Gospel gaslighting

This Little Light of Mine - LGBTQ, Christianity, religious trauma, mental health

In today’s episode ‘Gospel gaslighting’ I share where some of my emotional arrested development started.

Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person or a group covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or group, making them question their own memory, perception, or judgment, often evoking in them cognitive dissonance and other changes, including low self-esteem.

In short, gaslighting is another’s attempt to question your ‘Knowing’ or to question your ‘Truth’.

The antidote to gaslighting is vulnerability and intimacy. It’s taking off the armor. It’s going off script and having a heart-to-heart conversation. It’s radical transparency, it’s mucky, it’s messy and it’s emotional… because… guess what… we are emotional beings!

Instead of teaching ourselves how to reign in our emotions, suppress our feelings, labeling our feelings as good vs. bad we have the opportunity to honour ourselves and each other by bringing our full and wonderfully messy selves into each and every situation. And just to be clear, I’m not saying “bring ALL of your emotions ALL of the time into EVERY situation”, we need to balance this with emotional intelligence and gauge how can I appropriately show my emotions and be human right now.

Being told that my inner knowing, my being, my sexuality, my orientation, whatever you want to call it was wrong or it was a choice or something I could get rid of; I always knew that it wasn’t. But I was taught to doubt myself, and so many people are taught to doubt who they are, who God created them to be.

Our emotions, our feelings, our conscience, our intuition these are our gifts from God. They are what make us unique and they are what we need to fully bring forward, each and every one of us, if we are going to heal forward together.

Next episode I will be joined by best-selling author, podcaster, and PROGRESSIVE pastor Colby Martin. Colby is passionate about carving out a space within Christianity that includes: a whole-heartedly affirming posture toward LGBTQ individuals, a broader acceptance of other spiritual practices and religious perspectives, an agreeableness toward science, and a commitment to always growing, transforming, and trusting that the best days are yet to come.

Join us next episode as I sit down with Colby Martin! Colby is one of leading voices of the Progressive Christian movement, he made me cry with his vision for the church in his first book UnClobber – Rethinking our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality” and introduce me to the incredible voices of Brian McLaren and Glennon Doyle. Colby will be talking about his newly released book ‘The Shift: Surviving and Thriving after Moving from Conversative to Progressive Christianity’

I want to give away a free copy of his book ‘The Shift’ to a listener of This Little Light Of Mine. For your chance to win all you need to do is subscribe, rate and leave a review of This Little Light Of Mine on Apple Podcasts or on IGTV. Next episode I will choose one of the reviews and send you your very own copy of ‘The Shift’.

I have one more surprise. I want to introduce you to Nancy Shadlock, CEO and founder of Centered life coaching and host of The Coming Out Chronicles. Nancy’s work as a ‘coming out coach’ caught my attention along with her upcoming retreat, appropriately call ‘The Shift’ and don't forget to contact Nancy for her superpowers session (I know I'll be reaching out!)

Thank you again for being with us today and before I go I want to remind you.

Your story is important. Your thoughts are important. Your intuition is important. Your knowing is important. Your questions are important. Your doubting is important. And what if, what if you’re not wrong?

You are designed with a powerful voice that we need to hear.

You are loved.

James