A family member has found Christ. And it’s ruining relationships, to the point that they believe they can speak in tongues, see visions and do exorcisms. What can we do?
A family member has found Christ. And it’s ruining relationships, to the point that they believe they can speak in tongues, see visions and do exorcisms. What can we do?
Comments
You can’t do anything.
It’s their choice.
Cut them off from your life.
There should be religious leaders in the region that bring these sort of folks back down to earth to assess the level visions or presumed mental issues.
Lock him up in a loony bin.
As soon as they leave the house change the door keys.
Tell them you found satan and start throwing brimstone dust in their face and chanting Aramaic enchantments
Sounds like a normal religious person to me
There’s a whole checklist of what you need to do when a loved one joins a cult.
And not all people who found Christ are in a cult, but the reverse sounds like it’s the case here.
Follow the checklist. Success is never guaranteed, but your best intentioned approaches can backfire if you cut people off.
Those beliefs actually don’t originate from Christianity, they originate from New Thought, which has been gradually taking-over Christianity without people even realizing it. Matthew 13:31-32 says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” The tree is the Church and the birds are evil doctrines that sneak into it. People usually don’t realize they are accepting the walls of the house without the foundation, and when you show them that, their whole world shatters.
First off, get them to a doctor, could be an aneurysm. If they’re healthy, then cut them the fuck out of your life.
Avoid the crazy person like the plague!
Nothing… but just a note — make sure it is not the onset of schizophrenia. Serious. My cousin was 22 when she suddenly went batshit crazy headfirst into religion. At 26, she was committed and has been in and out of outpatient/inpatient for the past 30 years.
Play side 1 of Led Zeppelin IV backwards.
You could mind your own fucking business. Just a thought.
Have them actually read the Bible so they’ll become an Atheist
Just a different form of schizophrenia. Maybe try some anti-psychotics.
That’s not christ, they’ve found either a cult or a mental illness
Nothing and hope it is a passing fad. I frankly think it is just a different addiction that people take on.
Move on. Life’s too short.
Let them fk off into oblivion until they come to their senses. Or they don’t. 🤷
Take a giant step backwards.
Let them go.
Boundaries matter
Take them up to a children’s cancer ward at a hospital. Tell them to cure one child.
Therapy, cause that sounds like a sudden change in personality and that needs to be investigated.
Short answer: Love them.
Long answer: It’s hard to say because it will depend on how exactly it is ruining the relationship. I have family members who believe they can speak in tongues, but I can’t remember it ever coming up during our usual relationship. The only impact it has is that when I go with them to some charismatic worship service, I hear them pray in tongues. And I have very different relationships with each of those family members, and they have different personalities that I manage in different ways. So what exactly are that they doing to damage the relationship?
I thought “speaking in tounges” was a BAD thing in Christianity.
Bail
Mental ward.
Video and post online for a laugh.
My ex’s uncle went off the deep end and it started like this.
We went from watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Friday nights to too scared to go over because he might hurt us for being evil heathens in what seemed like a month.
Would wish that on an enemy.
Good luck!
I had a girlfriend who did all kinds of strange shit before being admitted to psych hospital. Drawing on her eyeballs with eyebrow pencil and claiming jesus did it for example. The whole episode was a strain on my sanity as well.
You can lead a horse to water,
If it’s not caused by a physical abnormality in their brain (aneurysm etc) then cut ties and move on.
Your family member has gone crazy.
Run!
My older sister was my best pal in high school and college. Then she discovered speaking in tongues and suddenly everything was a sign from God. I lost her to religion. I miss her.
Have them committed to a psych hospital.
Depends. The church saved my mom from certain death by alcoholism. Of course, it turned her into a judgemental anti-vaxxing infowars QANON fangirl who yells in parseltongue at gospel of wealth grifters, but you take the good with the bad. Funny thing is she’s been wrapped up in it half my life, dad bit the hook six months before COVID hit, and it promptly killed him right after he turned down the “government shot”. She gives me money occasionally that I try to squirrel away for the kids’ education, and I mostly look the other way. I guess it’s all in what you can stomach.
What You Can Do
1. Stay calm, do not mock or escalate
2. Set clear and loving boundaries
Example boundary:
>
Boundaries are not punishments — they are protection for yourself and others.
3. Privately assess for mental health issues
If you see red flags, consult a professional (doctor, counselor) even if the person refuses.
4. Avoid isolating yourself or them
5. Consider a gentle intervention if needed
A Very Important Point:
>
Millions find Christ and become more loving, stable, and whole.
