelling that person to the point that they lose their ability to work or function in society.
I saw it in the celebrations of the October 7th massacre in Israel and the subsequent hate crimes, riots, and pogroms in Europe and Canada and the violent protests that took place on college & university campuses all across North America that left Jewish students and faculty fearing for their safety
February 15, 2025 at 4:01 PM
I saw it in the celebrations of the October 7th massacre in Israel and the subsequent hate crimes, riots, and pogroms in Europe and Canada and the violent protests that took place on college & university campuses all across North America that left Jewish students and faculty fearing for their safety
I saw it with the celebrations and jokes of the rich passengers who died in the submersible implosion in June of 2023.
I saw it in the TikTok videos praising Osama Bin Laden.
I saw it in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO by Luigi Mangione, and his subsequent rise to sex symbol status.
I saw it in the TikTok videos praising Osama Bin Laden.
I saw it in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO by Luigi Mangione, and his subsequent rise to sex symbol status.
February 15, 2025 at 4:01 PM
I saw it with the celebrations and jokes of the rich passengers who died in the submersible implosion in June of 2023.
I saw it in the TikTok videos praising Osama Bin Laden.
I saw it in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO by Luigi Mangione, and his subsequent rise to sex symbol status.
I saw it in the TikTok videos praising Osama Bin Laden.
I saw it in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO by Luigi Mangione, and his subsequent rise to sex symbol status.
This is what I want to reflect, moving forward, in my work.
Read more in my latest Substack post:
Read more in my latest Substack post:
2025: New Year, New Focus
Moving Intentionally Through The New Year
open.substack.com
February 12, 2025 at 7:01 PM
This is what I want to reflect, moving forward, in my work.
Read more in my latest Substack post:
Read more in my latest Substack post:
Once, I was a black-and-white thinker who happily embraced a world of authoritarianism that enabled dangerous and unhealthy people to hold a massive amount of control over others. but now I embrace a worldview of egalitarianism and humanism where every person matters.
February 12, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Once, I was a black-and-white thinker who happily embraced a world of authoritarianism that enabled dangerous and unhealthy people to hold a massive amount of control over others. but now I embrace a worldview of egalitarianism and humanism where every person matters.
And the one thing all my lessons in life have converged to teach me is this:
People matter and life is sacred.
People matter and life is sacred.
February 12, 2025 at 7:01 PM
And the one thing all my lessons in life have converged to teach me is this:
People matter and life is sacred.
People matter and life is sacred.
I feel like I’ve lived so many lifetimes in those 40 years. I’ve been a daughter, a friend, a girlfriend, a wife, an aunt, a villain, a hero, a mama to multiple fur babies and a nanny to even more human babies.
February 12, 2025 at 7:01 PM
I feel like I’ve lived so many lifetimes in those 40 years. I’ve been a daughter, a friend, a girlfriend, a wife, an aunt, a villain, a hero, a mama to multiple fur babies and a nanny to even more human babies.
Would you agree with this? What would you add?
What else does a healthy faith include?
What else does a healthy faith include?
February 11, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Would you agree with this? What would you add?
What else does a healthy faith include?
What else does a healthy faith include?
I believe that relationships are healthier and more interesting when disagreement is allowed and we are able to influence and challenge one another to dig deeper.
What a boring world this would be without the ability to ask questions or to doubt or disagree.
What a boring world this would be without the ability to ask questions or to doubt or disagree.
February 11, 2025 at 7:01 PM
I believe that relationships are healthier and more interesting when disagreement is allowed and we are able to influence and challenge one another to dig deeper.
What a boring world this would be without the ability to ask questions or to doubt or disagree.
What a boring world this would be without the ability to ask questions or to doubt or disagree.
I don't believe that this is how the Divine created us to exist.
I think we were created with wonderfully complex minds that are great at asking questions to better understand the world around us.
I think we were created with wonderfully complex minds that are great at asking questions to better understand the world around us.
