More prone to spiritual abuse?

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Hi, I haven't been around in a while, but I am working with a counselor right now and had a question only you guys could answer. Are we more prone to "spiritual abuse?" In case you haven't heard that term before I am talking about the use of religion to make you feel like you aren't of value. I know certain religious groups are more prone to be spiritually abusive, but I wondered if maybe we were just more vulnerable to it?

I grew up in a pretty conservative religious home, attended church at least 3 times a week, and went to a private school run by our denomination. The message I felt like I received over and over again was "You just have to work harder than everyone else." I also felt like I wasn't a good Christian because I had trouble sitting still and praying, having "quiet time," and because I often told myself I was an idiot or stupid. Years later I realize that I was receiving the message from the behavior of people around me that I wasn't loved as I was and that everyone expected me to be like all of them....when in reality, I was different and prayer wasn't really my "thing" because it was not taught "visually" (or seen as acceptable to visualize). The tradition I was raised in was not very visual/sensory oriented.

Is this more of an issue with Aspergers? Or is it just more common in certain religious groups? When raising young Aspies (I have 2 myself), do we need to be aware of certain needs or tendencies towards being abused spiritually?

I find that religious groups are the worst for manipulating people and people with aspergers are very susceptible to manipulation because they simply can't understand when someone is doing it, which is why sociology/psychology research is so important. Also, what you are explaining is a group mentality, like if you aren't like them then of course they will bully you for it which is wrong. They spout on about acceptance but that's BS, I find religious groups to be rather hypocritical to a laughable extent lol.

Something similar happened to a much older relative of mine who is also autistic, she got brainwashed to be in that Jahovaness Witness cult and basically they kept taking her disability money and saying it was to help the congregation and it actually went towards buying the people who run it fancy sports cars. We soon got her out of that stupid place, now she's much happier at the community centre without any of that religious stuff ruining her life and friendships. The people at the community place are also way nicer and not stuck up.