Finding True happiness: Jim Palmer Mini-Course
All people want to be happy but not everyone is. Most people are not happy because their fundamental framework for seeking happiness is...
Jim's Blog:
LIFE is my religion
- 5 min
Depression is not a spiritual problem
In Divine Nobodies there is a chapter in which I share about my journey with depression. Perhaps no chapter in any book I’ve written has...
447 views0 comments
- 2 min
Exploring Non-Theist Spirituality Group
Are there better answers to life's greatest existential questions than what is found in religion? Who gets to decide the definition of...
1,056 views0 comments
- 11 min
Finding Jesus (2,000 years later)
Jesus Perhaps no person in history has been the subject of so much controversy and debate. It began two thousand years ago, when...
1,606 views0 comments
- 1 min
Overcoming Religious Shame with Self-Acceptance
If you must have something to aspire to on your path, make it that you will no longer sit in judgment of yourself. Self-judgment is...
136 views0 comments
- 8 min
Life After Religion (Deconstruction Deep Dive)
I've been a spiritual director for over fifteen years. In that time I have done a lot of toxic religion recovery work with people through...
707 views0 comments
- 5 min
Untangling the "God relationship" problem
Shedding religion is typically a volatile but liberating experience. Many of the religious beliefs and practices that people leave behind...
120 views0 comments
- 7 min
Did Christianity get Jesus right?
In a previous post I sorted out the question on why I speak of Jesus depite no longer considering myself a "Christian." There is an...
517 views0 comments
- 11 min
Should the Bible be written off?
Does shedding religion mean discarding the Bible? Curious about my spiritual life outside of organized religion, people often ask me if I...
707 views0 comments
- 2 min
The Journey of Shedding Religion
Many people contact me who are experiencing a crisis of faith, deconstructing their long-held theological beliefs, going through a...
589 views0 comments
- 14 min
Is Heaven real? And if so, how?
Why is heaven such a cherished idea? I don't think it's terribly complicated. The two things we fear most - death and suffering - are...
410 views0 comments
- 11 min
Reimagining Spiritual Direction
I wonder how many sleepless nights you've had, wrestling with the question of whether the practice of spiritual direction will ever be...
997 views0 comments
- 2 min
37 ways you know you're shedding religion
Over the years in my spiritual direction practice, people have shared with me their experiences of breaking free from a damaging or toxic...
168 views0 comments
- 11 min
The Human(ism) Side of Spirituality
I recently gave a presentation to a group on the subject of humanism and spirituality. The American Humanist Association describes...
820 views0 comments
- 3 min
Is there a writer in you trying to get out?
Is there a writer in you wanting to come out? I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has said to me over the years that they had a...
146 views0 comments
- 2 min
New Year’s Resolutions Suck!
Starting this week, those New Year's Resolutions will be put to the test as people get back to their post-holiday routines. I noticed a...
37 views0 comments
- 12 min
Why is Heaven such a cherished idea?
It is not terribly complicated. The two things we fear most–death and suffering–are resolved and eradicated by the notion of heaven,...
129 views0 comments
- 5 min
Post-Religion Thoughts on Prayer
I was recently asked this question: “Jim, what does “intercessory prayer” look like for you? Where does it fit in or does it?” Here are...
197 views0 comments
- 7 min
My Life in One Question (The story behind my new book)
Wanting my life to make a difference in this world has been an enduring aspiration of mine. It was religion that first kindled this...
431 views0 comments
- 5 min
Can Atheists and people of faith be friends?
I am often sent questions about a number of different topics related to religion, God, spirituality, life, philosophy, deconstruction and...
75 views0 comments
- 2 min
The Crippling Impact of Religion | PTCD
The crippling impact of religion involves the way it convinces people how weak, incapable and helpless they are. This morning I read the...
117 views0 comments
- 5 min
Remembering MLK's Religious Dissent
You would think from things you hear that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a born-again evangelical preacher who used the Christian gospel as...
107 views0 comments
- 4 min
Three Useful Steps for Resolving the Meaning of Life
I was recently asked: When life has lost its meaning, where do you look for renewed faith in life and humanity? Notice that the question...
121 views0 comments
- 5 min
How religion impedes personal development
1st Century Greek historian, Diodorus Siculus, in his monumental universal history Bibliotheca historica, wrote, “It is to the interest...
440 views0 comments
- 4 min
The wound of religion
1st Century Greek historian, Diodorus Siculus, in his monumental universal history Bibliotheca historica, wrote, “It is to the interest...
75 views0 comments
- 2 min
Be careful what you ask for (the truth about transformation)
"Are you interested in a transformed life - a whole, liberated, meaningful, and fulfilled life?" "Of course, yes!" "Are you willing...