For many people who end up leaving situations in which faith was abusive or, as in my case, otherwise traumatic, religion just becomes a non-starter, something to laugh at or rail against. This makes a lot of sense: once bitten, twice shy as they say. But what’s more surprising is how many people end up … Continue reading Religion Gone Wrong: Building Back Better
Last time, we looked at the idea of breaking points and spiritual deconstruction. These are not bad things — especially if one has been in a spiritually abusive environment — and in fact are often necessary and ultimately positive experiences. But as their names suggest, they leave us feeling broken and torn down. To make … Continue reading Religion Gone Wrong: Deconstruction, Grief, and Loss
So far this series has talked about some pretty extreme experiences, up to and including experiences of abuse and trauma within faith communities. Many people who grew up in such environments come to a breaking point, a moment when they realise they have to get out. This leads to a crisis of faith, a time … Continue reading Religion Gone Wrong: Breaking Points and Deconstruction
The other day we looked at how high control religions can distort Christian teachings on suffering and pleasure to keep their adherents spiritually immature and dependent on them. But while it’s true that many expressions of Christianity have a ‘pleasure problem,’ we all know there’s one specific aspect of pleasure that gets a lot — … Continue reading Religion Gone Wrong: Boundaries and Sexuality
One of the greatest criticisms of Christianity in the West has been its apparent problem with pleasure. The old joke about the difference between Roman Catholics and Protestants being that the former love suffering and the latter hate pleasure comes to mind immediately here. These are exaggerations of course, but they speak to a difficulty … Continue reading Religion Gone Wrong: Distorting Suffering and Pleasure
