Dwayne Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 I watched the movie Jesus Camp for the first time yesterday and found the theology to be completely off set. As I have studied the Hebrew Bible and the Christian NT, I don't see the congruity between the practices and thought processes of the movie and that of scripture. I will agree that if you are to believe in the Jesus of the NT it should in some way be a liberating experience. But as I watched the movie, I only saw children being spiritually abused by the most intense forms of spiritual and psychological violence. Honestly, it made me want to cry. I was so angry with the leaders I could throttle them. I wanted to give each of the children a hug and tell them that it would be okay and it will get better. What are others observations of spiritual abuse whether it be personal or separate party? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Babylonian Dream Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 The very notion of "don't trust your senses, follow blindly" is abusive to me. A conclusion I've reached by thinking a little about it. You're told that you're sensory information is wrong and it isn't to be trusted, so you must go beyond it and put your trust in something that isn't proven and sounds idiotic and selfcontradictory. Not only that, but you must declare it the absolute truth, and build you're world around it. It's an unhealthy worldview, and is selfdamaging as any other unhealthy part of your life, which in turn makes it at the very least, self-abuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mp1101 Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 I saw little clips of it on youtube, and there is alot of crazy things going on. The scary thing is is that those "leaders" fully, completely believe what they're doing to those kids is right and justified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephie Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 I was distrubed by what I saw and even more so since I used to believe those things and think they were perfectly normal. Children are so easily influenced and they start so young. One church that I used to attend literally started when the babies were in the nursury with spiritual warfare and what not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 It doesn't happen too often that I can't get to the end of some movie because I want to puke / find it too fucking moronic / whatever. Jebus camp takes the cake I think. Tried to watch it some years ago already, got though maybe the first 20 minutes. And I wouldn't have been surprised if the next thing I knew would have been either finding myself facing the wreck of my PC with something big and heavy in hand, or finding myself lying on the floor with an empty bottle in hand and a head feeling as big as the Hindenburg. 'nuff said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VacuumFlux Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 The very notion of "don't trust your senses, follow blindly" is abusive to me. A conclusion I've reached by thinking a little about it. You're told that you're sensory information is wrong and it isn't to be trusted, so you must go beyond it and put your trust in something that isn't proven and sounds idiotic and selfcontradictory. Not only that, but you must declare it the absolute truth, and build you're world around it. It's an unhealthy worldview, and is selfdamaging as any other unhealthy part of your life, which in turn makes it at the very least, self-abuse. Yep, that was my upbringing. "The heart is deceitful above all things" and such like. So you have to trust in God... but how do you know what this god is that you're trusting, when nothing you can figure out on your own is trustworthy? Well, that's what the Bible's for. But the bible isn't as obvious as these people like to believe, so it's really all about having faith in the right interpretation of the bible. And that can only come from other humans. So you end up clinging on to weird, specific doctrine that are supposed to be the core of your identity and your entire purpose in life. There are no reference points to ground yourself against, and a constant desperate fear that you don't really get it and you're "lost" (whatever that means) because you don't intuit the "right" answers that everyone else appears to be so confident about. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwayne Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 It seems that the leaders, knowingly or not, not only spiritually abuse these children but indoctrinate them to the point where the child is self abusing. This is complete nonsense. This is why so many people have to be treated for Religious Trauma Syndrome in therapy. Religion, at times, is the source of pain, disenfranchisement, violence and hatred. