Christianity/christians

[scout86]

You are definitely entitled to your opinion.

On the other hand, so are all the other members. And, for some of them, their religion is relevant, one way or another, to how they experience or deal with PTSD.,

 

[lostforgottensoul]

@She Cat,

Think of my trauma. A "religous cult" that called itself Christianity, fundlemental christianity back rooted in earlier years and my family (dad side) all fundlemental Christians putting loads of non-needed pressure on me. If i couldnt get that all figured out, i wouldnt heal fully. Even if "figured out" means atheist. You know what I mean? Like untangle everything.

Also, lots of religons on here that lean on their faith in times of healing and thats totally ok.

All of it is PTSD and healing from PTSD.

For a while, "god talk" was so triggering for me. Was so sick of hearing about it. I did have to avoid all of them completely. But eventually I found myself wondering into those threads and reading some and was finding myself wondering in there longer and even discussing.

You are most certianly entitled to your opinion but the folks that lean on their faith for healing are entitled to theirs and make threads about it. Since all religons are accepted Im sure a Buddist could write some, a pegan some, a musim some etc.

I have seen some threads lately that almost sound like sermons and I can see them being the triggery ones but its mostly black & white thinking which is distorted thinking. Know that and its not as triggery. To me anyway.

Either way, personally if i cant discuss it all with believers and non-believers alike and sort of untangle this, i wouldnt get far.

Hope this helps a bit. :hug:

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I personally do not believe that anyone has the right to try to force their beliefs upon me or anyone else either, however I am in the minority I think, not sure.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Nah @gizmo, not a minority. I dont think anyone likes anything forced upon them. Doesnt matter if "anything" is religon or politics, we want space to make our own opinions on things.

I avoid the political area of the site because of that.

 

[EveHarrington]

What do you do?

Find a new church.

Stop spilling your guts to them about your PTSD. Keep it private. Nobody needs to know about your disorder and IMHO it's best to keep it private until you know someone is trustworthy. (I think that this last step is key.)

It's not about hiding or shame. It's about being smart when you disclose. Nobody at my church knows except my priest.

 

[Deleted member 541]

@scout86 @lostforgottensoul Took a ride to figure out why I was in such a pissy ass mood. Seems as though I've been triggered. I have had several run ins with priest in the past. One that called me a whore, because I had a child out of wedlock and came to him to baptize her. He refused. When she was 5, in the hospital almost dead from a tonsillectomy the hospital called in a priest. He was DRUNK and when he baptized her, he poured the water in her FACE. She was vomiting blood and almost dead, like she really needed that, and then he groped my sister. Real nice guy!!!! NOT!!!!

So... This hasn't changed my opinion, but at least I know I still haven't forgive the catholic religion, and most likely won't. I wil try to stay out of these post for now.... No promises though....

 

[The Albatross]

Very sorry to read about your experiences... there are many others here. Glad you took a ride and made some connections today.

 

[Thizette]

In my experience a lot of Christians do not understand PTSD and they are not willing to especially o...

Forgiveness is a huge topic even outside of Christianity. I had a therapist tell me over and over to forgive my dad, made me read a book about forgiveness, and still argued with me about it. My stance is that you can forgive someone and still be angry about what they've done sometimes. I find that in very conservative Christian groups, it is hard to fully understand any mental illness, because of the firm belief that God heals and if he doesn't then there's something wrong with your relationship with God. It is also a struggle when talking to older generations who didn't have the benefit of psychology and think we just need to toughen up.

Something you might try is Unitarian Universalism. They welcome people of all faiths. You can be Christian and UU, or you can be atheist and UU, or you can be Muslim or Hindu or Buddhist or anything. They have a set of shared values, but not a set dogma. I also want to say that I am UU--was raised a Methodist and joined a UU fellowship a few years ago. You could google some about them and see if it might be a good fit for your current spiritual state. A lot of people try out Unitarian Universalism while they are struggling with their own church; some stay, some don't. Regardless, it is a safe space to explore your spirituality. And to avoid any awkward religious pressure discussion, I promise I won't judge you if you ignore my advice. ;)

On of the things that stuck with me from my Methodist days is this: Your relationship with God is yours--no church, no person, gets to dictate it to you. I hope you find a spiritual home that affirms your mental health. :hug:

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Your relationship with God is yours--no church, no person, gets to dictate it to you.

Amen! God, if I could say that a millon times I would!

This god and I have a complicated relationship but its not going go make it any less complicated if you scream "be saved or go to hell" in my face!

 

[Thizette]

I'm just sick of the "Forgiveness, Christian, God, Religion" talk on this website. It feels like it's tu...

That was a little venomous and unnecessary. You don't have to be a Christian to have compassion for those who are. I'm a pantheist. At the end of the day, we all struggle with morality and spiritual issues, and we can connect to each other on that basis. How some people feel about God is how I feel about the planet--different objects of reverence, same feeling.

 

[Eagle3]

I was also brought up in a Christian cult, and have struggled with my faith and PTSD. In my church growing up, most mental illnesses were treated as some form of demonic possession/influence. They went straight to the spiritual fixes for physical issues, then blamed the "ill" one when nothing changed, as if they didn't have enough faith or "gasp!" didn't want the demon gone!! Right now I stay away completely from most Christian discussions, since the topic triggers me so badly, but having spent over 30 years intensely studying Scripture for myself (was being groomed for full-time ministry in that cult since i was born), I believe I'm solid enough in my own personal relationship with Jesus that He understands my need to step away for a bit, figure things out, and heal. I've studied Judaism for quite some time now (ethnic heritage, thanks to my dad) and consider myself more a Messianic Jew than anything else. That makes for some interesting discussions in BOTH camps!

My best friend is Jewish, I hang out more with traditional Jews, I also have a FEW friends who are Christian (the non-pushy kinds only, though!), and my therapist is Buddhist. At this point, accepting people as they are and letting them figure things out on their own is the best advice I can give. That, and stay away from the religious, stupid, negative, ignorant Christians, or anyone else for that matter...healing needs to be helped along, not hindered.

 

[Silver.]

At this point, accepting people as they are and letting them figure things out on their own is the best advice I can give.

^^THIS