Searching For The Difference

I've been doing a bit of research lately on the effects of childhood sexual abuse. The internal wreckage that is left for the victim to spend a lifetime cleaning up is enormous and affects nearly every aspect of the survivors life. I came across a list of some of the lasting effects. They include:

Anxiety
Fear
Shame
A sense of inadequacy
Anxiety
A lasting perception of self as victim
Identification with the aggressor
Loss of opportunity to normally play and learn
The opportunity for normal growth and development
Lack of self esteem and self worth
Trust issues
Intimacy issues
Lack of control over his/her body
Loss of normal loving and nurturing
Lack of safety and security

As I read this list one thing that really struck me was how incredibly similar the lasting effects of sexual abuse are to the lasting effects of, what I consider to be, abusive religious teachings about sex - in particular the Mormon Church's teachings (or similar teachings of any conservative religion) about homosexuality.

I vividly remember how my virginal little self felt about sex after all the squeezed out orange object lessons in Young Women's; all the Standards Night / Law of Chastity firesides; and all the Don't Dry Hump Sunday School lessons taught by bishops to kick off every new semester at BYU. Every attempt at making me abstain from pre-marital sex also instilled me with dread, fear, shame, guilt and I had never even come close to being petted - let alone poked. I read over the above list and identified several issues that I had to work hard to overcome that were a direct result of what I was taught in church.

How much worse is it for gay kids growing up with those lessons? Exponentially. They get the same guilt, fear and shame instilled but they also get pummeled with the "unnatural, sinful, vile, perverse, against the laws of heaven" bullshit. How much more crippling is it for them? How much harder do they have to work to be sexually healed and whole? I would venture to say that a gay Mormon could check off every item on that list.

Emotional and Spiritual SEXUAL ABUSE. The methods may be different, but the effects and fall out are frighteningly similar.

So, is there really a difference between Boyd K. Packer sexually crippling young gays from the pulpit and Uncle B. Pervy sexually crippling young children in the basement?

You tell me.

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Related Posts:
Battle Cries Of The Sexually Dysfunctional: Part I
Battle Cries Of The Sexually Dysfunctional: Part II
Free Love