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 For me it was being scared of "satan and his demons." If I had a nightmare it was demons, if I was sick..demons. If I had depression or anxiety... oh well that's demons and on and on. I used to sit up at night reciting babble verses over and over or calling on jebus to cast out the devil. It went so far that I actually belived that I could feel them and hear them. I'm 100% athiest today but even still if I have a panic attack or a bad bout of depression, I start thinking maybe it is a demon attacking me and I've been tricked all along and I get all confused. I eventually come to my senses but that crap really screwed with my head big time. I feel bad for those jesus camp kids. They'll either go through thier whole lives believing the lie or end up on xanax like me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 For me, I believe that The Rapture thing was the worst idea. I started becoming fascinated with it as a teen. One reason was that I was being bullied at school and the notion that God would come any minute and rescue me from this terrible situation was very appealing. On the other hand, part of me thought that I would not be a good enough Christian (we were told he would come "like a thief in the night") and I would be left behind. I started reading this fundy literature "Your Last Goodbye" by Salem Kirban and "The Late Great Planet Earth" by Lindsey. I only thought things would get worse for the world and these things affected my mind by making me very pessimistic about the future. There was nothing in my life to have a positive influence, since my parents and most of my family were fundys. I thought that the world was shortly going to end no matter what I did. While I should have been thinking about what career I was going to have and how I would eventually support myself, instead I was distracted at this crucial time in my life (13-15 years of age) by all this bullshit. It has had a very bad effect on my life. One reason I am on this site is that I realize the damage these ideas can permanently have on a life when they are imprinted in a young mind. I believe that teaching that the "end times" are immanent and Jesus could come at any moment is abuse for a young mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Positivist Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 For me, I believe that The Rapture thing was the worst idea. I started becoming fascinated with it as a teen. On the other hand, part of me thought that I would not be a good enough Christian (we were told he would come "like a thief in the night") and I would be left behind. I started reading this fundy literature "Your Last Goodbye" by Salem Kirban and "The Late Great Planet Earth" by Lindsey. I only thought things would get worse for the world and these things affected my mind by making me very pessimistic about the future. I believe that teaching that the "end times" are immanent and Jesus could come at any moment is abuse for a young mind. Hey Deva, Me too. End Times crap almost ruined my life. It makes you sell out to a myth that has no bearing in reality. I essentially amputated my common sense. Ugh. Glad I'm outta the cult! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeelHappy Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Yeah I went to many of those camps as a child, I very much remember the exact same thing happening. Although ours were a little better we'd go to great vacation spots where our mornings (1 hour), afternoons (1 hour) and evenings (3 hours) would be spent indoctrinating, but we had the rest of the day to go do fun group activities. I remember having to go through camps my whole life, as I was backsliding during my teenage years, I used to put my head in my hands and rub my eyes so they'd get nice and red, then I'd force myself to repeatedly yawn so my eyes would get real watery and then I'd look up, all of the girls though I was so spiritual...... The thing which pissed me off the most about jesus camp were the evolution / age of the earth discussions. This retarded crap is why we have so many YEC out there which is just stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Hey Deva, Me too. End Times crap almost ruined my life. It makes you sell out to a myth that has no bearing in reality. I essentially amputated my common sense. Ugh. Glad I'm outta the cult! Yes. I say this idea has the most negative effect - and a close second being "I'm lower than a worm because I am born in sin". To tell a young person or - even worse- a young child that humans are "totally depraved" has an awful effect if it is believed. It is abuse pure and simple. Even while I am writing these posts I can feel exactly the fascination I had with these crazy ideas - even after 40 years. You can remove yourself from these ideas, and know they are false - but this stuff does not totally go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noggy Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I watched the movie Jesus Camp for the first time yesterday and found the theology to be completely off set. As I have studied the Hebrew Bible and the Christian NT, I don't see the congruity between the practices and thought processes of the movie and that of scripture. I will agree that if you are to believe in the Jesus of the NT it should in some way be a liberating experience. But as I watched the movie, I only saw children being spiritually abused by the most intense forms of spiritual and psychological violence. Honestly, it made me want to cry. I was so angry with the leaders I could throttle them. I wanted to give each of the children a hug and tell them that it would be okay and it will get better. What are others observations of spiritual abuse whether it be personal or separate party? I've been to Jesus Camp. It wasn't that bad. The part they didn't film was all the kickball and noodle hockey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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