Merriam-Webster says that the word religion is from the “Middle English religioun, from Anglo-French religiun, Latin religion-, religiosupernatural constraint, sanction, religious practice, perhaps from religare to restrain, tie back.”
Today, I finished reading the book, “Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future,” by Elizabeth Esther. I’m still sitting with it and struggling with it.
This was Christianity gone awry. Merciless fundamentalism with no grace. A cult.
This religion definitely fit the idea that the word “religion” could mean to restrain or tie back from the religare. It was shocking in its retraint and patriarchy. Intense parental control and strict protocols for corporal punishment were appalling.
Fortunately for Esther, she and her husband figured out how to leave the organization, even though her grandparents were the organizers.<3
TotallyKris 