Wow. This is how MacArthur’s “biblical” counseling works:

- shame the suffering person by labeling their pain “sin”

- heap guilt on them for not being able to make better choices

And finally, when all the above drives them to give up —

- blame the victim of suicide

Brian Morris Q. Hmm I wonder what could make some pastor of a church legit think they are experts in psychology, biology, medicine, theology, philosophy, church history, hermeneutics, metaphysics, Greek and Hebrew, politics, sociology, economics, sexuality & other religions etc?

A. Pride.

This is what every person in the history of the world knows, from:

Don’t tread on me
Give me liberty of give me death
Freedom must be demanded

“The most beneficent master…would still be soul-crushing.”

👏

Neo-Confederates can go back to 1860.

Let's be honest, Scripture is not sufficient for 99% of our daily activities and decisions. It just isn't. And it's not even supposed to be. It's not even sufficient for 99% of our beliefs, no matter how Christian we are! This only requires the slightest reflection to understand.

Trying to keep their followers from consulting with psychiatrists and psychologists is a conservative evangelical past-time.

RJ Rushdoony, 1979:

Here’s my educated guess on how the religious world works.

John MacArthur, 2014:

“Most surprising to me were the so-called Christian psychologists and psychiatrists who testified that the Bible alone does not contain sufficient help to meet people's deepest personal and emotional needs.”

Is he saying they go to hell?

“These men were…

Just remember, true happiness comes in subordinating yourself to a master.

Being Master is a terrible burden, but someone’s gotta do it.

Here’s John MacArthur from 2012 on slavery. Notice a disturbing and damaging pattern here, from very harmful misinformation about mental illness/PTSD to his weirdly sympathetic views on slavery? All wrapped in a distorted view of Christianity. What wreckage.

Brian Morris After a decade of devoting myself to religion and right action and frequent confession, my depression and anxiety was cured!

…by the antidepressants I started taking 😙

For those that don’t know, David Gray was a member of GCC, John MacArthur’s church. He’s now a convicted sexual offender and denied parole.

His then wife was ex-communicated.

He was not.

“We are right. Even though what we believe literally helped kill someone it’s his fault not ours.” This is absolutely how fundamentalism kills people.

John MacArthur, 2014:

“In 1980, GCC was hit with a lawsuit charging that the pastors on our staff were negligent because we tried to help a suicidal young member of our church by giving him biblical truth.”

“He knew from Scripture that suicide is wrong. We urged him to let the…

this is literally the evangelical version of 'you wouldn't have panic attacks if you weren't so weak'

White evangelicalism when having struggles, trials, trauma:

1. Follow the rules, repent
2. Try harder, repent more
3. Have more faith, repent correctly
4. Go back to step 1
5. If you give up & leave, you were never one of us anyway

This is a great example of gaslighting - you don't have anxiety, you just have bad theology.... etc.