Losing our religion? Faith, Feelings, and (Un-)Formation

How do our various social identities shape our religious formation—and deformation? This paper examines the intersections between gender and sexual identity, religious faith, and feelings. Through an analysis of over twenty in-depth interviews conducted with LGBTQI+ college students and recent alum, a striking theme emerged: those who narrated struggles with their faith reported higher levels of self-acceptance and well-being, and retained some form of spirituality. Conversely, those who did not report struggle reported lower levels of well-being and lower levels of spirituality. Placing interview data in conversation with queer theologies and affect theories, this paper argues that, and examines how, formation towards flourishing calls for embracing unformation, and its attendant bad feelings—how intrasubjective formation calls for encouraging and supporting disidentification and desubjectivation, and considers what that looks like in terms of spiritual and religious identity.