tired. trans. traumatized.

they/them || disabled || religious trauma blog || was raised presbyterian, although most of the trauma came from fundamentalist and lutheran extended family || there will be venting || terfs dni christains dni || i like and follow from suspicious-whumping-egg

[hell-propaganda]

I am not "straying from God's light," I am stalking it and trying to extinguish it

[hell-propaganda]

I am following God's light in close pursuit

[theshoesofatiredman]

Something that's genuinely so eerie is that after spending enough time outside of Christianity, the responses that Christians give to questions or the things they say in conversation start to sound so canned it stops sounding like you're even talking with a person. It's like one moment I'm talking to my mother and the next she's telling me that God's ways are higher than our ways and in her feeble human mind she cannot begin to imagine what it's like to be God and somehow that means she doesn't have to view the amount of suffering in the world as a contradiction. And the shift is so jarring that it feels like I activated a sleeper agent, like I'm not talking to my mom anymore but the person she was programmed to be by her religion. And she sincerely believes what she's saying too. She may sound like she's parroting the party line but it's a lone she's bought into fully. And it's even crazier because I know I used to sound exactly the same. I know I used to code switch hard into the same sayings and had no awareness of how it sounded. They sound like they're in a cult

[tinstol-archive]

When someone is abused by religion and thus turns away from religion, the tragedy is that they were abused, not that they are no longer religious, not that they don’t see your religion in the “correct” way.

[nando161mando]

[toastoat]

sometimes i wish i had facial hair

like sexy stubble or something that would be so cool

[toastoat]

perfect

[toastoat]

im not coming back to tumblr i just needed to find this post in order to dunk on my younger self. you absolute baby buffoon. you dumbass

[theyouth--waste-it]

[thistoowillpasss]

[thistoowillpasss]

[thistoowillpasss]

[thistoowillpasss]

[tbposting]

[vexwerewolf]

I genuinely think there was no greater insight into the modern Christian mindset than when the Pope said he very much hoped Hell was empty and he was absolutely hounded by both Catholics and Protestants outraged at the idea of a man who wanted a place of infinite suffering to have nobody in it.

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

not to be anti-religious but i do wonder if teaching children that they are innately flawed and sinful is, perhaps, not a healthy worldvi

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

to expand on this, i also think kids should probably grow up without being told that engaging in common pleasurable activities is a sin against god

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

in fact i suspect that telling tiny vulnerable human beings they are morally obligated to forsake the needs and desires of the flesh, might, just possibly, interfere with healthy develo

[smegorl]

Please don't say religion when you mean Christianity. None of those are innate parts of religion.

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

so the language of the additions on this post was very consciously influenced by my experiences living in countries with laws and cultures dominated by Islam and Buddhism, respectively.

Yes I grew up in an oppressively Christian culture, but Western Christianity is not solely or even necessarily singularly oppressive, and is certainly not the only religious structure that leverages shame in a dangerous way. And we do the world at large a disservice by acting like other major global religious institutions are harmless simply because they aren't Christian. Religious trauma comes in many forms, foreign and familiar.

[charlesoberonn]

God: I banish you for eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge even tho I forbade it.

Eve: God forbid women do anything.

God: I... I mean, yes? That's correct...

[sleep-sounds-nice-rn]

[ferigrievance]

consuming mass amounts of media related to my hyperfixation isnt enough i need to eat it

[totally-a-wizard]

Christians with the Eucharist.

[ferigrievance]

this is the funniest fucking reply ive gotten on this post everyone go home

[holyself11235-deactivated202109]

'i could fix him' well he's already in my wood chipper

[sleep-sounds-nice-rn]

fuck evangelicalism, all my homies hate evangelicalism

[sleep-sounds-nice-rn]

at a billy graham glazing christmas event, it has lots of very very strong and conservative evangelicalism messaging, suddenly i feel like a scared little kid again convinced I would go to hell for being queer

[pastelalleycat]

There's a genuine concern about Christian nationalism here in the States with Trump most likely entering office in 2025 and the agendas the Republican party has. Several states are legally requiring the Ten Commandments to be hung up in classrooms, Bible stories to be taught in classes, PragerU curriculums to be utilized. Our country's children- and us- are going to be endrenched in Christian ideology beyond any cultural norms we've ever seen, and we need to be vigilant about who we're getting our information from and putting our trust in.

