religious abuse

SPIRITUAL ABUSE:- THE CONFUSION OF FALSE TEACHING

Posted: September 01, 2011 Under: Freedom & Wholeness By Darlene Ouimet 83 Comments

I am pleased and excited today to welcome my friend Fi Macleod. Fi is a fellow blogger and an amazing survivor of horrific abuse. Fi has a passion for writing and the subject of spiritual abuse is close to her heart. Please help me welcome Fi and her debut post on Emerging from Broken! As … Continue reading "SPIRITUAL ABUSE:- THE CONFUSION OF FALSE TEACHING"

Defining Spiritual Abuse and the Effect on us as Children

Posted: August 17, 2011 Under: Self Esteem By Darlene Ouimet 67 Comments

This is all part of spiritual abuse, church abuse and religious abuse. And all abuse does incredible damage to the self esteem and to the emotional health of children. leads to the destruction of self esteem and a fear of telling. This is spiritual abuse. This is the misuse of power. Church abuse and religious abuse are damaging to the person who is discounted and dismissed. This is not LOVE or grace. This spiritual abuse is NOT pleasing to God. How can it be?

Spiritual Abuse and the Catholic Church by Lynn Tolson

Posted: August 05, 2011 Under: Family By Darlene Ouimet 94 Comments

how religious institutions demand blind obedience from parishioners trained from childhood to defer to the established patriarchal principles of society. Conforming to the religious standards without being able to think for oneself and form individual opinions (spiritual abuse) is a set up for oppression and submission for the sake of a feeling of belongingness.

Psychological, Physical, and Sexual Abuse WHY Questions

Posted: July 21, 2010 Under: Freedom & Wholeness By Darlene Ouimet 33 Comments

Sometimes we get stuck on the “why’s” and the why questions. We can talk endlessly about what happened, we can realize that it was not our fault, we can face the pain of having been devalued, used, unprotected, powerless and disregarded, but the why questions still remain. ~Why did my mother seem to take pleasure … Continue reading "Psychological, Physical, and Sexual Abuse WHY Questions"

“It’s Just That, We Care About You…”

Posted: July 11, 2010 Under: Freedom & Wholeness By Carla Dippel 27 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot about a one of the last comments made on my post “Groomed to Doubt Through Spiritual Abuse.” The writer said in a nutshell that the people who voiced strong disagreement with my posts were people from my real life who really just cared about me. Words like this can be … Continue reading "“It’s Just That, We Care About You…”"

Decision Making and the Conundrum of a “Bad” Heart

Posted: July 08, 2010 Under: Freedom & Wholeness By Carla Dippel 7 Comments

In high school I wrote a worship song with these words: “Cleanse my motives, make them pure. Change my heart to be like your’s. Fill me with your precious love. Dear Father make me holy…” It was really more like a dirge! By this time, the religious systems I was a part of had me convinced that … Continue reading "Decision Making and the Conundrum of a “Bad” Heart"

Church Lies and Religious Abuse

Posted: July 06, 2010 Under: Family By Darlene Ouimet 18 Comments

Layers of Lies on Something Beautiful I received this letter from one of our readers in response to Carla’s amazing post “Groomed to Doubt through Spiritual Abuse” which generated 60 comments and many emails and I found this one so compelling that I asked her permission to post it. In this email, Jeanette touches on some … Continue reading "Church Lies and Religious Abuse"

A Young “Leader”, Valued for all the Wrong Reasons

Posted: July 04, 2010 Under: Freedom & Wholeness By Carla Dippel 13 Comments

I was a very esteemed member of the small private school I graduated from. Most people might have considered me to have been lucky, been jealous of my “status.” My peers looked up to me. My teachers applauded me. I was valedictorian of my class and won the “Student of the Year” award numerous times. … Continue reading "A Young “Leader”, Valued for all the Wrong Reasons"

Survivors of Abuse and Re-establishing Self Worth

Posted: July 02, 2010 Under: Survival By Darlene Ouimet 14 Comments

Emerging from Broken Being survivors of sexual abuse, domestic violence, religious abuse or psychological abuse has a lasting effect on us. One of the worst consequences is that our value has been falsely defined by others. We are told who we are and who we should be. Over time we are conditioned to accept that … Continue reading "Survivors of Abuse and Re-establishing Self Worth"