WHAT FEAR HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED BECAUSE OF RELIGION?
“My wife sent me your podcast about Religion + Anxiety. Thank you for opening that box and sharing with the world.
I have just started my journey in sitting with the trauma I experienced growing up in a Christian home and Christian school. I never realized how much anxiety I had as a child, sitting there going through the thoughts of “what would I do if the rapture happened and my parents were taken from me, how would I survive?”
All that you talked about was relatable and it put my mind at ease to know that I am not the only one out there, I’m not the only one on this journey.
Keep sharing your story, it’s changing lives, and pushing those of us who may not want to face reality to see we can face it and we aren’t alone.”
- ANONYMOUS
“Thank you for the questions on your Instagram story. I know I’m not alone in my anxiety but it's still comforting to read the responses.
I went to a very small private christian school (my graduating class was 16 people, and we were one of the biggest classes the school had ever had since it opened in the 70s). as a lesbian, waking up and going to school every day was so emotionally draining. just knowing someone was going to say something ignorant and that i wouldn't be able to retaliate in fear of being expelled and outed to my mom. after graduation though, i came out to her. i knew she wouldn't open her arms and support me wholeheartedly right away, but i thought i could get her to come around.
that was about a year and a half ago, and i haven't talked to her or anyone on her side of the family in months. and sometimes i feel guilty because i'm happier now. when i stopped talking to my family i felt ten pounds lighter and that realization hit me really hard. anyways, thank u again for this.”
- ANONYMOUS
“I converted to Mormonism. As a convert I felt I always had to represent the church in a positive light - which meant I didn’t talk about the negatives to my family - it also meant my family put a lot of pressure on me to be perfect and always good and nice (which I strives for but left very little room for real human emotions.)
Once I was singled out at a huge conference for my area at church made to get up on the stand tell everyone how I had found the church, what I loved about it and then “invited” (aka pressured) to share my testimony in front of everyone. I went back to my pew and cried, it was terrifying and I felt so vulnerable in front of hundreds of people.
Years later I came out as bisexual and they threatened to excommunicate me, I was so gutted that this church I had been protecting for years, and always highlighting my positive experience and not the negatives like invasive questions about masturbation and my sex life and how many people I had slept with. But after protecting them for so long they were ready to throw me out because I no longer served their purposes as a teaching tool. I ended up deciding to leave and lost my entire community. That was pretty devastating, I’ve missed weddings of people I considered best friends, friends have had babies I’ll never meet, people have started vicious rumours about me that I have no way of stopping or shutting down.
I feel like religion ripped me off, stole part of my life and now it’s stolen my entire community, my friends and the people I loved.” - ANONYMOUS
