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My Body, My Scapegoat – A Theology of Eating Disorders

Emma's article on Theology Network is pure gold.  She talks about the spiritual roots of anorexia:

 

...[For the anorexic], salvation means atoning for myself, bymyself: bearing my punishment in my own body. As I seek to recreate myself, my body becomes the scapegoat. I hate it and identify all that’s wrong in my world with this lump of flesh. Yet at the same time, I also worship it, ritualizing and relishing every aspect of my self-imposed atonement.

Through the rituals, I separate myself from my messy, sinful flesh with its overwhelming desires. I will punish my body while I concentrate on the real me – almighty willpower. With my secret knowledge of exercise and nutrition, I can soar above my own fallibility. I can split myself into two and rise anew, born again to a new kind of humanity.

 

Read the whole thing here.

And buy her book here - free postage from 10ofthose until Saturday night.

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