I’ve been reading Marlene Winnell’s book “Leaving the Fold.” She makes a very
good point, namely that the doctrine of original sin as taught by
evangelicals/fundamentalists is a source of tremendous psychological harm. As a
counseling intern, I could not agree more.
I had
become a Christian at the age of 18 largely because of extreme psychological
stress that I was experiencing in my life at the time. My parents had split up,
I was living in a fifth wheel trailer while my dad was reliving a sort of second
childhood, and my entry into active duty with the Air Force was on the horizon.
My family life was at an all time low, and I now believe that I was searching
for something to replace my family.
Too bad that the “Borg” came along!
I was taught by Calvary Chapel that I was inherently evil. I was
worthless and that only by filling my sinful self with the love of Christ could
I become whole. Once I did that, I was constantly reminded that my “flesh” was
evil. I must constantly surrender myself to Christ so that the “old man”
wouldn’t come back to haunt me.
Rather than being taught to face the
pain in my life, I was taught to simply blame myself, and then denounce myself
as hopeless. Surrender to Christ really meant “obey the collective mind of the
congregation.” Subtle pressures were brought to bear upon me. Shame was
liberally applied anytime my “thinking” started to get the better of me. Indeed,
during many Bible studies I was “corrected in love” for having “immature” ideas
about sex, the nature of God, the scriptures, whatever. This coercion was
reframed as the “conviction of the Spirit” and thus the “collective mind” of
fundamentalism became the “will of God” for me.
One weekend I developed car trouble. I had a problem with my starter, and I
absolutely had to get the thing fixed or I would not be able to get to work or
church for that matter. For one Saturday I decided to work on my car instead of
going “soulwinning.”
Of course when the dean of men read my activity
report he called me into his office. He chastised me for my unfaithfulness.
There was no mention of my spotless service to my “liege.”
And for the
first time, I found myself getting very ANGRY with my Christian “leader.” When
he told me I would receive 10 demerits I looked him in the face and said “Fine.
Give them to me.” I then turned and walked out of his office.
City: Yuma
State: AZ
Country: USA
Became a Christian: 18
Ceased
being a Christian: about 36ish
Labels before: Calvary Chapel; Independent
Baptist
Labels now: Atheist
Why I joined: read the post
Why I left:
reason
http://testimonials.exchristia...5/deprogramming.html