Sexual Abuse and the Reduction in the Belief in God (page 2)

Lady Lee

For someone with a ID called Broken Promises you would think you might "get" this one

Broken Promises

For a supposed counsellor, you make a lot of assumptions.

Heaven

These were kids who felt betrayed by everybody they knew including God. I'm not surprised by their reaction although she was

I am not surprised by their reaction either. I am surprised that the author was surprised. I am curious as to her reasons for going into this, other than to document that abuse victims actually do question the existence of God (which, to anyone who has experienced abuse, is a no brainer).

I do believe it is an issue that needs to be addressed if survivors are to find some sort of spiritual connectedness to the world around them.

Spirituality is a human need. In my opinion, too many people feel that you must have a relationship with or believe in God in order to have this. Spirituality exists whether you believe in God or not.

To help someone that has been abused find a Spiritual connectedness, work with them to look at what they believe they can do to make their lives and the lives of others better. Support them to find and implement their own path. It is only when we make plans and take positive, creative action to execute these plans that we feel a hope and a goodness about things.

Lady Lee

I was rereading the intro and need to correct that.

She is a survivor. She says:

My two cotherapists in the groups were surprised by the amount of anger that the articler by Hardiman had generated. Because I am a survivor, I am aware of how much survivors want to desperately believe in God despite their unanswered cried for the abuse to stop. It was our task to help these young survivors regain theri sense of spirituality and connection if they were ever going to be able to live a life without serious addiction.

She knew from experience that it was an issue. And she understood why it was important to discuss.

Heaven

Thank you for the additonal info. on the author, Lady Lee.

I still contend that each of us has Spirituality, regardless of whether we believe in God or not. I hope the therapists helped their charges come to understand this.

When I was young, my Mom told me that God had turned his back on all mankind. It was then that I realized that my life would go on with or without him and that it was up to me to define who I was going to be and what kind of life I wanted to live. That statement greatly diminished God for me. I don't think this was her intention but it was the result.

Lady Lee

She doesn't discuss it in the intro Heaven. But further on in the book she has a lot to say about survivors' need to connect to their spirituality, a Higher Power or whatever they want to call it. She correctly says they cannot move forward without it. She doesn't care what they call it. It isn't about religion for her. It is about connectedness to something greater than ourselves. I think she has it right and works on this with all her clients.

I too got to a point where I realized waiting for God to fix things wasn't going to happen. If I wanted things to change I had to do it myself. It wasn't until later that I began to develop my own spirituality.

Randy has posted this article on Freeminds. It is on page 1 right now and will go into Articles later on - not into the column.

Violia

I never blamed God, I blamed the people who hurt me. I did think that God's spirit would guide the elders b/c they told me it did. I soon learned that was a lie. I was upset but still I lay the blame on the folks it belongs to, the perps and the Org. that helped cover it over.

Heaven

she has a lot to say about survivors' need to connect to their spirituality, a Higher Power or whatever they want to call it.

Abuse rips apart the interconnectedness of self. We become fragmented. We need to knit ourselves back together. Since our Spirituality is very personal and sacred, it is one of the parts of the whole that must be nurtured and mended.

She correctly says they cannot move forward without it. She doesn't care what they call it. It isn't about religion for her. It is about connectedness to something greater than ourselves. I think she has it right and works on this with all her clients.

Very true. You cannot move forward without part of yourself. I am glad it isn't about religion for her as well. For anyone who has suffered spiritual abuse, I think this would be very dangerous, destructive, and ultimately unproductive.

Lady Lee, I think your paper is very well done. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Lady Lee

Thanks Heaven and you are welcome

Broken Promises

She correctly says they cannot move forward without it. She doesn't care what they call it. It isn't about religion for her. It is about connectedness to something greater than ourselves. I think she has it right and works on this with all her clients.

So atheists are screwed, then?

Sexual Abuse and the Reduction in the Belief in God

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