Marlene Winell interviewed by Valerie Tarico on recovering from religious trauma

[@jezzaknight1274]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.......i'm not alone!!!...hugely damaged my religion. contributed to a massive breakdown and serious mental health problems. only been at peace for the last 3 years. I'm 41. I'm happy now. I'm free now. I'm at peace now.

[@n2dabloo]

good for you jezz

[@giovannivernon492]

I woke up 3 years ago. I'm now 26 and it scares me to death to wonder how long it's going to take for me to be fully free.

[@yaporte]

I'm happy for you thank you for showing there is a light at the end of the tunnel, I was a JW for 14 years left 3 years ago I'm struggling with this do much.

[@theologytherapist]

Marlene’s work has been fundamental in opening up a space within the field of mental health for so many people, like myself, to heal! Thank you!

[@RavynGuiliani]

I have hyper-religiosity after 34 years (3 generations) of being a Jehovah's Witness. Don't be fooled people, they are a dangerous cult. And I was not disfellowshipped or disassociated, I walked out after 15 years of pioneering and lost everything and everyone. I have been out for 20 years but I am still dealing with the trauma everyday.

[@AreYouKenneth]

How do you deal with the thoughts and feelings about the lost years and experiences from the past that you'd never recover?

[@1905cedar]

I was taken to see the film "A Thief In The Night". WOW I am in shock to learn that many other people suffered the same traumas I lived with because of this film. A few days or weeks after the film viewing, I came into the house and mom wasn't there. I stood there screaming in terror. When I stopped screaming, I began making my plan: Who my christian neighbers were, who's house to break into to get money and food. I was 12 yrs old and was preparing for Armageddon alone.

[@bonnie43uk]

Good to hear a discussion about Christianity from a perspective that isn't within that "Christian bubble". For most Christians their faith is a comfort to them, that's fine with me, but it's when that faith is pushed onto other people who have a different view of life and are happy with the way they live their life, that's when it becomes problematic.. they wouldn't appreciate someone pushing an alternative faith on them, and telling them the way they are living their life is wrong.

[@Naymichelle76]

bonnie43uk Well said. Thank you!

[@RealScarlett33]

Thank you so much for the upload! I have struggled with RTS for so many years and am once again attempting to break away from fundamentalist Christianity (my 2011 goal). Living in fear of hell and a daily life filled with anxiety is NO way to live!

[@NondualChristian]

Absolutely. This is NOT 'life in all its fullness'. Hope you're in a good place now.

[@shawnstatzer95]

Forsaking religion was one of the best changes that I have ever experienced.

[@dc14522]

I have been trying to get my local school district to recognize that the Good News Club that meets at the elementary school teaches doctrines which amount to child abuse. One big problem is that when you say that a specific doctrine is abusive they hear "religion is abusive." It's incredibly frustrating that otherwise intelligent people cannot recognize the abusive aspects and distinguish them from the religion as a whole.

[@dc14522]

Thank you, but I'm a lifetime member of FFRF and I know Annie Laurie (the Co-President) personally. They can't offer legal assistance because of a 2001 Supreme Court decision that allows the GNC to be in public schools. It's up to the school district to write (and enforce) facility use policies that protect children. Sadly, most schools don't recognize the problem, let alone are willing to do something about it.

[@sarahherr7601]

@@dc14522 we had GNC at our school. My friend became hysterical one day when they told us that "Santa" spells "Satan" if you switch the letters around. So yes it can be traumatic.

[@DebbieMcNulty]

I still deal with these issues and I have been out of the church for over 10 years, :(

[@peterhesselink7254]

Wow, I 'am not the only one here with RTS ! I was involved in a pentacostal church / sect. It has damaged me mentaly. All those tennets, all that endless sermons. It makes people sick ! The goverment needs to stop these cults !

[@ZoesofRose]

I know that I'm replying late but after you left the Pentecostal church did you have nightmares, please answer. If you don't mind me asking what type of Pentecostal church did you go to? I was also raised in a Pentecostal home.

[@jjamerican93]

I'd say I struggle with being open with other people about my growing interest in being non-religious. The church is so central to my family and friends that the Internet has been refreshing to learn and associate with people like myself.

[@ImOddTodd]

I'm in love these women! Beautiful and healing conversation. Thanks

[@MainelyLove]

Fascinating interview. Just want to say that I am so glad I was clueless about "the Rapture" that my evangelical grandmother would talk about while I was growing up. Honestly, my ignorance saved me. I thought it meant that when Jesus came back everyone would always be in a good mood. Really! I was almost 40 when I saw a dramatization of people dematerializing / disappearing instantly...I remember one example, a man working in an office, standing by a copy machine, then poof he was gone. THAT was what my grandmother meant! OMG, a child cannot integrate that with the understanding needed to avoid trauma! Also, not all Christian denominations focus on or even discuss Revelations or The Rapture as part of their general teachings.