February 11, 2025 at 7:01 PM
I don't believe that this is how the Divine created us to exist.
I think we were created with wonderfully complex minds that are great at asking questions to better understand the world around us.
I think we were created with wonderfully complex minds that are great at asking questions to better understand the world around us.
Without the ability to ask questions and to think deeply about the things our teachers, pastors/priests, families, and communities teach us to believe, we have no agency or autonomy. We become little more than obedient robots, accepting what we're programmed to think.
February 11, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Without the ability to ask questions and to think deeply about the things our teachers, pastors/priests, families, and communities teach us to believe, we have no agency or autonomy. We become little more than obedient robots, accepting what we're programmed to think.
Sarah said, "Room to consider and ask questions about the things you were taught as a kid in the church. Deciding for yourself what you believe as you grow in your faith (vs being expected to accept teachings at face value without questioning them)."
What a great response!
What a great response!
February 11, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Sarah said, "Room to consider and ask questions about the things you were taught as a kid in the church. Deciding for yourself what you believe as you grow in your faith (vs being expected to accept teachings at face value without questioning them)."
What a great response!
What a great response!
Would you agree with this? What would you add?
What else does a healthy faith include?
What else does a healthy faith include?
February 4, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Would you agree with this? What would you add?
What else does a healthy faith include?
What else does a healthy faith include?
If we are certain we already hold all truth, what else is there for us to learn? How else might we grow? But a faith that embraces uncertainty is a faith that allows and encourages us to be teachable and humble and allows us to grow in whichever way is necessary.
February 4, 2025 at 7:01 PM
If we are certain we already hold all truth, what else is there for us to learn? How else might we grow? But a faith that embraces uncertainty is a faith that allows and encourages us to be teachable and humble and allows us to grow in whichever way is necessary.
One requires evidence. The other requires belief, but not evidence. They are not one and the same.
I would also argue that to reject uncertainty in faith is to become unteachable.
I would also argue that to reject uncertainty in faith is to become unteachable.
February 4, 2025 at 7:01 PM
One requires evidence. The other requires belief, but not evidence. They are not one and the same.
I would also argue that to reject uncertainty in faith is to become unteachable.
I would also argue that to reject uncertainty in faith is to become unteachable.
If we flip that same dictionary over to the entry on "certainty," we see:
"the quality or state of being certain especially on the basis of evidence."
"the quality or state of being certain especially on the basis of evidence."
February 4, 2025 at 7:01 PM
If we flip that same dictionary over to the entry on "certainty," we see:
"the quality or state of being certain especially on the basis of evidence."
"the quality or state of being certain especially on the basis of evidence."
Look up the word faith in a dictionary, and you will see definitions about trust and loyalty. Cambridge includes this:
"firm belief in something for which there is no proof."
"firm belief in something for which there is no proof."
February 4, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Look up the word faith in a dictionary, and you will see definitions about trust and loyalty. Cambridge includes this:
"firm belief in something for which there is no proof."
"firm belief in something for which there is no proof."
Many of us grew up with the words "faith" and "certainty" used interchangeably, as if being mature in one's faith meant that we *must* have certainty in all things.
But this isn't true.
But this isn't true.
February 4, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Many of us grew up with the words "faith" and "certainty" used interchangeably, as if being mature in one's faith meant that we *must* have certainty in all things.
But this isn't true.
But this isn't true.
My friend, Dr. Camden Morgante responded by saying that a healthy faith includes uncertainty.
I *loved* this answer!
Because she is 100% right. For a faith to be truly healthy, one must adopt uncertainty.
I *loved* this answer!
Because she is 100% right. For a faith to be truly healthy, one must adopt uncertainty.
February 4, 2025 at 7:01 PM
My friend, Dr. Camden Morgante responded by saying that a healthy faith includes uncertainty.
I *loved* this answer!
Because she is 100% right. For a faith to be truly healthy, one must adopt uncertainty.
I *loved* this answer!
Because she is 100% right. For a faith to be truly healthy, one must adopt uncertainty.