Atheism

One of the worst things about religion is how it exists as a primary surrogate for mental healthcare for people who are seriously mentally ill.

As someone who still hasn’t come out to my ultra Christian parents, yep. I took the path that was all I knew was acceptable. Luckily my spouse is accepting and mildly excited by my sexuality but the trauma is so strong I haven’t even been comfortable to act on my sexuality because it is just so repressed. I’ve worked through so much via therapy over the years but I still find things that are as described in the article, fight or flight type responses that conflict with what my brain logically can think is right. I really hope that research gets funded for this. They will find that more than just LGBTQ+ individuals will have definitive religious trauma and maybe some day a dollar cost will also be associated with it, not because it has to be but because sometimes money is the only way to get action…sadly.

I'll just leave this here:

https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/

Recovering From Religion is a fantastic organization which exists to help people through this sort of thing. They've got lots of catalogued resources (podcasts, articles, videos, etc.), a 24-hour helpline, online support groups, and other helpful resources.

I'll chime in with my life as an anecdote. I was raised very conservative Baptist in the south and those paragraphs above describe my feelings exactly. I was constantly questioning my feelings, being told that what I felt was evil and wrong. It's something I've had to struggle with my whole life. I'm much better now after years of counseling, but I still deal with feelings of guilt and fear of public judgement.

On the plus side, now the trauma has expanded beyond mental conditions to include physical aspects such as death of pregnant women as well!

Unfortunately "plus" here means "additionally", as it will continue to grow - now also including potential mothers and fathers who will no longer be able to use IVF due to the latest insanity. Already maternity care for wanted babies has suffered greatly.

Jesus Himself passionately hated religious hypocrites, and the Bible itself, Old and New Testaments alike, says things like "The worker deserves their wages", "Religion that is pure and true is to help those less fortunate", etc. Just like those "patriots" who stormed the USA Capitol on January 6th - citing how they were "defending the Constitution", while actually trying to overthrow it - there is no justification for this even within the very thing those very people point to as having provided their "excuse".

Might does not make Right, although... it might as well I guess, if nobody will stand up to the bullies. These things must be fought against, hard - and especially by people who identify as Christians but also by anyone who cares about the harm that is being done. e.g., states don't have to passively wait for Federal laws - we can pass local ones firming up protections for medical care right now. Congress may be non-functional these days, but there are other ways to get things done: local governments, or nonprofits. And if the "religions" want to join in, even if just offering funding, that's fantastic - but we need to do it either way, with or more likely without the majority of them.

There is no hate like Christian "love". When the ones who are supposed to love you are being the most cruel in your life, that fucks you up.

If Christians were remotely Christ-like, this world would be very different. Weird how the ones who cling to religion are the ones wholly incapable of living good lives.

No, there are no "good" Christians. Christ whipped and chased people out of a temple for selling stuff. Modern Christians don't even ostricize megachurches. Every single one of them are disgusting hypocrites.

Hits a little close to home. The threats I would receive from family over religion, and the consequences when I would try and to buck them….man bad memories lol

At a different thread, an user expressed doubt about the idea that every single person who showed a hostile attitude towards religion online had been victimized by religion. While such a thing is impossible to prove, there are researchers currently finding out that religious abuse if far more common than the average person probably imagines. This is something that should be brought up whenever we discuss whether religion is positive or not to society, overall.