By Austin Newcomb, M.Ed., LPC, NCC
The sanctuary felt different that morning. Not the building—the feeling inside my body as I stood there. A tightness in my chest. A subtle current of electricity running through my limbs. My breath shallow, caught somewhere between my throat and sternum.
It wasn’t the first time my body had sent these signals in a religious space, but it was the first time I allowed myself to listen.
That moment marked the beginning of what I now understand was my body’s intuitive response to systems of faith that had become entangled with something else entirely—power structures that claimed divine authority while reinforcing colonial hierarchies, white supremacy, and patriarchal control.
Lately, I’ve been immersed in podcasts, blogs, and scholarly works exploring religious deconstruction through anti-oppression frameworks. These conversations have illuminated not just an intellectual journey but a deeply embodied one—where questioning inherited religious narratives becomes an act of reclaiming both personal sovereignty and collective liberation.
When Faith Gets in Your Body
Think about it: religious practices aren’t just ideas – they actually shape how we physically exist in the world. Theologian Willie James Jennings talks about “the theological problem of whiteness,” which is a fancy way of saying that European colonialism became deeply entangled with Christianity. This created a form of worship that treated whiteness as closer to God.
This shows up in our bodies in very real ways:
- Sitting still in straight-backed pews instead of moving freely
- Singing quietly and “properly” instead of expressing full emotions
- Learning which expressions are “appropriate” worship versus “too emotional”
- Absorbing unspoken rules about who gets to speak and lead
These weren’t random choices. They were deliberate ways to replace diverse cultural spiritual practices with a European standard. As Christena Cleveland’s research shows, this created generations of people carrying a physical tension – wanting authentic spiritual connection while feeling pressure to fit a certain mold.
For many people exploring religious deconstruction, something interesting happens first in their bodies – tension, spacing out during services, anxiety that seems to come from nowhere, or just feeling physically uncomfortable in religious settings. These physical reactions aren’t failures of faith – they’re important signals about systems that might value control more than genuine well-being.
How Different Faith Systems Affect Your Body
Not all religious environments feel the same in our bodies. Here’s what often happens physically in different types of faith settings:
Control-Focused Faith Systems Can Create:
- Constant alertness about believing and behaving “correctly”
- Feeling like you’re always being watched or judged
- Tightness in your body during worship or prayer
- Holding your breath when reading religious texts
- Tuning out bodily sensations and needs
Freedom-Centered Faith Expressions Can Create:
- Movement that helps you feel grounded and present
- Group experiences where real emotions are welcome
- Breathing that naturally deepens and flows
- Connecting to practices from your ancestors
- Bringing together your mind, body, and spirit instead of separating them
D. Danyelle Thomas writes about decolonizing faith and points out something important: many Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities have kept spiritual practices alive that resist being fragmented by colonialism. These traditions make room for both deep thinking about faith AND wisdom that lives in the body, both personal choice AND community connection.
Healing Through Decolonization
Questioning your faith through anti-oppression lenses isn’t about throwing everything away. It’s about sorting through what brings wholeness and what causes harm. This journey often involves:
Learning the Hard History
Understanding how religious teachings were sometimes used to control people helps make sense of your own experiences. For example, the “Doctrine of Discovery” (1493) was a religious document that labeled non-Christian people as less than human and was used to justify taking their land. Miguel De La Torre’s research shows that slave owners even created special Bibles that removed stories like Exodus (where enslaved people are freed) to prevent rebellion.
Knowing this history isn’t just interesting – it helps explain why certain religious ideas might feel suffocating rather than freeing in your body.
Reclaiming Cultural Practices
Many people questioning their faith find themselves drawn to spiritual practices their ancestors were forced to give up, such as:
- Indigenous ways of prayer and ceremony
- Non-Western ways of understanding sacred stories
- Movement and dance that honor the body’s wisdom
- Community rituals based on mutual care rather than rigid hierarchy
The Māori theologian Rasiah Sugirtharajah shows that reclaiming these practices isn’t about rejecting all of Christianity. It’s about expanding it beyond colonial limitations – making room for cultural expressions that missionaries once tried to stamp out.
Trusting Your Body’s Wisdom
One of the most powerful parts of this journey is learning to trust what your body tells you about spiritual practices. You might ask yourself:
- Where do I feel open and expansive versus tight and restricted in spiritual spaces?
- Which practices help me feel more connected to myself and others?
- When religious teachings create tension in my body, what might that tension be saying?
- Where do I experience real safety versus just pretending to comply in faith communities?
Why We Need Each Other for This Journey
Working through your own faith questions is important, but as Kelly Brown Douglas points out, real freedom requires community change too. This explains why many people questioning their religion often create new spiritual communities instead of just walking away from faith entirely.
There are some amazing examples of this happening right now:
- Sacred Writes helps Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) activists learn spiritual self-care based on ancestral practices
- Queer Grace creates resources that affirm LGBTQ+ people within religious contexts
- Interfaith dialogue groups where people from different spiritual backgrounds share their deconstruction experiences
These spaces show us that questioning oppressive religious systems isn’t just about healing yourself – it’s about reimagining how communities can gather in ways that respect everyone’s lived experiences.
Finding Your Way Through the In-Between
When you question faith through anti-oppression lenses, you often end up in what Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis calls “the wilderness between.” In this space, you might experience:
- Feeling sad about losing religious certainty while also celebrating your newfound authenticity
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Being angry about past manipulation while still feeling grateful for the community that raised you
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Not knowing what spiritual words to use anymore while still feeling deeply connected to spiritual experiences
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Being critical of religious institutions while still craving meaningful rituals
This wilderness isn’t your final destination – it’s a necessary journey through mixed feelings. Your body needs time to sort through these seemingly opposite experiences, processing both the harm from oppressive religious systems and the healing potential of more liberating faith expressions.
Finding Faith That Feels True in Your Body
Critics like Brian Zahnd often say deconstruction just tears things down. Yet what many people actually discover isn’t the end of faith, but its transformation—moving from rigid systems that demand conformity to open practices that welcome your authentic self.
As you explore this journey, pay attention to how genuine spiritual connection actually feels in your body:
- Feeling grounded and present
- Breathing that deepens naturally instead of feeling restricted
- Being able to express real emotions
- Feeling more connected to yourself and others
- Feeling whole rather than fragmented
These physical signals can guide you when theological questions get overwhelming. They help you tell the difference between spiritual practices that actually support your wellbeing versus those that keep you disconnected.
Finding Safe Spaces for This Journey
Questioning your religious background is both deeply personal and connected to bigger social issues. Untangling faith from systems of oppression needs safe spaces where both individual healing and community freedom can grow.
If you’re somewhere on this path, you’re not alone. Communities are forming everywhere that welcome the complex nature of faith deconstruction—places where asking questions isn’t seen as rebellion but as a sacred way of reclaiming your spiritual voice.
Your body already knows what nourishes versus what constrains your spirit. Learning to listen to these signals isn’t giving up on faith—it’s discovering what authentic faith might look like when freed from colonial limitations.
Maybe that’s what liberation theology has always understood: that connecting with the divine might be less about following external rules and more about recognizing the sacred that already lives within each of us, waiting to be acknowledged, honored, and shared in community.
