They’ve always been religious but like in the sane way. Now that the divorce is happening, they’ve gone full Evangelist style batshit lecturing about how sinful everyone’s lives are. What can I do?
They’ve always been religious but like in the sane way. Now that the divorce is happening, they’ve gone full Evangelist style batshit lecturing about how sinful everyone’s lives are. What can I do?
I’d gladly take them to church if that was all it was. But aside from wanting me to attend they bring the sermon into every conversation to the point where we can barely talk anymore. I’ve suggested seeking support even at the church if they don’t want a therapist, but they’d rather just lecture about the sinfulness of watching TV or how they regret not forcing me to attend church every week. I thought religion is a personal relationship with the deity in question? Why drag in people who don’t want to be involved in it?
So…is this about how her religious beliefs are affecting HER life?
Or is it more about how her religious beliefs are affecting your relationship with her?
It’s the 2nd one, I’m not trying to take away her source of spiritual relief or anything - but to make it really simple, it’s no longer “I love God and live by his teachings” but unprompted “You’ll burn in hell for not loving God, you believe in nothing and God will make you pay” kind of lectures for like 2 hours. Surely that’s cause for concern considering I have to talk to her everyday?
That’s kind of what people finding new meanings on life are like. Is there a power dynamic with your parent where they can still affect your quality of life? If not you can still be supportive of their journey while not letting them curmudgeon you with guilt. Not every Christian has to use their ideology to kill their empathy, though that’s usually what disenfranchised new converts are trying to do.
Either way, based on these statements they’re obviously too far into it for one person to pull them out. At that point the challenge is more getting them to still recognize your agency and personhood. Draw the boundaries where their faith ends and your life starts.
“Is there a power dynamic with your parent where they can still affect your quality of life?” In short, yes - enough that the guilt is already there. I’m not trying to change their religious beliefs or anything, but they’ve never reached the “you’ll burn in hell for [insert anything here really]” stage before. That’s supposed to be like a red flag right?
Yeah that’s pretty hateful. There’s something underlying there that Christianity is accelerating. Somebody else suggested gaining some distance and that sounded extreme but maybe that’s not such a bad idea. You don’t want to be dependent on a Christian who is in a mental health spiral