RELIGION SATURATED THERAPY IS NOT THERAPY BUT A COVER FOR EXPLOITIVE EVANGELISM
A Christian is obligated to share faith as a treasure with others. What if they are therapists? Clergy act as therapists though they are not. Some however have qualifications.
If you read their Jesus tale you will see something that is totally at odds with the approach taken by a therapy manual concerning helping people to be happy and well-adjusted. This raises safety issues.
The bottom line
"A therapist who has clients who have committed crimes MAY see them as criminals who should be punished. If so there will be no rapport or empathy and the treatment will be unsuccessful and maybe do more harm than no treatment. A judging therapist has little or no chance of helping the client improve how they feel and become more adjusted individuals.”
What about "A therapist who has clients who have committed crimes against God (sins) WILL see them as sinners who should be punished. If so there will be no rapport or empathy and the treatment will be unsuccessful and maybe do more harm than no treatment. A judging therapist has little or no chance of helping the client improve how they feel and become more adjusted individuals”?
God by definition is that being which ultimately matters so judging those who
"sin" against him takes priority over people. I don't believe people of faith
should be given unhindered access to being therapists. Even if the
judgement is not mentioned, a discerning person knows that it should be there.
That defeats the purpose of the therapy.
Helping a client see what terrible thing will happen if he or she carries on doing something illegal or harmful is not likely to help significantly. That is not an opinion - it is the reality. Often they will feel there is no point in them trying to help themselves. They may even take bigger risks. Christianity nowadays stresses that sin is self-destructive. Telling people they are always sinners then is just getting them to replace sin x with sin y or they will end up thinking there is no point in trying to stop sin x.
Analysis
The idea of an all-loving creator implies that all good comes from him so all gratitude should be meant for him alone. If a pastor loves God or waters down the duties to love God he is not a good if he sets himself up in that role.
A person does terrible things to you or to somebody close to you. Trying to
understand does not mean you are necessarily trying to condone them or condoning
them. But if God comes first or God alone matters then the only thing that
matters is understanding why the person has not connected enough with God to be
good. That is in total opposition to psychology as a science.
People will not go to a professional with a problem if it involves God. They
might go to an unqualified pastor or priest who has no right to playing the
therapist role. The drunk in the local bar would be as well-qualified. The
doctrine that God alone is to be loved and is to be loved above all things
clearly indicates that people should be set up to feel angry against themselves
if they perceive that God has let them down.
It is not enough to say that taking drugs is bad and show an addict why they are bad. The only thing that helps is helping the addict to work out why she or he needs the drugs. What need do you want to take care of by taking drugs? If God embodies morality then it is more important for the addict to believe it is a sin and has bad consequences than to care about why they do it. If you are a born sinner there is no point in caring why one takes drugs.
Priests and clergy being given the freedom to act like therapists when they have no formal qualifications to do so is scandalous. The
damage done can be irreparable. The relationship between priest and vulnerable
person is one of the former manipulating the latter. The person needs an
improvement in emotional health. When people talk about spiritual health, they
really mean emotional health. Religion needs to talk about spiritual health in
order to masquerade as a form of therapy and to give the false impression that
religion is needed. The person should see through this and any good done will
evaporate. And especially when they realise the true Christian claims that he
cannot value other people unless God tells him!
Priests and clergy acting like therapists and trying to substitute for them
needs to be legally prohibited - unless they have proper qualifications. It's a
violation of secularism.
Priests, religious and ministers of Christianity attract some people who really
need a and who talk to them instead. Others will also have a real
therapist. Many are hurt by non-professionals who care more about religion than
the person needing help. Sick people have been told they have a nerve coming to
God's priest when they never went to mass.
The few clergy or religious who do have therapist qualifications, have succeeded in getting the right to refuse to help say transgender people or those who are migrating from a marriage on grounds which the Church sees as insufficient. There are other people bleeding from every pore who can find themselves turned away. To turn a person away is to say, "If all therapists were like us none would help you and not should help. Tough!" Tennessee permits such behaviour but only if the therapist is licenced.
Christian relationship therapists cannot counsel gay couples who wish to
sort out their relationship if they believe homosexuality is a sin. The
therapy would not help anyway. In fact the only time a Christian could
counsel gay couples when he is geared towards seeing the couples split. The
Christian therapists say that they have no problem with other therapists working
with gay couples. That contradicts their claim that assisting
homosexuality is objectively wrong. When you steal without realising it, what
you did was objectively wrong. They contradict their claim that assisting
homosexuality would be subjectively wrong because the apostle wrote in the Bible
that God's law can be seen through commonsense and this commonsense
homosexuality is obviously unnatural and therefore evil (Romans 1).
Children have experienced tremendous tragedy. Instead of a therapist, the
priest was brought to give stupid blessings that don't work and to give false
hope and to engage in giving useless and out of touch advice.
People need to realise that any rapport they feel with strong religionists is
false for the doctrines of the religion are sometimes vindictive and often
harmful.
Jesus said that even looking at somebody with desire was as bad as adultery. By
implication, having sex with your wife out of desire and not because you want to
express absolute self-sacrifice is sinful as well. John Paul II worked out his
theology of the body from Jesus' teaching. Unless sex is very holy and saintly
and totally sacrificial it is a sin even in marriage!
The Christian faith cannot be consistent with itself and allow therapy which
is so crucial in problems of a sexual nature and in sexual relationships. The
therapist would not be needed if people should simply fight and repress sexual
desire and sexual thoughts outside of marriage and to a point even within it.
The Christian is supposed to have a relationship with God who provides guidance
and in whom one is supposed to find one’s strength. This plainly puts the blame
for being depressed or annoyed on the victim. Therapists would be trying to
take the place of God and it would be a sin. The Bible by implication condemns
therapy. The First Epistle of John says that if you are in communion with
God and his spirit you do not need a guide for you have them to explain the word
of God to you (2:26-27). Therapists could not be as talented as God. The best
therapists are not acting as Christians during therapy - even if they say they are and the correctly
clarified Church definitely and clearly forbids going to them for help for it
wants it to be compatible with orthodox Christianity.
No true Christian can agree to another person going to a secular therapist. The
consistent Christian will work against secular therapists and demand their
disqualification. The sensible therapist will make sure that no Christian
can bring their ideas or core beliefs into their professional career.
