Introducing: Evolver Editions

Is there a deadline?Are there guidelines or a selection criteria?Very cool and encouraging ... kudos

 P.S. your link is broken =) 

Saludos

SeRgIo

All of us here at North Atlantic Books are very excited to be launching this imprint in collaboration with Evolver/RS. We look forward to bringing the ideas and spirit of this community to a wider audience, while helping to support the efforts of Evolver/RS. Doug Reil Associate Publisher- North Atlantic Books

I want to write a book about the topic of spiritual child abuse, particularly as it pertains to children being raised in Evangelical churches like the ones you see in the documentary film Jesus Camp. It is my belief that this way of handling children constitutes a form of child abuse that has not yet been identified as such. It's my theory that this type of abuse is just as damaging as physical or sexual abuse, if not more so. This issue effects millions of people. In fact, 25 percent of Americans identify as Evangelical. Every week millions of children both here and around the world are taken to churches where they are told that demons are to get them, Satan is out to get them, etc. Children as young as two years old are being warned about the dangers of demon possession. The fact that we as a culture consider this a "normal" way to raise children is deeply disturbing. Problems like depression and anxiety are epidemic, and those afflicted often don't know why they suffer from these problems. There are many reasons for this epidemic of unhappiness, but I firmly believe that childhood trauma resulting from church is one of them. People who were raised in Evangelical churches do not realize that they were abused as children, because we haven't yet identified this type of abuse as being what it is. It is simply not OK to teach five-year-old children that demons are out to get them. It is also not OK to tell rebellious preteens that they are possessed by demons. And it's not OK to teach children that they'll go to Hell if they're bad. What if you told your child that if she's bad you'll tie her to a stake and burn her alive, and you made her really BELIEVE that? What if your child really believed that you would be capable of tying her to a stake and burning her? What if she lived in constant fear of that? That would legally be considered child abuse, and your child could be taken away from you if that were the case. Even if you never physically hurt your child, the threat of tying her to a stake and burning her would constitute psychological abuse. Yet, for some strange reason, we think it's perfectly OK to sit little children down every Sunday morning and scare the living piss out them with talk about Satan, demons, and Hell. And we wonder why we're so messed up in the head. No child should ever be told that demons are out to get him or her. This way of raising children is completely sick and it must be stopped. People just don't see it for what it is because it's considered "normal." It also used to be considered "normal" to hit a child. Now we know that hitting causes psychological damage and is therefore not healthy. As our consciousness continues to evolve, we need to realize that abuse is not just physical or sexual. It's also psychological and spiritual. Children who experience spiritual abuse are damaged just as badly as those who experience physical or sexual abuse, if not more so. A child being raised in an Evangelical home is not just afraid for her life. She is afraid for her immortal soul. Even if you consciously reject the church as an adult, subconsciously you'll continue to carry around all the darkness of your childhood. You'll suffer emotionally, but you won't know why. You definitely won't think that it was because of church. After all, many people were raised in church. There's no reason why you would make a connection between being raised in church and your current emotional turmoil. In fact, you won't even think about it at all. If you go to a psychologist for help, the psychologist will ask you what your childhood was like, but will never ask you what growing up in church was like. You'll end up talking a lot about your parents and your childhood outside of church, but you'll probably never talk about what happened behind the chapel doors. Maybe you'll never understand why you have a problem. After all, your parents weren't drug addicts or alcoholics or anything. Your parents never beat you or molested you. So what's your problem? You'll think that you were just born with a chemical imbalance or something, and that's what society will tell you. Nobody will acknowledge the fact that you were spiritually abused in church. You'll just be one of the many millions taking Prozac and not questioning why. On a subconscious level, the demons they taught you to believe in will never go away. The demons will continue to haunt you, and follow you all the way to your grave. That is, unless you turn around and confront them. I think we need to expose spiritual child abuse what it is. We have sounded the alarm on physical abuse, sexual abuse, and even verbal abuse. Now it's time for us to understand and to educate people about the effects of spiritual abuse. We need to educated people by telling them that this is not the proper way to raise children. You cannot tell young children that demons are out to get them. That is not right, and it is not mentally healthy for people. The fact that millions of people are doing it should be no surprise, seeing how messed up the world is. Anyway, that's my book idea that I started on but never finished. I wrote about 100 pages and them ran out of steam. I also couldn't find anyone to interview. Most people I talk to don't really understand my concept. They don't understand the concept of spiritual abuse or how I'm defining it. I'm taking a behavior that's considered normal and defining it as abnormal. Therefore, my idea is really hard for people to understand. I've had a terrible time trying to articulate it. Most people think that I'm talking fringe churches where people do weird things like dance with snakes. They don't understand that I'm talking about MAINSTREAM churches where MILLIONS of people go. If you're reading this and haven't yet seen the documentary film "Jesus Camp," please watch it. It's on You Tube. The makers of the film take a neutral stance, but to me the film clearly reveals how children are being abused. I believe that "Jesus Camp" is much more groundbreaking that its own makers realize. I want to make the term "spiritual abuse" part of everybody's vocabulary the same way that "rape" has now become part of everybody's vocabulary. I want everybody to be talking about this and thinking about this. I want every church to feel the pressure of scrutiny. I want every child to know that it is not OK when Mommy, Daddy or the preacher says that demons are out to get you, or that you're possessed, or what have you. I want children to know that they have NOT been infected by evil and that they don't have to live in terror. I want adults to tell other adults that this way of raising children is not acceptable and won't be tolerated any more. I want religious people to understand the concept of age appropriateness. Yes, you have the right to believe whatever you want and to teach your children according to your beliefs. If you believe in demons, that's fine with me. You can get a PhD in Demonology for all I care. In fact, maybe spirits do exist and maybe they're not all nice. Fine. Whatever. But CHILDREN, who are already afraid of monsters, should not be told that demons are out to get them! Anyone with a modicum of common sense should know better than that. I find it deeply ironic that Evangelical parents are talking seriously about DEMONS to children who still believe in the Tooth Fairy. If I had a child and if I seriously believed that a demon was out to get my child--and that's what I really, seriously believed--the last thing I would ever do is say so to the child. I would do things to protect the child, but I would never say to the child, "Hey, guess what? There's a demon out to get you. I just thought you should know. Now pray to Jesus for help. Good night! Sweet dreams!" Excuse me, but what is a little kid supposed to do with that information? You won't tell the kid that he was adopted, you won't tell the kid that Fluffy actually died and didn't run away, you won't tell the child that his Dad is actually in prison and not on vacation, you won't tell the child that his pediatrician just diagnosed him with Leukemia, BUT YOU'LL TELL THE CHILD THAT HE IS BEING HAUNTED BY DEMONS?????? IS THAT REALLY AN APPROPRIATE THING TO TELL A CHILD????? On that note, sweet dreams. Good night. Don't let the bedbugs bite. He he he. >:) Burn churches.

Hey Daniel, I'm a huge fan of your books, and i was re-reading 2012 Return of Quetzacoalt, and it made me want to put a comment wishing your daughter a happy birthday! And to celebrate that crazy Gray crop circle.

I was wondering, if you see this post could you tell me your thoughts on Drunvalo Melchizedek?