The Weight of Religious Trauma

Humans have always been spiritualistic creatures. We believe in the divine, in extraordinary energies and beings, to help explain the universe to us. We have faith. But I believe, with the onset of organized monotheistic religions, faith and religion became separated. And religion became a weapon.

For this piece in The Weight, I met with Mai to discuss how Christianity had played a major part in her childhood in major ways. Under the guise of something good, her blinded parents felt they could manipulate her into things in the name of a deity and that deity’s morality. Policing the way she dressed, denying her help for mental or physical ailments, and continually gossiping about her “sins”.

This is not a localized occurrence, either; it is perverse across monotheistic religions. And if children stray from these oppressive paths, only punishment and abandonment are in their future. But these chains can be broken. Just speak up, and take the path that feels like home.