While listening to the Thinking Atheist podcast I was made aware of an online conference on religious trauma. The conference is taking place online Oct. 20-22nd, 2023. The conference will be covering topics such as: child marriage, recovery from patriarchal mindset, navigating identity when leaving an ethno-religion, reclaiming 2SLGBTQ+ sexuality post Purity Culture, how beliefs are formed, and Purity Culture recovery. They will have speakers representing a variety of fundamentalist religious and cult backgrounds including Amish, Evangelical, Muslim, Hasidic Orthodox Judaism, and Children of God.
You can register for the conference using this link.
Excerpts from Dr. Marlene Winell and the vision of the Conference on Religious Trauma:
There are widespread assumptions that religion in general is good or at least harmless. Yet people are seriously hurt by religious doctrines and practices every day. This has to end.
There is such a thing as religious trauma. Certain aspects of authoritarian religion cause harm that is physical, sexual, mental, and emotional.
While sounding the alarm about damaging religious teachings and practices, we also acknowledge healthy religion that supports positive human development. There are communities that avoid the worst of mythology, promote intrinsic human dignity, and take collective social action.