When Faith Hurts: Religious Trauma, Racism, and the Fight for True Freedom
Black Jesus by Titus Kaphar, 2020, via Titus Kaphar website
Religion is meant to heal, but for many Americans, it has also left scars.
Religious belief has long shaped the culture and politics of the United States. It can be a source of meaning and community, but it can also cause deep harm. Religious trauma refers to the psychological, emotional, and spiritual wounds caused by harmful teachings, communities, or doctrines (Winell, 2011). These wounds are not rare. In the United States, where Christianity has long dominated public life, religious trauma is increasingly recognized not only as an individual struggle but as a collective wound with profound racial, social, and political consequences.
The contradiction is stark. While the Constitution promises freedom of religion, that freedom is uneven. Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), LGBTQ+ individuals, women, and those outside dominant Christian traditions have too often been told that they do not belong. Religion has been used both as a sanctuary and as a weapon, binding some together while cutting others out. The result is a nation where millions carry spiritual wounds: shame, fear, and the trauma of being told their very existence is “other.”
As we consider what religious freedom truly means in 2025, the question becomes: can freedom be meaningful when so many still live with the scars of religious harm?
The Individual Impact of Religious Trauma
Religious trauma leaves deep marks on individuals. Survivors often describe anxiety, depression, shame, or even symptoms of post-traumatic stress. These harms are most common in rigid or authoritarian religious settings, where questioning was discouraged and deviation from doctrine met with fear, guilt, or rejection (Winell, 2011).
As scholar Monte Mader observes, “Religious trauma doesn’t come from belief itself, but from environments where questioning is punished, conformity is demanded, and individuals—especially children—are not given the right to consent” (Mader, 2024). It is not faith itself that wounds, but cultures of control that weaponize it.
For many, the pain is also tied to identity. Women raised in purity culture internalize the belief that their worth depends on sexual “purity.” LGBTQ+ individuals are told their very existence is sinful or disordered. Survivors describe silencing and erasure in spaces where their voices never mattered. These experiences fracture identity and make it difficult to separate spiritual growth from harmful dogma.
For BIPOC communities, religion has been both a source of resilience and a site of trauma. Black churches have long been centers of liberation and hope, while Christianity also justified slavery, segregation, and ongoing racial hierarchies. Indigenous peoples endured forced conversions and suppression of traditions. Even today, predominantly white churches may exclude or tokenize BIPOC members, while colonial and white supremacist frameworks persist in many communities of color.
Religious trauma is not just personal—it is systemic. The same structures that silence dissent also uphold hierarchies of race, gender, and sexuality.
…