The Deep End – Exploring Religious Trauma Part 1
Hey folks…It’s unusual for me to sit down to write the blurb and feel as though I’m genuinely uncertain where to begin. I feel that way this week not because I’m uncertain about the topic, but because it’s a big one. Hence “the deep end”. Let’s dive in…
I’ve been putting some time into studying something called RTS – Religious Trauma Syndrome. There have been a few times in my learning journey over the years where I’ve come across an idea or a phrase that feels like it has an “aha!” to it – a sense of “this explains soooo much”. RTS feels like that to me.
Now, having said that, I’ve also learned that it can be dangerously easy to take one idea and treat it as the explanation for too much. Nuance is important, context is important, the reality of constant change is important…and so on. However, even with all those realities in view, I think there is great potential value in exploring some of the emerging thinking around this, not least of all because it offers a window into deeply damaging experiences many of us, or many people we know, may have had with particular aspects or expressions of religion.
I’m not going to get into the details of something this complex in a blurb. We’ll approach that together, in person, and we’ll start into it this Sunday. I expect we might be at this for a while. It is, as mentioned above, pretty deep water. For my part, I am committed to doing whatever I can to facilitate as safe an exploration as possible, and our collective commitment to making a space where we can explore together will help us as well. Having said that, I want you to know that we’ll be talking about ways some aspects of religion can create the conditions for traumatic experiences, and the odds are pretty fair that some of us will recognize ourselves or our histories along the way. As always at The Table, everyone is invited to explore this and no one is obliged to do so, and my working assumption is anyone can step out at any time.
We’ll gather this Sunday at 10:45 a.m. at VA Cafe (lower level). There will be a caring adult available to provide thoughtful company for the youngest folks in the gathering (who are, of course, always welcome to join the adults). We’ll livestream hereand podcast later in the week here.
Given the overall tone of this email it might sound strange to say, but I’m excited to explore this together. I think the potential for insight and even some aspects of a healing journey could be present in this, and I’ll be hoping for and working to that end.
I’ll see you on Sunday.