Priests and Pastors Must be Banned from Giving Therapy
As strange as it is, priests and pastors are allowed a listening and
therapy
role without qualifications.
This needs to be banned legally for the following reasons.
#They have no training and no recognised qualifications in the area.
#The state recognising purely religious qualifications contradicts the
separation that must exist between state and religion.
#Their victims are assisted and encouraged to think that their healing from past
hurt is down to the power of God's magic. But if they won their own healing they
need to see and know that. It empowers them and it's only fair. If I know I have
healed myself by changing my attitude, I will never have to fear that God will
take the healing from me. That's a possibility if God is behind it. I am better
off believing I healed myself.
#It leads to people being referred to the clergy for emotional and psychological
support. Therapists telling people who suffered sexual child abuse to go and talk to
members of the clergy - especially the Catholic Church priesthood - is a gross
violation of trust. It is urging people to go to a religious system that may be
engaged in covering up child sex abuse or of being soft on it. And Christian
teaching on sex is twisted and harmful. That alone is a reason for vulnerable
and impressionable people to keep away.
#The clergy will have you exorcised if you fail to respond to
therapy and medication.
#If the Christian who undergoes therapy improves, she should be unwilling to
accept that there is a perfectly logical explanation for any change without the
need to recourse to imaginary gods. It's a case of, "It is not my self-discovery
that helped but God." If you don't think your aspirin really took away your
headache though the headache did go away, then why hold that it matters if you
take the aspirin or not? Also, you will be no help to those who suffered as you
did. If you cannot prove how you got well you cannot help others.
#The true Christian cannot tell a person, "Forgive others so that you will set
yourself free from hate." Then it is done for yourself and not the people who
hurt you. It is not forgiving them at all. It is merely casting out the negative
emotions. It is surely possible to cast out the bad feelings without forgiving
the person. You may still like to see them hurt but this will not bring you
misery. The person is being manipulated by the Christian therapist. And you
have to forgive or be trying to. That is essential if therapy is to help at
all.
#Vulnerable people may be damaged by the session. Bereavement is not
complete until you find some happiness in the thought that the person does not
exist any more. They didn't exist before they were born and that doesn't bother
you. You knew them and you want to be with them that is why their non-existence
after dying bothers you. But be careful what you wish for. And it should not be
about you. Asking for them to live on means that if you get your wish they might
be damaged or barely conscious or capable of being injured. There is a comfort
in feeling you know that they cannot be injured any more or brought back to be
hurt etc. God and religion just harm people by saying and acting different. Just
keep the good they did going by helping people in their honour. That is the way
to keep them alive.
#Vulnerable people may use religion as a crutch. That is not to be encouraged.
One day the crutch will break. Religious therapy is supportive of the crutch
and therefore dangerous.
#True therapy gives people self-empowerment skills. Religious therapy
has to put the focus on God. No genuine believer can claim the right to tell a
suffering person that God will heal them. It might not be his will. It's not that
he wants to but that evil has ruined his creation and things go wrong. In fact
the therapist will have to settle for telling the person that God will help
only if it is the right thing to do under the circumstances.
#And how is being told that you suffer from original sin - ie come into being
with the intention of defying God and his blessings - and that your loved ones
will rot in the torments of Hell for all eternity unless they believe and repent
supposed to help you? How a person would feel comfortable opening their hearts
to someone who supports a faith that teaches such vicious things and without
enough evidence to justify such huge claims is a mystery.
# The Church says you have to want to see sin suffer and be punished but not the
sinner. This makes no sense. The reason why hate is so powerful in our society
is that it and its roots are not recognised and exposed. One root is the
pretending that you can hate the sinner and love her sin. You do not get off
lightly, thanks to the law, even if you have philosophical reasons for believing
your promoting of hatred is morally acceptable. Religion shouldn’t get off
either. The believers wouldn't turn themselves in for the filthy and sneaky way
they promote hatred. And they approve of other kinds of inciters to hatred going
to jail or being heavily fined. They are maligned because they are
non-religious.