[@sherrysmith4025]

I'm Sherry Bourbonnais-Smith. My father is Larry Bourbonnais, from the New Life Church shooting. I totally understand and recognize religious abuse! My life has been filled with it.

[@alanroberts5366]

join the club!

[@NondualChristian]

What a fabulous channel. A breath of fresh air. So glad I found you.

[@DrogoBaggins987]

This video really brought up a lot of bad memories.

[@pvp_python2632]

I hear you.... :/

[@livingstranger]

I was raised Evangelical Fundimental and non-denominational Christian and stayed a Christian for 34 years. I recently turned away from Christianity for personal reasons because I was seeking something more. I then learned the lies of Christianity. However, my whole mental and emotional life seems in utter turmoil. I drink every night and I already struggled with anxiety since I was a teen. Sometimes I feel like I’m losing my sanity and I get panic attacks. I feel fears I’ve never felt before and I don’t know how find peace.

[@soldiervesselofjesuschrist2500]

Humble your heart before God every day Trust in him.

[@JIALINN]

Thank you dearly Marlene this is much needed .....and we need more all around...keep going I'm passing the word

[@JustMusickingAround]

< Include with that complex PTSD caused by physically-abusive parents who quote "Spare the rod and spoil the child" as literally as you can imagine and you have one fucked-up soul: an unloved, rejected, traumatized toddler in the body of an adult. I'm simply a broken spirit in an empty shell. But wait...That's not enough!? There's also the expectation by everyone in society that we victims should celebrate this with our perpetrators every Christmas and Easter!!

[@gargantacortador]

My aunt used to tell me a story when I was a child about her waking up and finding herself being strangled by a shadowy demon. She said she screamed as loud as she could but no one woke up. I now know that it was most likely something along the lines of sleep paralysis. However, as a child this created the real fear that I would maybe wake up one night with a demon strangling me to death and I wouldn't be able to get help. I couldn't have my own bedroom.

[@quantumleap8824]

I have been out of religion for like about 4 years now, I am soooooo grateful that I AM OUT! I think that religion is the WORST thing that has EVER existed! Thank you for sharing this interview. I've had a pretty easy transition, for being so much into religion, and now being out. I've studied and am convinced that the bible is a book written by men, so not to believe it, is easy now. I want to congratulate all those that are Agnostics/Atheists and have freed their minds. Nothing like it! :)))))

[@heatherprock8205]

This rings true. I grew up in the Lord’s Recovery. We were indoctrinated in a fear based program.

[@glenallen623]

i just couldn't feel saved. try as i might.

[@alanroberts5366]

Same here, but I kept trying....

[@kristiandoon8976]

People who believe that an omnipotent being grants them special favors,while simultaneously allowing millions of people to suffer and starve, are not only delusional,they’re especially arrogant,vain and self absorbed.

[@missylee3022]

I've been out of pentecost for years and as she talked about the rapture my chest got tight and I started panicking. That's shocking to me I have no actual belief in the rapture but I'm screwed up for life.

[@sashag.9459]

Thank you so much! I've been through the same thing after leaving the charismatic movement here in Holland. I started questioning what I was believing al these years , a so called relationship with Jesus, they didn't even call it a religion. Which it defintilely is! I realised I had been brainwashed. It was all fear based.... Taking the Bible literarly, homofobic opinions ..... One of the best decisions I've ever made in my life is starting to think for myself and leaving this cult. NOW I'm actually FREE INDEED! Namaste from Amsterdam

[@AreYouKenneth]

How do you deal with the thoughts and feelings about the lost years and experiences from the past that you'd never recover?

[@adrianfoca865]

I know exactly what she is talking about

[@ILetGoOfDogma]

I had the rapture fear when I lost my parents as a child. Hadn't remembered this until I heard it here. wow.

[@annetteandersen5762]

I am a victim of religion and a parent and now i struggle to rescue two children that i am guilty of leading into religion... And any attempt from me are easily Seen as apostasy trying to lead away from salvation!!!

[@toxendon]

Annette Kurstein Andersen Norsk? Jeg føler det på samme måten... Har vært ungdomsleder i en menighet i mange år. Trodde jeg gjorde den viktigste, mest moralsk riktige jobben i verden. Grøss og gru...

