- May 17, 2020
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This honestly isn't intended as a post to backbite or bash my fellow believers, or to angrily vent (will try not to as really not my intention) but, as someone who grew upin a "strict" Evangelical Christian home and was brought up with many odd ideas reagrding health and disabilty, i am also seeing other christians from all kinds of denominations though mostly under the evangelical/pentecostal/baptist etc umbrella with similar experiences.
examples i could give include:
- being told psychotherapy is a sin and psychiatry also. (i do get that not all psychology is or has been good and the origins of men like Freud and Jung have not been good either, but there are therapies like Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy whcih have been very helpful in recoveries from severe personality disorders like BPD or mental health issues. also drugs have helped people with bipolar and schizophrenia and countless other disorders live relatively normal lives or in severe cases, at least keeps them alive and some symptoms at bay).
- being told that depression or symptoms of depression.anxiety, even eating issues like binge eating or anorexia are just loving self too much, focus on self or self pity
- being told that if you have a mentla disorder as a Christian then youa ren't really saved
- being told you are a Jezebel Spirit ifyou have Narcisstic PD or Borderline PD or even CPTSD.
- illnesses where the cause is uncertain (or sometimes uncertain- not saying always is) like ME/CFS, Fibro, or epilepsy must be result of sin or demons. (i do absolutely believe in demons and often think many of us even as christians may be oppressed- i and others i know have been at times) and if deliverance doesn't work must be a sin someone is holding onto. or that maybe they not saved
- that if you trauma reactions after someone hurt you badly then you are told you haven't forgiven properly even if you have really decided over and over to forgive and desperatley want to.
- learning disabilities like dyslexia, dyscalculia etc seen as rebellion or stubborness needing spanking or even yelling or screaming as punishment
- a belief that if a christian shows possible signs of demonic activity and it wont go away even if christian is repenting, prsying, fasting, etc that Christian cannot be saved and their salvation is uncertain.
- a friend of mine who told me her church is makign everyone wears masks against Covid when lockdown ends and services resume. sounds great? but not for my friend who has a hearing impairment and cannot hear a preacher wth a mask over his face. ok, fair enough so far, she can speak to the elders and explain and ask for an exemption? but they jsut won't lsiten. they seem to act as though disability doesn't exist and everyone can do the same. but we are not all the same.
- children being screamed at , threatened, if they decide to seek help for mntal health issues or severe physical issues like Fibro (chuch doesn't see it as socialy acceptable illness like hey do cancer or though even there i have seen cancer sufferers treated badly also in Word Faith settings) because the church will find out and the "family will be stigmatised and daddy won;t be able to preach again here if they find out our son/daughter is crazy/hypochondriac/self pitying/attention seeking"
- why preachers that do talk about healing and wholeness in a Biblical way are called worldy and "we shouldnt talk about our problems or needs as not edifying to God."
The purpose of this thread is not to vent but ask WHY these views exist, and why we, as the church, preach about helping the needy and happily address global poverty (most of us anyway) but disability is seen as less important or irrelevent to the gospel even though Jesus was very into caring for the sick healing them and loving them.
and to wonder why living a Christian life means we have to act like our own wellbeing is not important and that seeking help isn't denying self when Jesus was crucifed for us so we are now crucified with Him?
i just wonder where these views came from, because i have heard Evangelical christians say "psychology etc is evil because it the world's wisdom, people just need to repent and they won't have problems" and it sems more like LDS.Mormon teachings "That we musn't have anything of the world in our lives" more than Christian?
examples i could give include:
- being told psychotherapy is a sin and psychiatry also. (i do get that not all psychology is or has been good and the origins of men like Freud and Jung have not been good either, but there are therapies like Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy whcih have been very helpful in recoveries from severe personality disorders like BPD or mental health issues. also drugs have helped people with bipolar and schizophrenia and countless other disorders live relatively normal lives or in severe cases, at least keeps them alive and some symptoms at bay).
- being told that depression or symptoms of depression.anxiety, even eating issues like binge eating or anorexia are just loving self too much, focus on self or self pity
- being told that if you have a mentla disorder as a Christian then youa ren't really saved
- being told you are a Jezebel Spirit ifyou have Narcisstic PD or Borderline PD or even CPTSD.
- illnesses where the cause is uncertain (or sometimes uncertain- not saying always is) like ME/CFS, Fibro, or epilepsy must be result of sin or demons. (i do absolutely believe in demons and often think many of us even as christians may be oppressed- i and others i know have been at times) and if deliverance doesn't work must be a sin someone is holding onto. or that maybe they not saved
- that if you trauma reactions after someone hurt you badly then you are told you haven't forgiven properly even if you have really decided over and over to forgive and desperatley want to.
- learning disabilities like dyslexia, dyscalculia etc seen as rebellion or stubborness needing spanking or even yelling or screaming as punishment
- a belief that if a christian shows possible signs of demonic activity and it wont go away even if christian is repenting, prsying, fasting, etc that Christian cannot be saved and their salvation is uncertain.
- a friend of mine who told me her church is makign everyone wears masks against Covid when lockdown ends and services resume. sounds great? but not for my friend who has a hearing impairment and cannot hear a preacher wth a mask over his face. ok, fair enough so far, she can speak to the elders and explain and ask for an exemption? but they jsut won't lsiten. they seem to act as though disability doesn't exist and everyone can do the same. but we are not all the same.
- children being screamed at , threatened, if they decide to seek help for mntal health issues or severe physical issues like Fibro (chuch doesn't see it as socialy acceptable illness like hey do cancer or though even there i have seen cancer sufferers treated badly also in Word Faith settings) because the church will find out and the "family will be stigmatised and daddy won;t be able to preach again here if they find out our son/daughter is crazy/hypochondriac/self pitying/attention seeking"
- why preachers that do talk about healing and wholeness in a Biblical way are called worldy and "we shouldnt talk about our problems or needs as not edifying to God."
The purpose of this thread is not to vent but ask WHY these views exist, and why we, as the church, preach about helping the needy and happily address global poverty (most of us anyway) but disability is seen as less important or irrelevent to the gospel even though Jesus was very into caring for the sick healing them and loving them.
and to wonder why living a Christian life means we have to act like our own wellbeing is not important and that seeking help isn't denying self when Jesus was crucifed for us so we are now crucified with Him?
i just wonder where these views came from, because i have heard Evangelical christians say "psychology etc is evil because it the world's wisdom, people just need to repent and they won't have problems" and it sems more like LDS.Mormon teachings "That we musn't have anything of the world in our lives" more than Christian?