But sometimes, especially when it’s sudden and extreme, it can mask underlying issues or even create new ones when it’s tied to unhealthy groups or emotional instability.
Laugh at them
Remember that religion is just an undiagnosed mental illness. They need to seek professional help.
Find Christ better and more obnoxiously than they do.
Tell them to not talk about this with you, if they refuse don’t talk to them or ignore it, if you can’t avoid talking to them than live with it
I too take my LARPing way too seriously
Was in the military one time during a month long field event a guy just all of the sudden got super religious. Like dude was previously atheist and is now on his knees praying and super invested into religion for seemingly no reason. This went on for a few days and he ended up getting taken out to be checked out and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Just an anecdote
I had a friend who found god and said god speaks to him through angels, telling him to spread peace and use crystals to shed negative energy. He has schizophrenia and keeps ending up in the hospital because he doesn’t trust the medication the doctor gives him.
I mean… cut your losses imo. Religious fervor is indistinguishable from mental illness, and frankly the effects & consequences are the same. I’m sorry you’re going through this, and if I had a better solution believe me I’d give it to you
Pray for them.
lol
introduce him to the flat earthers and the cloning vat peoples. Everytime you disagree with them tell them you went to hell and say X or saw Y and they said, “what you want them to hear”.
Keep your distance and assert your own choices.
Jesus fucking christ.
Thank you to those that gave me honest and helpful options. Now before I continue, there’s only so much out of this that I can type. My spouse was in a moment of tears at one point. This family member told her that he had a vision “me my wife and kids at purgatory praying at the gates because we were not allowed in heaven”. Went as far as saying her deceased father was “not in heaven”. This not only disgusted me, but I’m on the edge of slapping the fucking stupid out of their mouth. Now I’ve been instructed by family not to intervene because I “have a mouth on me”. But what I won’t allow is my family to be dragged by stupidity. This merely a glimpse of what’s going on.
Get a medical diagnosis. Sudden dramatic changes in personality are a major red flag.
They have left planet Earth. Treat them as such.
Can’t you ask them to just lose him again?
Keep them away from children.
This is my own pet theory, so take with a tonne of salt. Not everyone has an internal monologue. For some people, it develops later in life. All of a sudden, these people think they are hearing things when it’s just their own brain making sense of the world around them. I suspect that a huge proportion of the World’s religions were created by such people not realising what this voice suddenly breaching the silence actually was. Yet more of these people end-up needing mental health care. It must have been fun for pre-psychology society to determine who among these people were prophets and who were possessed or simply crazy.
Anyway, away from my pet theory – the sudden self-belief in having these powers is a warning. It is very hard to refer a friend or relative to mental health professionals without appearing to be insulting, but it may well be advisable to try and find a way to do so.
Alternatively, start touring the country with large tents trying to earn as much cash as possible from the rubes by advertising “Come one, come all – hear the true prophet of christ speak in tongues – exorcisms $99.99 + taxes.” – you could probably get a tv deal out of it.
Note – the situation would be different for someone who was religious then got deeper and deeper into it and gradually gained those beliefs – that’s just fundamentalism. The suddenness is the worry.
Send every LDS church his address, they’ll occupy his time…
Wait I thought we lived in a society now where we validate people’s mental delusions? I thought the correct thing to do here is to lean in on the mental issue. I mean, that’s their truth. How did you know they can’t speak in tongues, see visions, or do exorcisms? I thought everybody got their own truth? Or is it only with certain mental disorders?
Can I ask where they found him? I have a family member that is constantly looking for Christ and any tips on where he hides would be grand
Pay me to be in need of an exorcism and let’s have some fun.
The disdain for religion disgusts me. Of course it’s mainly directed at Christianity.
Take the piss
Nothing
The correct answer
They have seen the light
God has spoken Directly to Them
Went to church from 6 years to 13 year old kid..met some genuinely nice people,crazy people, violent people.
The New Believers… oh boy.
I just stay calm and Never Argue over Religion at Work…..or Covid…
you can’t reason someone out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into
Well, they need a psychiatrist, they probably have depression
Have them checked out in case they have a head injury, a genetic illness, or a tumor in their brain.
Might be psychosis
get that family member into a mental institution, stat!
Either have an intervention, suggest therapy, go see a doctor or cut them off. Not much else you can do.
Nothing. Anything you do that is not complete and utter acceptance will be seen as persecution by them and proof that they’re on the right path
Sounds more like psychotic episode rather than effect of newly found religion. Act accordingly.