Autism is my super blessing! I'm a high-school valedictorian, college graduate, world traveler, disability advocate. I'm a Unitarian Universalist. I'm a Progressive Liberal. I'm about equal rights, human rights, civil & political rights, & economic, social, &cultural rights. I do servant leadership, boundless optimism, & Oneness/Wholeness. I'm good naked & unashamed! I love positive personhood, love your neighbor as yourself, and do no harm! I'm also appropriately inappropriate! My self-ratings: NC-17, XXX, X, X18+ & TV-MA means empathy! I publish shows at 11am! Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/antonio-myers4/support
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episode 70: I made full peace with all of my religious doubts on a daily basis
"For the following three reasons I lay out and explore below, leaving one’s faith or religion is fraught with potential peril and difficulties.
1. The trauma caused by deconstructing, and finally making the difficult decision to leave your former faith behind, can be traumatic and psychologically debilitating. Psychologist and author Dr Marlene Winell is an expert on religious trauma syndrome (RTS). In an article on the subject, she maintains that RTS “is a function of both the chronic abuses of harmful religion and the impact of severing one’s connection with one’s faith and faith community.” She points out that not only can religion be the source of much trauma, in addition it is all-pervasive, affecting literally every aspect and area of our lives.
In the case of evangelical Christianity, for example, it affected our relationships with others who were non-Christians, since we tended to view them as potential converts. We couldn’t just have a “normal” relationship with no strings attached; there was always an agenda — and it wasn’t always hidden. Every non-believer we came into contact with represented a chance for proselytization, and oftentimes, if they didn’t want to hear about the gospel, the relationship was terminated. Either that, or we drove them away with our constant referrals to the Bible, the gospel message, or with repeated invitations to church or Christian events. Some Christians have even lost their jobs, or co-workers have severed relationships with them, because they wouldn’t stop proselytizing at work.
Religion can also affect many people’s sex lives; as an example, the evangelical purity culture can have a potentially crippling effect on one’s self-image, sexuality, marriage, and relationships with sexual partners. As a young person raised in this context, in an effort to avoid falling into “sexual sin” before marriage, the herculean effort of suppressing one’s normal and natural sex drive can do incredible damage. And if one does fall into sexual sin and loses their virginity prior to marriage, there is oftentimes a tremendous amount of shame and guilt attached to that act."
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