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Faithful flock to 'bleeding' Virgin Mary(CNN)–Dozens of believers gather on the lawn of a Baton Rouge family after their statue of the Virgin Mary appears to bleed. CNN affiliate WBRZ reports. My Take: 5 ways to survive 'post-traumatic church syndrome'
By Reba Riley, CNN (CNN)–At 20, while studying for Christian ministry, I became a victim of "post-traumatic church syndrome." The how isn’t as important as the what: My soul had grown obese with doubt, and I could no longer squeeze into my religion. Like every good Evangelical Poster Child, I had been raised with Believe-It-All theology (lest God spit me out of His mouth in disgust!), so when I chose to Believe-It-None I became God’s holy puke. When faith is your whole identity, rejecting it is not unlike swan-diving into a bed of nails. It’s spiritual suicide; you’ll be forced attend a thousand little funerals for your shattered self, each worse than the last. The pain is so brutal, so intense, that it’s easier to tell yourself lies: Faith isn’t important; I don’t need God; I can partition off my soul with demolition tape and tip-toe around the condemned site forever. Except that eventually? I couldn’t play pretend. |
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team. ![]() ![]() |
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