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Personal Story:
A Story of Toxic Faith and Abuse, How I Survived
Many of us have turned to Paganism after a bad experience with a church of one kind or another. Toxic Faith has become so common; the horror stories can be heard on the news, in newspapers and on the internet. The term “Toxic Faith” refers to any religious organization that claims to be “the only way” and tries to control the lives of their congregation often causing harm to the members. The organization is usually led by a charismatic man, who at first inspires the people, then later becomes controlling and harmful. The congregation usually does not recognize that they are in fact in a cult.
When I was first married at age 17, I attended a church in a nearby town. My new husband and I had started attending the church while we were dating and continued throughout our marriage of two years. The Pastor was a tall handsome man and was the first pastor that I actually understood. I felt like he was speaking to me. It turns out he really was, he was visiting my husband behind my back to see what my concerns were about church, and then preaching about it on Sunday. In the beginning, everything was great, we were a happy family, we loved our church, and it was all fitting together perfectly.
By: Makera LookingHawk