Cw Religious Trauma - Tumblr Posts

15 ways toxic religion does damage in our world: 

1. The hypocrisy of claiming to know God but demeaning people.

2. Disparaging practitioners of other faiths as a sign of devotion to yours.

3. Casting judgment upon others while giving yourself a pass.

4. Dividing the world up into “us” and “them”.

5. Fostering fear of God.

6. Telling people they are inherently bad.

7. Repressing individuality and demanding conformity.

8. Casting disapproval on those who question. 

9. Perpetuating a superiority class structure of “clergy” and “laity”. 

10. A performance-based system of earning God’s love and approval. 

11. Assigning maleness to God and esteeming men over women. 

12. Allowing differences of beliefs to prevent working alongside others to alleviate suffering in our world. 

13. Praying for divine intervention without taking direct action.

14. Claiming a close relationship with God while perpetuating discord and hostility in human relationships. 

15. Using religious beliefs to rationalize or justify hate, violence, injustice, oppression, discord, the affliction of human or planetary suffering. 

Jim Palmer

Real question:

Put your denomination in the tags if yes!

"Don't let this darkness fool you. All lights turned off can be turned on."

This lyric from Noah Kahan's Call Your Mom has just been on repeat in my brain for weeks. I've spent so much of my life in despair and depression that sometimes the darkness literally feels inescapable. Between the childhood trauma and the religious trauma and the intense loneliness, I've felt like I barely tread water at the best of times. Far too often it has felt like drowning. A loss of control over my ability to stay afloat. Darkness that seeps in from all sides and presses in at a weight that no person is meant to withstand.

When the darkness has a hold of you, it lies. It's an insidious insistence on the idea that not only are you stuck in the abyss, but that no light can ever find the way back in.

No one cares, not really. No one sees you. No one can understand this suffering. Things cannot get better. No one will ever love you. You are broken beyond repair. Damaged goods. Worthless. Unlovable.

All lies. Because in the spiral of shame and trauma, opening your eyes and seeing the truth is so difficult. Maybe it's only one single person, maybe it's a song or a stranger but someone cares.

Suffering is an essential part of the human experience. Things can get better. You are lovable. You are not broken beyond repair. Not worthless nor damaged goods. Healing is possible. Maybe it takes medication or meditation or religion. Maybe it takes simply accepting that you are stuck in the darkness right now, but that you don't want to be any longer. Therapy. Journaling. Music. Nature. Family. Friends. Online community. Cling to whatever helps you believe that the light can be turned on.

After spending my whole life trying to fight this battle alone, I have finally realized just how much I've hurt the people I love by letting myself believe this lie. My mom and my sister who want me to live and be healthy and happy. My family who had to watch me hurt myself and try to end my life. Who are now watching me slowly kill myself with my eating disorder. My friends who've watched me lose my spark little by little. My little nieces and nephews who see how unhealthy I am but don't understand why.

They've all been there. They all care. I am loved.

There is another lie that slips seamlessly out of the darkness. The idea that asking for help is somehow a failure. I am allowed to get on medication and go to therapy and work through all the trauma and pain that caused all of this in the first place. I am allowed to let go of a belief system that caused me pain. I can talk about this without feeling embarrassed. Mental illness is not something to be ashamed of.

Getting help is not admitting defeat. It's turning the fucking light on.