(RNS) — People who leave tight-knit religious communities often feel anger, resentment or hurt toward religious leaders, family members or co-religionists in the group.
But what if they decided to forgive — themselves, their families, their co-religionists or God? Would it help them adjust to their new lives, become more resilient and happier?
That was the question at the heart of a new study published recently in two prestigious psychology journals, The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion and the American Psychological Association’s Psychology of Religion and Spirituality Journal. (One focuses on spiritual harm, the other on forgiveness.)
The study, funded by the John Templeton Foundation, looked at 293 formerly Haredi Jewish men and women who had left the demanding strictures of their Orthodox sects and were living lives outside of the community they had grown up in.
Of those, 278 respondents — or 95% — reported they had been harmed by their religious community. They felt discriminated against, rejected, threatened and abused. All were U.S.-based, most living in New York and New Jersey. Half of the study participants reported that they identify as LGBTQ+, not too surprising given that gay love is considered a transgression in the Haredi world.
Yeduhis Keller. (Courtesy photo)
Up to now, there have been no good studies on the numbers of ex-Haredi Jews in the U.S. or whether their ranks are growing.
This study, based on a series of online questio …