IndigoChild5559
Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
It is common nowadays to think that "all paths lead to the same God," that all religions teach the same basics and are therefore pretty much equal. I myself am pretty much open about things. Although I want Jews to be Jewish, everyone else can worship God and live good lives in whatever religion helps them to that end. But I will not go so far as to say all religions are equal, and certainly individual churches can be highly toxic to some of their congregants.
https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/re...anized-religion-leads-mental-health-problems/
This article discusses Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS) -- a set of descriptions one sees when a person is seriously hurt by a toxic religion and subsequently leaves and remains injured. Although the article uses examples only from Christianity, it could have taken examples from ANY religion.
The elements of RTS are as follows:
Now to be CLEAR, the article is not saying that religion is bad, or even that all churches or whatever of any given religion are bad; only that some of each faith cross the line into toxicity.
It gives as its example a woman with bulimia who went to her church for advice and was told that if she prayed God would heal her. When it didn't happen, she felt she was spiritually unacceptable to God. Even after she left the church, this feeling continued, and interfered with regular psychological counseling. She ended up trying to kill herself. It was a long, long road for her to come to the realization that it was not her that was broken but that church.
So what do we mean by toxic? There are of course true cults, but a toxic church simply has elements of a cult without being a full blown cult. It will include some of the following:
1. Highly controlling. This is the #1 feature.
2. Emphasis on punishment, such as an obsession with eternal damnation.
3. Physical or sexual abuse.
4. Black and white thinking
5. Emphasis on sexual guilt, sometimes even within marriage
6. Keeping the person from exposure to ideas that would help them develop normally.
7. Sometimes cutting them off from family and friends that are non-believers or non-practitioners.'
8. Centered around fear and anxiety, such as an impending apocalypse that is obsessed over.
For those of you that are seekers, I would look for these signs of toxicity, and avoid those houses of worship. Find someplace spiritually healthier -- there are many.
https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/re...anized-religion-leads-mental-health-problems/
This article discusses Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS) -- a set of descriptions one sees when a person is seriously hurt by a toxic religion and subsequently leaves and remains injured. Although the article uses examples only from Christianity, it could have taken examples from ANY religion.
The elements of RTS are as follows:
- Possible physical or sexual abuse
- Emotional Trauma such as chronic anxiety and depression, even cognitive and social impairment. One can see self rejection.
- Eventual leaving of the sect
- Sometimes there are flashbacks
Now to be CLEAR, the article is not saying that religion is bad, or even that all churches or whatever of any given religion are bad; only that some of each faith cross the line into toxicity.
It gives as its example a woman with bulimia who went to her church for advice and was told that if she prayed God would heal her. When it didn't happen, she felt she was spiritually unacceptable to God. Even after she left the church, this feeling continued, and interfered with regular psychological counseling. She ended up trying to kill herself. It was a long, long road for her to come to the realization that it was not her that was broken but that church.
So what do we mean by toxic? There are of course true cults, but a toxic church simply has elements of a cult without being a full blown cult. It will include some of the following:
1. Highly controlling. This is the #1 feature.
2. Emphasis on punishment, such as an obsession with eternal damnation.
3. Physical or sexual abuse.
4. Black and white thinking
5. Emphasis on sexual guilt, sometimes even within marriage
6. Keeping the person from exposure to ideas that would help them develop normally.
7. Sometimes cutting them off from family and friends that are non-believers or non-practitioners.'
8. Centered around fear and anxiety, such as an impending apocalypse that is obsessed over.
For those of you that are seekers, I would look for these signs of toxicity, and avoid those houses of worship. Find someplace spiritually healthier -- there are many.