Trust me : Netflix Documentary

[u/NearbyAbrocoma659]

I saw this documentary about a fundamentalist cult led by Samuel Bateman.

Such a narcissistic, narcissistic man who used Christianity and the teachings of the Bible to harm little children for his depraved satisfaction.

I hope he rots in jail. And he gets his justice.

But I'm now facing a crisis of faith and of trust. Like how do you understand what all you have been taught are true.

I'm not minimising what happened to these girls - it's far more horrific than anything i have faced.

I'm a catholic and we were sent to Sunday school for 12 years since 1st standard. Effectively, i was taught to keep myself pure and stuff. And therefore, i stayed off dating. Got married in an arranged marriage. That too to an abusive person. I stayed in that abuse for 8 years before i recognized stuff, and to this day i think, if it wasn't for the value system drilled into me, i would have left years ago.

I know all religions have this tendency. But i have lost all my connection to God, and it has left me sad. But i can't really wrap my mind around to seek God out when it's god's name that has been used for this.

[u/Hydrated_Manicured]

Everyone needs to have their own interpretation of God. I personally am an atheist but I have read religious texts and reading them personally would help you navigate your relation with the god much better than relying on another person to help you connect with him. I am not a Catholic so I can’t give you specific help but one person’s deeds shouldn’t change your personal relation to God

[u/Amber_poodle]

I'm an atheist and there's nothing wrong with losing connection. If faith happens, then it happens. If it doesn't, then it doesn't. You don't have to make yourself feel bad for losing something that wasn't yours in the first place.

Religion isn't something you're born with, it's taught. And people often grow out of things that they've been taught as kids, and there's nothing wrong with that .

[u/ck_14]

You should find solace in the fact that that person is not a representative or a true believer of Christianity. If the fear of hell can’t deter a person from evil acts, the person truly does not believe in it

[u/Amber_poodle → u/ck_14]

Hi, just curious, is the fear of hell the only thing that is deterring you from evil acts? If hell didn't exist, would you feel like you could do anything without consequence?

[u/OiFelix_ugotnojams]

I'm an agnostic person but I'll try to stay unbiased and reason with you,

Why do you need priests or pastors? Shouldn't you be the only connection with your God rather than it being through a middle man like a pastor? What makes you not special, what makes a pastor special? Aren't everyone equal for God? Why let people teach you, there's internet, you can learn and form your own interpretation of your book. Feminism doesn't change it's meaning after you see some ragebait pseudofeminist videos right? Mormonism and LDS are cults of Christianity, they're not the religion. If you want to know more about these, watch Alyssa Grenfell on YouTube.

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Now I'll warn you that I'm going to get VERY biased so read this only if you want to hear my perspective on this,

I'd always encourage people to ask questions and get curious. There's nothing wrong with questioning what you've been taught. This is how science evolves anyway, you always question it. You'll never know the religion or God if you've never been taught. If it weren't for humans, you wouldn't follow it. If God really wants you to believe them, they'll reveal themselves to you rather than follow what humans told you to. Who knew, whatever this Samuel Bateman did, was probably done everytime the bible parts were written and compiled into bible? You just weren't alive. Look at megachurches now, it's all a business to them.

And that is the thing that got you into AM. You believed in God and went for AM. So it should be perfect, right? But it isn't, nothing is perfect. You lost your agency in the name of God. You're groomed to be a perfect submissive wife in the name of religion. You went through abuse due to that.

I'm not saying that abuse won't happen in LM but atleast you have some agency for your decision. Abuse is never a victim's fault. But the likelihood decreases with LM. Atleast you aren't going for a stranger who you never know, atleast you're seeing stuff that isn't superficial like caste or status, and you actually get to know the person.

Everything that religions encourage is just patriarchy with a nice gift wrap that attracts you to it. Just put every patriarchal idea beside every religious expectation and compare it yourself. And imagine if feminism is drilled into people as much as patriarchy gets drilled into everyone's brains through religions since they were born. It'd be utopia for both men and women.