updated 10.20 am
Continuing notes from one Marlene Winell‘s Leaving the Fold. Previous posts are archived here.
This is a tough one to write about because I’m not sure I’ve really come to terms with the extent of my own past denials.
Winell does quote a lengthy letter from an MK (missionary kid) and I’ll repeat a small section that does remind me of one of my past parenting moments:
As I got older, true to the family pattern, I was hard on my little brother. He went to Mom and said that I hated him. Mom said, “No, he doesn’t hate you,” and dismissed it, even though that is what I had said. (p.125)
The above letter goes on to describe the son’s attempts to discuss family issues with a mother who finds it too difficult or painful to admit reality — who avoids it and only speaks of things getting better all the time. Continue reading “Dysfunctional fundamentalist families (9): Fantasy and Denial”