Former Christian, purity culture advocate, and renowned author of "I Kissed Dating Goodbye," Joshua Harris initially announced the launch of a webinar on deconstructing religious ideas. Nonetheless, after getting negative criticism, he opted to "pull the course."
According to the Christian Post, Harris, the popular author of Why I Kissed Dating Goodbye, initially unveiled his plans to start an online course on deconstructing religious ideas.
Harris announced on Instagram Thursday that he would be conducting a five-week live online course titled "Reframe Your Story," which will cost $275 to participate in.
People "harmed by my past work and by purity culture in general," according to Harris, may attend the course for free, as can "anyone who can't afford it."
In the Instagram post, Harris said that he believes he's "offering something of value to others."
He went on to explain that the course is intended for anybody who is interested in deconstructing and reconsidering religious beliefs, not only people who are especially interested in purity culture.
In addition, the "Reframe Your Story" course provides live sessions with Harris during which he leads customers through a "5-step process of reworking and reinventing their "human journey," report the Premier Christian News.
Harris has also started a website with the same name as the course. It states, "no 'right way' to do this deconstruction thing."
"You do deserve the freedom to question, change your thinking and choose the life you want," the public statement said in part.
"My goal isn't to convince you or anyone else to change your beliefs - but change is inevitable. And if you're rethinking and questioning ideas and religious rules you were raised in, I think this course could help you, "Harris was also quoted as saying in a post on his website at the time.
As of August 14th, the Christian Post reported that Harris chose to "pull the course" after weighing in on the criticism he got for his course, "Reframe Your Story."
According to the Christian Headlines, Harris was chastised for marketing the course considering his previous criticism of churches soliciting payments.
Carl Trueman, a well-known theologian and church historian, claims Harris is using the program for self-promotion, similar to what he did as a Christian writer before.
In response, Harris wrote on his latest post on his new website that "one of the benefits of the internet is that you get rapid feedback, whether positive or negative."
He said that he wanted to utilize his platform to highlight those with greater experience and knowledge, direct people to useful resources, and provide queries to assist individuals in unpacking and making sense of their own experiences. However, he recognizes that this method is faulty, and he plans to find other methods of elevating other people's voices.
The second reason he stated was that he did not have authorization from the creators to use their works. He apologized for not getting permission at the outset and said that he would be deleting the emails of those who downloaded the materials so that no follow-up emails would be sent to them.
