Episode 32: Deconstruction, Art and the Ministry of Honesty
Content Note
This episode includes discussion of religious deconstruction, spiritual harm, LGBTQIA+ religious trauma, and leaving high-control church environments.
Episode Description
This week on The Awakening, Tamara and I sit down with David Hayward — known around the world as The Naked Pastor — artist, author, and one of the most recognized voices in the deconstruction space.
David’s work has given language and image to experiences that are often too painful for words. His art has resonated deeply with those walking away from harmful religious systems, and particularly with members of the LGBTQIA+ community who have carried wounds inflicted by the very institutions that claimed to love them.
In this conversation, David opens up about his own journey out of institutional ministry, how art became his ministry, and why honesty — even when it’s uncomfortable — is one of the most sacred things we can offer one another.
We also dive into Philip Zimbardo’s The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil and what it illuminates about how ordinary people within religious systems can participate in — and perpetuate — real harm.
This conversation is moving, thought-provoking, and a beautiful reminder that deconstruction can be its own form of devotion.
In This Episode, We Discuss
- David’s journey out of institutional ministry
- Art as a ministry of honesty and healing
- How religious harm uniquely impacts the LGBTQIA+ community
- Deconstruction as a courageous and creative act
- The Lucifer Effect and what it teaches us about harm within systems
- Finding community and voice on the other side of faith
About Our Guest
David Hayward, known as The Naked Pastor, is an artist and minister whose work has reached hundreds of thousands of people navigating deconstruction, spiritual abuse, and life after institutional religion. His cartoons and art have become a touchstone for those who have felt unseen, unwelcome, or wounded by the church — particularly within the LGBTQIA+ community. David’s work is honest, prophetic, and deeply human.
🎨 Connect with David & get custom artwork: NakedPastor — David Hayward
📚 Book mentioned: The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil — Philip Zimbardo | Get the book here
Why This Episode Matters
For too long, the church has asked people to make themselves smaller — to silence their questions, suppress their identities, and perform a faith that was never truly theirs. David Hayward has spent years refusing to do that, and in doing so, has created space for countless others to refuse it too.
Whether you’re in the thick of deconstruction or years into your own rebuilding, this conversation will meet you where you are.
About the Show
The Awakening is a podcast centered on religious deconstruction, survivor stories, and rebuilding life after faith. We create space for honesty, healing, and community beyond fear-based systems.
🎶 Intro/Outro Music: Your Poison by Rox Knox
Connect with Your Hosts
Heather — linktr.ee/Happyheathersmiles
Tamara — TikTok @feralatheistjezebel321 | Instagram @tamarajo321
🎥 Watch on YouTube: The Awakening Podcast
📩 Be a guest: theawakeningpod@gmail.com
Listener Care Reminder
If this episode stirred something in you — whether it’s grief, recognition, or the first flicker of permission to be honest — let yourself feel it. Your questions are not a crisis. Your doubts are not a betrayal. And your identity was never something that needed to be fixed. Take your time. You belong here.
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The Preach Jacobs Podcast is hosted by Columbia South Carolina's very own Ambassador, Hiphop Artist, Columnist and Owner of SoulHAUS Art Gallery, Preach Jacobs!
All of these fantastic podcasts can be found on the BIG Media LLC Podcast Network!
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