I'm Done

I'm done.  This is my final post.

I'm done kissing evangelical Christians' behinds and trying to be more like them.

In fact, I'm done with evangelical Christianity altogether.

My philosophical beliefs are based on love and justice, and they always have been, without any conditions or religious doctrine.

I could never, nor do I want to, be like the phony Christians who judge other people.

I'm done.  I'm.  Just.  DONE.

A Revelation That I Had Today

Image description: a brown-skinned Black woman (Kristy) with shoulder-length locs and thin-rimmed oval glasses, wearing a blue-and-gray striped short-sleeved polo shirt and a rainbow-flag button.

Today, I had a spiritual revelation as I went to my favorite shopping center.  I walked by GameStop and saw that they were supporting Autism Speaks, which is an atrocious organization.  I was starting to feel downcast because I thought my mom and I were the only people in my inner circle (the people whom I consider my closest friends and family) who don't support Autism Speaks.  And then I thought about all the people in the world who both knowingly and unknowingly support an organization that contributes to the stigma and oppression of autistic people.  I started to wonder if I should stop advocating for human rights and stay silent about the damaging rhetoric that Autism Speaks spews out just so I don't ruffle any feathers, but then this Bible verse came to mind:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. - Romans 12:2, New International Version of the Bible

I also thought of a Bible verse from a hymn that was sung in church during the tithes and offerings:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with you God. - Micah 6:8, NIV

 And then I remembered a sermon that I listened to this morning by televangelist Joyce Meyer: as Christians we're supposed to stand out because we're set apart from other people.

And that's when it hit me: I can't stay silent about human rights and justice, not while myself and other people are being oppressed and marginalized.  I want to help stop things like restraint/seclusion and applied behavioral analysis, so no other person has to go through the trauma that I went through.

And I'm not just talking about rights for autistic and other disabled people—I'm talking about LGBTQ rights, women's rights, rights for people of color, etc.

Christians say all the time that "God is in control", but the way they act after they say this phrase suggests that they're not willing to help stand up for someone when that person is being oppressed as in, "Accept your oppression.  It's God's will."

No, it's not God's will.  It's not God's will to deny justice to the marginalized.  There are many Bible verses that speak of justice, but this is my favorite one:

It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice. - Proverbs 18:5, NIV

If you're a true Christian, stand out, and stand up for the oppressed.

Many blessings.

 

   

 

ABA's Harmful Message to Children: You Can't Say "No"

Image description: a red circle with a slash through it - the "No" symbol

CW/TW: ABA, sexual abuse, autonomy, consent, gaslighting, violence

I haven't posted here in a while because I was going through another bad funk, but now that I have the spoons, I'm ready to talk the harmful massage that ABA gives to children.

If you've read my previous posts The Dangers of ABA Part 1 and Part 2, you already know why ABA is harmful to people, but what I didn't mention was what ABA teaches children: that they can't say "No", that they must say "Yes" or "OK" to everything that someone tells them if they want to be liked or accepted by anyone, which is extremely dangerous.

When I was 11 years old, I was sitting on the school bus with a girl whom I thought was my "best friend", and she molested me.  I don't remember what happened immediately after that - probably because I blocked it out of my memory.

I kept this hidden from my mother for 15 years because I was so ashamed that I let it happened.  I finally told her last month.  She asked me how I wanted to handle it, and I said that I wanted to work it out in therapy.  So I told my therapist the next time I saw her, about the ABA and the molestation, but she said that ABA wasn't abuse.  She also said something about the molestation that wasn't very reassuring.  I don't remember what that was because I blocked that out too.

What therapists, psychiatrists and other "professionals" fail to understand is that ABA is abuse, and it is harmful - children are under the impression that their feelings, their body, and their identity doesn't belong to them, that they belong to other people.  ABA teaches children that they're to please other people no matter what, which is wrong.

Far too often, disabled people are the victims of violence and abuse.  According to the World Health Organization, disabled children are four times more likely to be the victims of violence than abled children, and adults with psychiatric disabilities are four times more likely to be victims of violence than those who aren't psychiatrically disabled.

So please, don't continue to defend ABA after you've read this.

Thank you.