TOXIC FAITH - A CHRISTIAN BOOK SHOWS HOW BAD FAITH STRUCTURES COMPOSE THEMSELVES
Toxic Faith by Stephen Arterburn & Jack Felton (Oliver-Nelson, 1991)
Many believers in religion argue that there are forms of religious faith that
are toxic. Many atheists believe that though religion is a bad thing, the reason
it is bad is because it is based on religious faith and religious faith is
always about what you want to believe and not the truth. Whoever does not care
about truth does not care about others much either. If faith is a problem, that
gives the critic a way to blame say Catholicism for what Islam does. Catholicism
is to blame in the sense that it endorses faith and all the violent Muslim
terrorist is doing is putting faith into practice.
Sometimes you expect something to touch a person's good buttons and the opposite
happens. Faith could look harmless and be pressing bad buttons if not in all
believers but in many of them. What if faith should change people for the better
and does not always do it? What if it is faith's fault?
The Christian book Toxic Faith by Stephen Arterburn & Jack Felton
(Oliver-Nelson, 1991) is very useful. But despite its grand assertions about the
dangers of toxic faith, the fact remains that Christianity, the faith it
espouses, is a toxic faith and contradicts the book's main suppositions.
Manipulative means having a hidden agenda. Christianity is manipulative - it
pretends to be pro-health.
People are always taken in by the people in a sect who are seen as good. Any
system needs some charmers to take off. Catholicism likes to parade saints and
this attracts people to it despite the fact that a few seemingly good people in
a system does not make the system good. It is superficial to judge a religion as
great just because some of its members are outwardly great and are paraded. The
rule might be that religious people would be better people without religion so
those saints could be exceptions. There are exceptions to every rule. It is
superficial for people of no religion have the same degree of goodness as most
ordinary religious people. Good people in a religion never show that the
religion is in any way good but they do show that human nature is good. To call
any religion good because of the nice people in it is insulting. It is odd how
religion would take responsibility for being inept or a bad influence if most
members turned out bad and it does not if the number of bad people is small! It
is not a question of statistics!
Jesus was prickly - if he lived - but it seems his followers often did so much
good that their religion became a success. The argument that a religion is good
if it has mostly good people in it is invalid. Their goodness is human goodness.
It is an insult to them to accept their claim that it comes solely from the
power of their religion.
There is a dangerous tendency among a few to argue that a religion should be
allowed to teach what it wants even if it is pure hatred. But what about the
victims? They say that victims should see that it is something in the haters
that is the problem and not the religion. The victims them are accused of being
unfair if they blame religion or the person as a religious person. It is twisted
to protect religion and faith and not people.
Some argue that religion never harms because we are never upset by something
another person is or does. What upsets us is how we react.
Those who argue that way are really apologists for evil. Even if we are to blame
for being upset, somebody else is too.
FROM Toxic Faith (a summary by B. Jackson)
The following is a summary of the book Toxic Faith by Stephen Arterburn & Jack
Felton (Oliver-Nelson, 1991) under the heading of The Roles of Toxic Faith. It
is part B.
B. The Roles of Toxic Faith summarised by Bill Jackson from the book Toxic Faith
by Stephen Arterburn & Jack Felton (Oliver-Nelson, 1991).
Introduction
a. A healthy system is made up of individuals with a full range of emotions,
intellect, free will and the ability to function independently. In a
dysfunctional system, each individual plays out a role needed for the system to
function. Since individuals lack the ability to function independently, they
depend on one another to play out their roles and allow the system to continue.
