My younger sister is trying to help a friend get into publishing and asked me if it's true that they want authors to have a decent following on social media. Yes, I said. Why do you think I have been busting my ass on social media this entire time?

She said she thought I just enjoyed it 🙃

Interesting. The Eastern Orthodox folks that I know are just as controlling of their children (and gender and sexuality) which all seems tied to this idea of original sin/depravity.

So of course these same folks are not going to take child sexual abuse seriously. They have been trained (or they truly believe) that power imbalances do not exist. It is the entire basis for how and why they abuse their children. Once they are locked into this worldview it is hard to leave it.

Secular religious trauma therapist here! The doctrine of original sin is so devastating to a child’s self esteem. In many evangelical environments (especially Calvinist ones), children believe they are bad by default… and then parents wonder why they struggle with self-h*rm etc.

And I think it follows from the sin leveling idea. Being taught that stealing candy is equivalent to murder because any sin separates you from God and sends you to hell.
And it allows the powerful to use the “everybody makes mistakes” excuse to escape accountability.

Original sin's core tenet is that all people are born evil and must redeem, so children must be equally guilty ( this also forks creepily into other things )

It's genuinely so fucked up

It is absolutely a core belief of the vast majority of Christians in the United States and around the world.

It's not weird at all because it is a positive eugenics movement. They want more white kids (who follow authoritarian rule). Plus, predators then have access to a bunch of kids: strongwilled.substack.com/p/chapter-9-...

ugh that sucks so bad.

Read more about this topic here: strongwilled.substack.com/p/chapter-15...

Once you view children as defiant, manipulative, sinful -- and deserving of punishment to "save" them . . . well, a whole lot of other shit can (and does) happen. But since this is a core belief of Christianity, we continue to let it slide instead of calling it what it is: an excuse for abuse.

Once you view children as defiant, manipulative, sinful -- and deserving of punishment to "save" them . . . well, a whole lot of other shit can (and does) happen. But since this is a core belief of Christianity, we continue to let it slide instead of calling it what it is: an excuse for abuse.

So of course these same folks are not going to take child sexual abuse seriously. They have been trained (or they truly believe) that power imbalances do not exist. It is the entire basis for how and why they abuse their children. Once they are locked into this worldview it is hard to leave it.

Jerry (rat)Bastard Jenkins!!! wow, you are a true Strongwilled kid for sure.

Read more about LaHaye (and how purity culture is actually pedophile culture) here:
strongwilled.substack.com/p/inside-the...