Writing about religion, psychology, politics, and other impolite dinner conversations
Finding the sacred after church hurt Photo by OC Gonzalez on Unsplash When I was 22, at the same age a lot of young people leave their faith altogether, Good Friday and Easter were my favorite holidays. I hated the commercialization of Christmas (still do). It was my first year living in the “real world” after college, in … Continue reading Easter Relationship Status: It’s Complicated
The freeze response may occur in a religious context when people feel stuck or trapped in a harmful situation and they don't see viable options before them to get out or find safety. This could be anything from sexual, narcissistic, financial, or emotional abuse being perpetrated on church members, to simple faith deconstruction like questioning whether hell is real in a system where this is prohibited.
We have officially reached the anniversary of Covid being declared a pandemic. If, over the past year (or more) you have found yourself numb, detached, checked out, unmotivated, and in a word, frozen: then this post is for you.
The response you probably didn't even know existed. Today we are going to talk about an often-overlooked trauma response that is near and dear to my heart: the Please / Appease response and how it shows up in religious and political climates.
We can't let the marchers on the Capitol define Christianity with their "Jesus Saves" signs. But don't deny that if we ("we" in this instance being Christians who do not identify with Trumpism, or Christian nationalism, or think we're "not racist") do not speak up and act, we are part of the problem.
Christine Greenwald 