Those roles have to be played so that those in the system can remain in their
denial and avoid the overwhelming fear of insignificance
b. In a dysfunctional system, roles evolve to support the system. Each person
must be willing to play the roles which become more keenly defined as the
addiction intensifies. Individuals become trapped in predictable behaviours that
remove God and faith, replacing them with a dependency on a set of rules. As a
person's behaviour lines up with one of these predictable roles, any deviation
from that role is a sign of rebellion from the system and is dealt with quickly
through shaming and rejection. Although each role is difficult to maintain, it
is even more difficult to leave the safety and predictability of the role and
act independently. A person who takes this step back toward reality becomes an
outcast of the system
c. In a toxic faith system, be it family, church or ministry, the person with
the role of persecutor heads the group. The persecutor is supported by
co-conspirators, enablers, and victims. These people have one primary function:
allow the persecutor to function, insulated from reality. Each person in each
role believes the organization must continue, and it is each person's job to
distort, manipulate, hide, or deny reality so the toxic system can go on. Each
person in a different way protects the persecutor from outside disruptions that
could stop the achievement of the persecutor's vision
d. These people create a false reality by distancing and isolating the
persecutor from contact with the real world. As they grow more committed to the
persecutor and the toxic ministry, they become addicted to the behaviours of the
role and the feelings derived from participating in the false reality of the
toxic system. Once they stop supporting the false reality that allows the
persecutor and the ministry to continue, they are no longer needed by the system
and are thrown out
The roles
a. The Persecutor
The persecutor plays the role of the father in the family.
In the church this person is the one with the vision that the organization must
continue, and it is each person's job to distort, manipulate, when they were
younger and, therefore, don't want to risk rejection as an adult. Rather than
trust God and risk being rejected or betrayed by God, they focus on what they do
in the name of God and what they perceive are the instant rewards sent from God.
In this way they lose all faith in God and rely on their own abilities to find
God's favor. The fulfillment of the mission becomes everything for the wrong
reason and they surround themselves with people willing to say that the progress
toward the goal is outstanding
b. The Co-conspirator
For every persecutor, there is at least one co-conspirator who manipulates,
plots, and plans to keep the persecutor in power and position. The persecutor
and co-conspirator work as a unit; they operate as one. Both are addicted to
religion as the means by which they seem to be the one with the vision that
he/she and the others find meaning in fulfilling. Persecutors have often been
rejected Several work together to form a team of "yes-men" that will do anything
to protect and defend the persecutor. They feed into the persecutor's ego and
further blind him/her from reality. When there is conflict, they usually find a
way to agree with the persecutor and support his/her position. They are loyal in
every way. In a toxic faith system, these are the most dangerous followers
because of their proactive commitment to keeping the system intact. Their
undying faith in the persecutor is the reason so many will continue to support
that person when trouble, rumour, or admission of wrong surfaces
c. The Enabler
While the co-conspirator actively connives to keep the persecutor in power,
the enabler's role is more passive. They allow, more than promote,
victimization. They are not active in the decision-making of the organization
but willingly support those decisions made at the top. They know something fishy
is going on but they don't want to rock the boat by calling attention to it.
They are getting their worth serving something "significant," therefore, they
purposely don't "see things," thus justifying their enabling activities. The
fearful enabler will wait until someone else intervenes. They hope for but are
afraid to work for change. Instead, they work like beasts of burden because they
feel responsible for everything
d. The Victims
Victims place their complete trust in the leaders of the toxic faith system and
become silent victims of something they don't understand. They fear rejection
and abandonment so much that they would rather be exploited members of something
than be on their own and be part of nothing. Theirs is a blind allegiance
e. The Outcast
This is the only role in the toxic system that is not driven by addiction. In
any toxic system, there is usually someone who can see the problem and confronts
it. In a healthy system, individuals serving in that organization have respect
for the person and position of leadership. For it to remain healthy, there must
also be respect for the workers. When there is no respect, the "hired hands" are
not allowed to disagree. If they don't like something, they are labelled
complainers, negative thinkers, and not team players. The toxic system has no
place for anyone who challenges the integrity or disagrees with the methods of
the leader. The person who is unwilling to play the games of the persecutors and
co-conspirators, becomes the outcast. They lose their friends and church because
they stood for their convictions
