An interesting article on Christianity and boundaries

[beam me up scottie]

1. A good read, very personal.

I have to agree with their assessment re christianity teaching people that they're broken:

Most versions of Christianity show little to no respect for personal or relational boundaries. Keep in mind, these are belief systems that say you are so very bad that you deserve to be punished forever, and in order to make amends for that, Jesus had to be tortured and killed for it instead of you. That’s how despicable you are. Entire nations have been destroyed just to provide an object lesson in what God will do to those who don’t get right with him.

I know, right? That’s awful. And yes, I know there are other versions of this religion which have discarded the penal substitutionary view of the atonement (because who cares how the Bible actually interprets itself, right?), but even those kinder gentler versions can’t seem to shake the dogmatic belief that people are fundamentally broken. If we weren’t fundamentally messed up then why would we need saving in the first place? And saved from what, ourselves?

The brilliance of modern Christianity lies in its ability to sugar coat this message, reframing it in entirely positive sounding terms. “We want you to have the best life possible! We’re offering you a priceless gift! If you turn it down you’ll be missing out!” That’s good marketing, honestly, and it sells well. People and institutions have made millions from it. But underneath the saccharine, smiley surface lies a profoundly disturbing message: You are so incomplete and insufficient as a human being that you will never be okay without what we have to offer you. Happiness and fulfillment are impossible apart from what we are trying to sell you. You must have this or your life will have been wasted.

Not being the product of religious upbringing I can only give an outsider's version of what it's like to look in.

This person has a very different and interesting perspective

Rec.