Symptoms of Religious Addiction

	Religious convictions are stated as black and white
	Isolation from people who do not share the same beliefs
	Think of the world and flesh as inherently evil
	Obsessive about praying, going to church, reading the Bible, attending crusades, watching television evangelists, sending money to missions¹
	Excessive fasting
	Hearing messages from God
	Judging others; often angry and violent toward "heathens" (pagans)
	Brainwashing² - attempt to persuade family and significant friends to their way of thinking
	Compulsively talking about God, religion or quoting from Scripture
	Conflict of ideology with hospitals and schools
	Discourage thinking for oneself, doubting or questioning
	Sexuality seen as dirty or bad
	Cannot accept criticism
	Suffer tension, stress, often develop physical illnesses, such as eating disorders, depression and anxiety
	Often stare, go into trances
	Erratic personality changes
Taken from: When God Becomes A Drug: Breaking the Chains of Religious Addiction and Abuse, by Leo Booth Footnotes by ESN: ¹ Those in authoritarian Herbert W. Armstrong groups (offshoots of Worldwide Church of God), instead of "attending crusades, watching television evangelists, and sending money to missions," make sure they don't miss any of the O.T. feast days, watch their group leader on TV (if he has a program) and send large amounts of money to "the Work" (headquarters of the group). However, the compulsion to send money somewhere often persists, even after exiting the group. ² A more accurate term than "brainwashing" to explain this process would be mind manipulation or thought reform. NOTE: Religious addiction is considered "toxic faith." Many exiters who left the Worldwide Church of God (or any of its high demand offshoots, such as Philadelphia Church of God, Living Church of God, Restored Church of God, etc.) have most likely been affected by religious addiction. They often join another offshoot with the same behavior, or else become involved with either a legalistic/cultic church, a heavy discipling group, or the false Charismatic Movement where emotions and experience--rather than the Word of God--runs high. (See The Lamp Ministry for articles on Charismatic issues; offsite link) Common Emotional Difficulties After a High Demand Group Articles For Those Who Were Emotionally and Spiritually Abused Back to Articles on Understanding Mind Control and Exploitive Groups