TonioTimeDaily

"Living conditions

Compiling a variety of historical sources, historian Kenneth M. Stampp identified in his classic work The Peculiar Institution reoccurring themes in slave masters’ efforts to produce the "ideal slave":

"Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.[1]

In biblical studies, the term pseudepigrapha can refer to an assorted collection of Jewish religious works thought to be written c. 300 BCE to 300 CE. They are distinguished by Protestants from the deuterocanonical books (Catholic and Orthodox) or Apocrypha (Protestant), the books that appear in extant copies of the Septuagint in the fourth century or later[2] and the Vulgate, but not in the Hebrew Bible or in Protestant Bibles.[3]In addition to the sets of generally agreed to be non-canonical works, scholars will also apply the term to canonical works who make a direct claim of authorship, yet this authorship is doubted. For example, the Book of Daniel is considered by some to have been written in the 2nd century BCE, 400 years after the prophet Daniel lived, and thus for them, the work is pseudepigraphic. A New Testament example might be the book of 2 Peter, considered by some to be written approximately 80 years after Saint Peter's death. Early Christians, such as Origen, harbored doubts as to the authenticity of the book's authorship.[4]"

"Victims are shamed, accused of making things up, ignored, slandered, punished, and oppressed using numerous methods and tactics. This leads to incredible feelings of insecurity, self-doubt, and distrust.

Victims suffering from sex abuse in the church may have pastors tell them “it’s not that big of a deal,” or parishioners say “it was probably your fault,” or perpertrators claim “it was God’s will.” People who care about immigrants may encounter Christian leaders who are dismissive for the sake of protecting a political ideology? People passionate about helping refugees may experience evangelists who spread misinformation to fearmonger and lie about crime, terrorism, and economic ruin?

People with mental health conditions may look for the church to offer spiritual help, only to have someone from the church say to “get over it.” Churches may even spiritualize mental illness and blame it on “sin,” or proclaim that it’s happening because of a lapse in moral character or because of a lack of faith. Victims who experience racism and sexism at a church may be told that what they’re thinking isn’t real, or that they should try to be nicer. Leaders may try to cover up, and diminish, or even deny their experiences.

Since spirituality and a sense of belonging are foundational values within Christian communities, they’re also used as leverage to threaten victims. A deacon might spew the lie that “You’ll destroy the lives of your friends and family” to a woman thinking about reporting her abuser to the police. An elder might tell a teenager that “God calls us to love our enemies and forgive those who wrong us” because she wants to report her youth pastor for sexual harassment. A pastor might threaten that “we wouldn’t be able to afford to pick you up anymore” to an elderly couple who hasn’t tithed recently, but relies on the church for transportation. The danger of Christian gaslighting is that it disguises itself as faith."