ABOUT THIS EPISODE
cw: mention of pornography
Zone Conference is once again upon us, and it’s just as toxic as ever. This week I’m focusing in on the theme of sacrificing yourself to receive the blessings of heaven, except it turns out that sacrificing and suffering can be really bad for people. I turn to the research behind Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, as a basic argument against the idea of suffering as a net positive. And in fact, it turns out that groups asking you to sacrifice is a known element of control in cults. An article by our friend Steven Hassan explains the concept of cognitive dissonance, handily connecting the Mormon Church’s obsession with sacrifice to another method of coercive control.
In week thirty-five, my journal entries include luxuriating in the freedom we got from having 30 whole minutes on a P-day to wander around a parking lot and have FUN, cheerleading my new greenie through her first day of working through a fast, managing my disappointment when a Memorial Day trench-digging service project was cancelled, and unironically writing, “I’m pretty excited to be a wife & Mom. : )”
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LDS Media Library: Praise to the Man
Phoebe Hall, Brown University: Discussing The Body Keeps the Score
Steven Hassan, Psychology Today: Cognitive Dissonance
Learn more:
Gabor Maté ACES: 5 min video
American Society for the Positive Care of Children: 10 question ACE quiz
Written, read, edited, & produced by Ally Finlinson Christiansen.
Music credits:
Clown Music by Seth_Makes_Sounds -- https://freesound.org/s/677166/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
mandolin sample from porch.wav by Jackie-makes-noiz -- https://freesound.org/s/545744/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Church Music by Seth_Makes_Sounds -- https://freesound.org/s/678022/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
#sistermissionary #sdrcm #NdbM #postmormon #exmormon #ohsister
