New Mom Life Blog!

Special Topic Church Abuse

Hello Bloggers and Readers,

So today is a special topic for you guys! I was going to talk about Savannas birth story today. But, I changed my mind. I plan to talk about something else. Want to take a guess? No idea? Thats okay! Today, I am going to tell you a story about some church abuse. Not only that but I am also going to share why I think a lot of people dont embrace Christianity with an open arm and heart. Its a more serious topic but if you bare with me I think I can help you ( and myself) understand this topic more. 

As someone who has been abused emotionally by the chruch before know that I do not take this subject lightly. If you are going through the same thing know deep down that I am so sorry you are going through this. The church should be a warm welcoming place. A place where you can be yourself and be safe in the process. It should be a place where you learn about Jesus and come to worship him. To understand what I mean I am going to share with you three stories about church abuse I have seen/ read about. 

I figured I would start with what I read today since that is what brought this topic up. So I am reading a book. Its called Tamed by Emma Chase. Dee and Matthew are having a conversation about Chruch and God. Dee asked Matthew why his best friend Drew doesn't go to church anymore? Matthew said Drew had a falling out with God. But I think he had a falling out with the religious leaders, not God. 

When Matthew was in high school Steven's mom ( who is another one of his best friends) got diagnosed with cancer. Treatment worked for a while and then it came back. While she was battling it the priest ( they are Catholic) told Matthew and everyone to pray really hard and to be good.... Steven's mom died within months. The priest then said if the boys had stronger faith and prayed more the mom would of lived. They also said she didn't live because she was not pure enough. Drew was pissed and livid and rightful so in my eyes. Drew said some ugly things to the priest out of anger but refused to apologize. That is until his mom begged him to. As punishments the priest made him write out the scripture everyday after school and made him memorize it as well until he felt like his petence was reached. Drew then asked a sister at the school a question.

He asked her, " Is what the priest said true?"

She responded with, " God always answers our prayers but sometimes the answer is no." 

See they had a belief back then that any type of illness cancer included meant that you were unholy. But that is not true. You see, our bodies are mortal and broken. Cancer is just a sign that we are human and that our bodies are imperfect. Yes, cancer is awful and it sucks but that does not mean that you personally are bad or did anything to deserve it. Take a look at Job in the bible. He got sick ( had sores all over his body) lost everything. His friends kept telling him he was unpure and sinful. But the bible says that Job was godly. Plus Stevens mom believed in God and went to church. So because she accepted God she was clean. Her body was just sick and it was her time to go even at such a young age. And God does answer our prayers. Either with a yes, no, or maybe but not right now. And in this case, God could see she was suffering and it would get worse so he called his daughter home.

Now, on to a true story about when I took my best friend to the Catholic church.

When I was in high school, I took Jamie to the Catholic church with me. We were late because Jamie had to get ready. Like really late. For those of you who have been to a Catholic mass punctuality is key. We were so late the gospel readings were just finishing up. Jamie was asking me questions during mass and the older women and probably some older gentleman were glaring at us. They had I am going to hurt you murder in there eyes. And finally when we were going the sign of peace I held out my hand to Jamie and she said in a spunky voice.

"What's upppp,"

I died with laughter. I should of known Jamie would not know what to do. Her reaction was hilarious. But no one else thought so. They gave us more glares and were talking about us. Plus, I dont think they liked how Jamie looked. You see back then she wore dark clothes and dyed her hair all kinds of crazy colors. So they automatically put her under goth, bad, devil, and sinner category.