Religious trauma often results when a religious authority leverages positive or negative reinforcement to suppress their follower's freedom. As Orthodox Christians, we hold in tension the teachings of human freedom and spiritual obedience. These are not mutually exclusive – for human freedom is the basis of such obedience. Indeed, when an authority figure moves from respecting the individuals freedom to compelling them to act in a certain way, he moves from Orthodox obedience to religious abuse. Fundamentalism is key here. I will define fundamentalism as a tendency toward rigid thinking that makes oversimplifications and overgeneralization thereby reducing complex issues to a binary framework in order to avoid the discomfort of cognitive dissonance. While some issues are open-and-shut (like the command, "do not murder") others are not as simple (such as what to do in dangerous cases of ectopic pregnancies). This is where dogma meets real life. This is the place of the pastoral, not the dogmatic hardline.

Dr. Laura Anderson, Website: Website: https://drlauraeanderson.com Instagram: @drlauraeanderson Center for Trauma Resolution and Recovery: https://www.traumaresolutionandrecovery.com

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Angelica’s parents were constantly fighting. And she was caught somewhere between the drug and alcohol abuse of her parents and the verbal – and sometimes physical – abuse she suffered at their hands. Things weren’t all bad. But they were far from good. And when her mom died, it just got worse.

That’s when her dad decided they were going to become satanists.

The story that follows is one of how the light of Christ can illuminate even the darkest of places.

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Theoria is a YouTube Channel started by an Eastern Orthodox Christian and professional, freelance videographer and animator in 2015. Since that time, we have produced a number of video series' explaining Eastern Orthodox doctrine and practice with the likes of Frederica Matthewes-Green, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick, Rod Dreher, and more. Our goal is to produce quality videos and digestible YouTube shorts utilizing the rich theological tradition of the Church Fathers. We also seek to comment on cultural events from a paradigm within this same framework. For business inquiries, tweet @TheoriaTV, message on Instagram @TheoriaTV, or email theoriavideos at gmail dot com.