Post a summary and I'll read it.
That's a fair request. In brief, the speaker uses a variety of professional articles from psychological research, from sources like the American Psychological Association (APA) & John Hopkins University. What they have found is that people with childhood abuse, which is generally in multiple forms (sexual, physical, mental, etc), tend to reject organized religion, but often maintain a personal spirituality. It is hard for them to trust, especially if the abuse is from a religious leader, but personal prayer, Bible reading, and other individual forms of spirituality are common among abuse victims. The way to address & heal these issues can often be theological, if the damaged spirituality was partially due to someone claiming religious motivations, or if the person comes to have anger or hatred towards God. The speaker has pushed for chaplains to be hired into organizations that work to heal childhood trauma, because psychological research has shown that spiritual healing can be very beneficial in the healing process.
Here's a few of the examples the speaker gave of people he had worked with:
--A girl had a Baptist preacher father, who repeatedly sexually abused her. He claimed Bible passages of Adam & Eve, and again of the family of Noah that came off the ark, to show why incest was permitted by God. A chaplain would try healing this twisted idea of God by pointing to the passage in Matthew's Gospel, where Jesus is tempted by satan. What is satan doing? Quoting Scripture, out of context. Explaining that merely quoting Scripture for personal purposes does not mean that this shows God's will.
--A girl was raised in a conservative Lutheran family, where he father would sexually abuse her. He said he would stop when she received communion at 13, because then she would have Christ within her. The night before she received Communion, as her dad was abusing her, she asked, "This is the last time, right?" He laughed & said, " No, I just said that to keep you quiet. " When she received Communion the next day, she spit in the chalice, and chewed the host with hatred towards God. A minister then worked with her, after she was courageous enough to talk about what was happening. The minister pointed to the Crucifixion section of the Bible, and asked, "What do you see here? People spitting on Jesus, torturing Him to death, and He forgives them all. Now if He can forgive the people who spit on Him during His Crucifixion, why wouldn't He forgive you for spitting in the chalice?"
I'll address your other question later, but I need to help my mom with the laundry now. Thank you for your input , I really do appreciate it!
