"Why?"

A work inspired by people affected by religious trauma.
Dedicated to the aforementioned people and the self-labeled "Christians".

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Always told to follow the Bible. Always told to do exactly as it says. Always told to avoid what people deem sinful. Always told to watch closely for traps.
Is it wrong for one to be oneself?
Is it wrong to ask?
Is it wrong to doubt?

Unfortunate people. Merely listening to the teachings of a pastor, made to be nothing more than blind followers, their tithes buying forgiveness and salvation. Dictating others to do the same; to abandon their curiosity to know more, to abandon all common sense, and focus on God.
And with them their victims.

Unfortunate people. Slapped and spanked with a stick, calling it discipline. Shunned and ostracized from the community, deeming them sinful.
The poor outcasts. The poor lost people. Won't anyone hear our pleas? Won't anyone console us, reassure us, be there for us?

Lost in the dark. We're used to it now.
As we look back to the church, still unchanging, we wonder, "Is this the God we're supposed to love?"

Which is scarier, the horrors of the world or the horrors of the "church"?