It's about certain beliefs leading to pathology in the very people who hold or held them. It wouldn't apply to any of the hypothetical scenarios you just wasted your time providing. But it would be ridiculous to claim that the act of believing in a religion makes one more prone to violence or intolerance. Some are undoubtedly serious in that they truly believe that a deity has required or sanctioned their violence. Sometimes violent and abusive people claim that they are religiously inspired, or claim scriptural interpretation. My PTS was an example of how ANY belief system can be shown to provoke violent behavior. I feel that this post falls in that grouping. My parody was directed against the custom here of trying to frame religion as the motivator for much of the violence in the world. When we see the examples of certain older males marrying (sometimes multiple) child brides in Utah, are these females traumatized by the Mormon religion, or by pedophiles? Were they traumatized by religion, or by following a lunatic? The people who committed suicide in Guinea followed the teachings of Jim Jones.

A person who is sexually abused by a clergy member, while undoubtedly traumatized, cannot claim to be traumatized by religious belief. When people claim to be traumatized by religion, I believe it is safe to say that each case is different. There are atheists who commit acts of violence and say nothing about religion. Such as Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and Pol Pot. There are atheists who commit acts of violence and denounce religion. There are churchgoing people who commit acts of violence without invoking their religion. There are people who kill and commit other acts of violence in the name of religion. I cannot demonstrate how holding ANY PARTICULAR beliefs must lead to ANY PARTICULAR actions. I see no reason to spend more time responding to you. That's just the way religion is.Īnd now, I think we're done here. If it disturbs you that there are so many well documented instances of religion and 'faith' doing exactly that, and more appearing every day, too bad. How about the trauma suffered by the millions of Russians who lost family members due to the actions of well know atheist Joseph Stalin? (followed up by your laughably false claim in post 19: I did NOT mention Stalin.)Īnd you are certain that all the aforementioned mass murderers were NOT motivated by their atheism? Why this certainty? Did you base your feeling on what you wish to be true or can you point out your sources that can prove that atheism had nothing to do with mass murder? And is it also unfortunate that so many people on this site feel the need to post articles that purport to show how conservatism leads to all kinds of irrational and intolerant behavior? Really?

Or you wouldn't have posted things like this: People unfamiliar with it, including therapists, have trouble appreciating the sheer terror it can create and the recovery needed. It involves a complete upheaval of a person’s construction of reality, including the self, other people, life, the future, everything. Religious trauma? Isn’t religion supposed to be helpful, or at least benign? In the case of fundamentalist beliefs, people expect that choosing to leave a childhood faith is like giving up Santa Claus – a little sad but basically a matter of growing up.īut religious indoctrination can be hugely damaging, and making the break from an authoritarian kind of religion can definitely be traumatic. These comments are not unusual for people suffering with Religious Trauma Syndrome, or RTS.

My whole identity is a shredded, tangled mess. It seems that I am walking through the jungle alone with my machete no one to share my crazy and sometimes scary thoughts with.Īfter years of depression, anxiety, anger, and finally a week in a psychiatric hospital a year ago, I am now trying to pick up the pieces and put them together into something that makes sense. I'm really struggling and am desperate never to go back to the religion I was raised in, but I no longer want to live in fear or depression.

Religious trauma syndrome