[@JustMusickingAround]

WOW... :o There's actually a name for it! I'm glad she mentioned Adventists. I was brainwashed in the Seventh-day Adventist Cult from birth and wasted 25 years of my life serving Him! I've since been out of my religion for several years now, but i cannot shake the haunting fear of hell and feel absolutely doomed. I'm now socially inept, unemployable, and the only way i can have sex is to pay for it. In Australia, that's a legitimate transaction and can't believe that's illegal over in the US! >

[@disarchitected]

I think Valerie Tarico has the cause of RTS mixed up. RTS is a condition arising out of Christianity. Everyone is susceptible to it, not just a small "susceptible" group with issues. You just need the right set of life circumstances translated through particular hierarchies of Christian values to trigger it. Tarico herself could develop RTS one day. I think its analogous to soldiers who develop PTSD; its the experience of war that's the trigger, not the soldier.

[@lemsip207]

When you do stop going to church you can become sicker as all that pressure is released as you were playing down your feelings before and not allowing yourself to become ill. But it has to be worked through because if you remained in church you would eventually crack. In the same way people in stressful jobs don't get a painful headache until Friday evening or Saturday morning and teachers often go down with a cold during the school vacations.

[@Williamwestp24]

Got that right. When my mom died in 2011, i had to do research and studies to find out what this god was really all about at that time.

[@annetteandersen5762]

It is serious to Call it child abuse.. It is culture inherited and a strong force in a responsible parent. Not something to punnish the parents fore because the parents are victims too. They need help to discover the sceem of a religion to dare let go of belief.. Very important point !!!

[@suzanne5567]

I really appreciate the work Marlene Winell is doing. I totally relate to the abuse she describes. However I am surprised and a little offended by some of Dr. Tarico’s questions and reactions. I guess she just doesn’t get it. Which continues to feelings of abuse. She could be a more empathetic interviewer.

[@Indusxstan]

A detailed and honest study of comparative religion is the most important field of study that can be done today. Sadly the fear of Islam in particular is not going to let this happen and millions will suffer what the doctor describes, and mostly silently, believing they are alone and to blame.

[@Elaphe472]

I think one should not only consider the mental state of the ones who try to set themselves free, but the mental state (insane, psychopatic mental state) of the endoctrinators. If they can be perceived as psychopaths, it may facilitate the process of rescuing oneself.

[@Revddt]

good word..she is right ..

[@GoryYogi]

If only more women would stop being closed minded... Thx Ladies...

[@yveqeshy]

Not being allowed to trust your own judgement is such a fundamental core in these religious circles Infact there's a Bible verse I believe that says something to the tune of 'lean not on your own understanding'.

[@Williamwestp24]

it's all about intellectual, spiritual, and scripture honesty and most atheist/agnostics and a few theists acknowledge that.

[@michaelmccloud2376]

Marlene is so on the money so so true religious abuse is a terrible thing that lasts the lifetime putting things in tree young child's mind that still is not at the age of Reason disgusting absolutely I am still suffering from the Drake's of my religious abuse as a child I'm NOW 83 years of age just think of John Lennon's song imagine

[@karlacindysantamaria7292]

I just want to say that I'm free also!! 🥰

[@stefanielynn4724]

ex christian has helped me. its something that can be looked up as well.

[@xerox1959]

The intervieuw is ok and interesting (although a little to "set and make up"), but poor quality of recording etc.

[@ginacoveney7818]

I would love to talk to you.thankyou

[@percubit10]

Thank you. Thank you., For me, it was very damaging. They kept telling me it was God's will and It was such a downer. and I was told that I was not enough. What a brainwash.

[@jarodcarnarvon5198]

Living in Oklahoma, it would be very hard to find nice well-mannered like these 2 women who would support me in my exit from religion. Too bad there wasn't some group here in Oklahoma City I could connect with. Here in the South and West, you get tarred and feathered for not believing in God, LOL

[@TomeRodrigo]

The interviewer is pretty annoying.

[@johnnysalter7072]

The only logical conclusion to Jesus is Jim Jones, if one follows through

[@W-Sfire7000]

Because if demonic activity is even remotely suspected, then the possibility of spirit world is also there? and with that, good spirits, then angels then God even?, all the spiritual dualities becomes a possibility?

[@devidaughter7782]

too many distracting and annoying interruptions by interviewer who is clearly coming from a naive perspective of 'religion is comforting for children'. it sure wasn't for me! I'm still finding the language to name the incredibly damaging impact of growing up within evangelical xtianity.

[@percubit10]

Christianity is abusive, it ruined mt life,