To be clear, I do NOT think all Christians are Christian nationalists, nor are all Christians the bad guys. Liberal and non-Trumpie Christians are our allies. The kind of Christianity I'm talking about here is Evangelical Christianity- the kind that commands sharing your religion with other people so they don't go to Hell, giving up control of your personhood in favor of what the Bible teaches and church believes.

Thankfully, Evangelical Christianity has a lot of special lingo, and they love to cycle through the same talking points. This isn't some mystery we know nothing about- this is something, like anything else, we can use critical thinking to track and reason through. As a former Evangelical Christian living in the Bible Belt, here's some buzz points you're going to want to be aware of. Please feel free to add on if I missed anything, or correct me if I got anything wrong.

Phrases

Calling the Bible:

the Word (of God / God's word)

the Gospel (of Jesus)

The Scripture(s)

The Word / Gospel according to [book name]

Calling God:

Yahweh (my apologies to Jews for writing out the full name. I wish I didn't have to. There's been a rise lately in Evangelicals saying it, unaltered, and it's extremely rude to y'all.)

King Jesus

(the) Lord / Lord God / the Lord our God

(Heavenly) Father / Father in Heaven

(the) Savior

About the world:

We live in a fallen/broken world / there is so much sin around us

We can't trust our feelings / we can only trust God's word

We can do nothing apart from God

We must humble ourselves before God

We need Godly leaders in this country / we need God to lead this country

God works in mysterious ways

We need to say "Merry Christmas" more (not joking)

Wars and rumors of wars (this pertains to the end times as described in Revelation)

Topics

LGBTQ+ issues:

"Homosexuality"

"Transgenderism" (the 'ism' is important)

"Pornography"

"One man, one woman"

"God's picture of marriage [heterosexuality]"

"Family values"

"Sodomy"

"An abomination"

Abortion issues:

"Pro-life"

Pro-choice people called "pro-death" or "pro-murder"

"Sanctity / protection of life / the unborn"

"The choice of life"

Women framed as childbearers, mothers, and wives, generally given little worth otherwise

Immigration issues:

"Border security"

"Protecting our society"

"Drug crisis" (which to be fair is a problem, but not the whole of this issue)

Emphasizing Arab / Middle-Eastern immigrants as particularly dangerous

Emphasizing Hispanic immigrants as dangerous

Israel

'The Holy Land'

'God's chosen people'

"Zion"

"The birthplace of Jesus"

"Persecuted"

Empahsizing right to "self-defense"

General topics:

Humility

Modesty (pride dress, sexuality)

Sexual immorality

Sin

Trusting God / not trusting own feelings

Preparation for end times (imminent or mysterious timing depending on who you ask)

"Protecting children"

"Family values"

[your-gay-grandma]

i need everyone to know that community is what will save us all in every single way imaginable. you forming a bond with your neighbour or coworker might help them move house or feel less alone or have the courage to leave an unhealthy living environment. you helping a stranger might provide them with hope. in turn, being able to lean on your community in times of need will save you. your broader bonds with your community are the revolution we need. our society seeks to divide and separate us in so many ways but we are all so much more united in our struggles and joys than you are made to believe. we need to hold onto each other very tightly.

[dumpsterprophet]

the fact that Christians call it good news that you can be saved from the eternal torture chamber when the same guy who is saving you invented the torture chamber... it's like that post "heartwarming: girl raises money to stop orphan crushing machine" but it's weird if you question why there's a torture machine and why you need money to stop it