Why majority rules isn't inclusive
I brought up dropping the religious aspects to the sharing circles shortly after they were introduced. A year later, it's still there.
Some people have said they do not feel comfortable with it. Some may have been trolling, but that shouldn't detract from it being a legitimate problem for others.
This place isn't promoted as a Christian or religious site. Replacing god with love doesn't take away that it's a prayer.
CW genocide
Currently in Canada an Indian Residential School crisis line is open 24 hours.
There are many whose trauma feels raw right now after the discovery of the bodies of 215 children at the Kamloops Indian School. Like many of these schools it was run by a church. These 215 bodies are just a fraction of the children who were killed at these church run schools.
Unexpectedly putting people into a religious setting is a problem.
Cutting out the religious content of sharing circles isn't a solution to the massive systemic horrors that have occurred and masqueraded as religion but it's a step to show of awareness of these problems and can make a difference in gaining trust of those who need support.
@AffyAvo The news of these deaths at a Catholic run school is absolutely sickening.
However, the prime ministers of both Canada and the UK (but not our head of state, obviously) are originally Catholic. (Our PM was very recently married in a Catholic ceremony.) And the US, where 7 Cups is based, has a Catholic president. Catholicism is not easily brushed aside, and religion in general even less so.
7 Cups has always promoted various questionable superstitions, and some of them are related to religion, "the opium of the people" (if we are to believe Marx instead). Personally, it seems to me that, just like with opioids, prohibition doesn't work and victims of these superstitions should be accepted and valued as people, despite their destructive beliefs.
I agree with you that unexpectedly putting people into a religious setting is a problem.
I'd like to see 7 Cups follow your lead in this thread and place an explicit content warning on sharing circles. Let the religious folks indulge their habit, but don't allow them to use 7 Cups to trick vulnerable members into believing.
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie I don't think the Sharing Circles are trying to trick people into believing, but I don't think enough weigh was given to how many people have been abused in the name of 'The' Church. 'The' doesn't necessaarily have to be Catholic either. With the residential schools the Kamloops one was Catholic, but Anglicant/Church of England, United Church of Canada and Presbyteriani churches ran residential schools too.
Residential schools aren't the only way people have been harmed by churches either, but it's a pretty big, systemic planned method of abuse. There's a lot of parallels between these schools and concentration camps, including experiments being run on children such as food deprivation.
The goals of sharing circles may have some goals in common with AA, but not all. I don't even feel like the wording that has been used is inclusive for everyone who wants to participate in terms of the goals, so even in a religious setting the wording could be imrpoved.
If 7 cups really wants to support those who identify as BIPOC I think this wording needs to be changed. Maybe when POC is mentioned on the site though it's not intended to include those who are indigenous. I think it's mostly (young) people of color being used by the 7 cups team, BIPOC doesn't seem to come up much other than from individual users. @7cupscommunity maybe you know more?
@AffyAvo
Thank you for the suggestions, you bring up important topics that are important to the community as a whole. Am going to share this with the team but will also ping the admin who oversees this cover for clarification as well.
@ASilentObserver
