The best way of getting people to listen to stories of trauma is to simply keep telling stories. If people can be given ears to hear, it will happen through story.
This post is so thought-provoking... I can’t help but remember Kevin DeYoung’s review of The Making of Biblical Womanhood, in which he coldly dismissed Beth Barr’s (and others’) experiences of harm in the complementarian system, and instead focused on why her argument was “wrong” using favorite comp verses and proof-texts. Total inability to hear a story or empathize.
I’ve experienced the same -- pastors who sat silently and watched me weep over the harm they’d done to me. I wonder if this is the natural outcome of a left-brain theology that distills every Bible passage down to principles and behavioral advice. In these churches even the Biblical narratives are rarely presented as stories to enter into and experience, as O’Connor described, and are instead reduced to “be like David/Ruth, etc.” (Same with the emotions of the Psalms)
We’re unlikely to listen to the stories of those who are suffering if we won’t even listen to the stories the Bible tells us. Though I hope the church will learn how.
I am amazed you were not aware of your emotions when you were younger. I’m amazed because I’ve always been very much aware of my emotions--though I didn’t always have the right words to label them. For example, when I was angry as a child, my parents always said I was “tired”. It wasn’t till I was in my 20s that I learned that this emotion was called anger.
It’s hard for me to imagine what it would be like to not be aware of one’s emotions.
Thank you for taking on difficult topics that challenge faith. There’s a deep and profound symbolism of late that has entered a new stage of perversity and it has virtually escaped the actual comprehension of the spiritual community....the primary target. Please explore
Seeking Ears to Hear Stories of Abuse
This post is so thought-provoking... I can’t help but remember Kevin DeYoung’s review of The Making of Biblical Womanhood, in which he coldly dismissed Beth Barr’s (and others’) experiences of harm in the complementarian system, and instead focused on why her argument was “wrong” using favorite comp verses and proof-texts. Total inability to hear a story or empathize.
I’ve experienced the same -- pastors who sat silently and watched me weep over the harm they’d done to me. I wonder if this is the natural outcome of a left-brain theology that distills every Bible passage down to principles and behavioral advice. In these churches even the Biblical narratives are rarely presented as stories to enter into and experience, as O’Connor described, and are instead reduced to “be like David/Ruth, etc.” (Same with the emotions of the Psalms)
We’re unlikely to listen to the stories of those who are suffering if we won’t even listen to the stories the Bible tells us. Though I hope the church will learn how.
I am amazed you were not aware of your emotions when you were younger. I’m amazed because I’ve always been very much aware of my emotions--though I didn’t always have the right words to label them. For example, when I was angry as a child, my parents always said I was “tired”. It wasn’t till I was in my 20s that I learned that this emotion was called anger.
It’s hard for me to imagine what it would be like to not be aware of one’s emotions.
Thank you for taking on difficult topics that challenge faith. There’s a deep and profound symbolism of late that has entered a new stage of perversity and it has virtually escaped the actual comprehension of the spiritual community....the primary target. Please explore
https://open.substack.com/pub/sinatana/p/the-mask-of-all-skams-f07?utm_source=direct&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Grace 🙏