S02E15 Deconstructing Without Becoming an Atheist - with John from Desert Spring episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 15, 2026 · 1H 44M

S02E15 Deconstructing Without Becoming an Atheist - with John from Desert Spring

from The Mighty Philbert Podcast · host Phil Barksdale

Send us Fan MailThis week on, "Saturdays with Philbert", I’m sitting down with John from the YouTube channel Desert Spring — a recently deconstructed ex-Christian who didn’t land in atheism. John still believes in God and Jesus, but now describes himself as spiritual, and he’s trying to separate “God” from “the system that sold God to him.”In one of his recent videos, John talks about the online “splitting” he sees — Christianity digging back into dogma on one side, and people sprinting into atheism on the other — and why he’s trying to carve out a third lane. He uses a powerful metaphor: God as “a divine…spring out in the desert” — something available to anyone, not guarded behind one religious gate. He also speaks openly about church harm, the fear that comes with walking away, and why he believes the Bible shouldn’t be taken literally.We’ll talk about his deconstruction story, why he says “Christianity is very much a religion about Paul”, what “forgiving Jesus” meant for him, and why he thinks leaving Christianity doesn’t automatically mean giving up on God. Expect an honest conversation — with empathy, pushback where it’s warranted, and a whole lot of “okay but let’s define that.”#mightyphilbert #deconstruction #exvangelicalLink to The Desert Spring:   / @thedesertspring 

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Feb 15, 2026

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Send us Fan Mail This week on, "Saturdays with Philbert", I’m sitting down with John from the YouTube channel Desert Spring — a recently deconstructed ex-Christian who didn’t land in atheism. John still believes in God and Jesus, but now describes himself as spiritual, and he’s trying to separate “God” from “the system that sold God to him.” In one of his recent videos, John talks about the online “splitting” he sees — Christianity digging back into dogma on one side, and people sprinting in...

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S02E15 Deconstructing Without Becoming an Atheist - with John from Desert Spring

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