When Linda Robertson’s son, Ryan, came out to her over instant messenger when he was 12, she was “completely shocked.”
It was November 2001. Linda was on the computer in her home office when she received an instant message from Ryan, who was on the computer in his bedroom.
“Can I tell you something?” he asked.
“Yes, I am listening,” Linda replied.
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“I am gay,” Ryan said.
At first, Linda wasn’t sure how to respond.
“[My] only brother had come out to us several years before, and we adored him. But Ryan? He was unafraid of anything, tough as nails, and ALL boy,” Robertson writes on her blog justbecausehebreathes.com. “We had not seen this coming, and the emotion that overwhelmed us, kept us awake at night and, sadly, influenced all of our reactions over the next six years, was FEAR.”
Linda and her husband, Rob, gave Ryan an ultimatum: “Basically, we told our son that he had to choose between Jesus and his sexuality.”
For the next several years, Ryan was forced to attend weekly “reparative therapy meetings” with the family’s pastor. He grew depressed, even suicidal. Finally, after six years, he hit his breaking point. Just before his 18th birthday, Ryan ran away from home.
“He decided to throw out his Bible and his faith at the same time, and to try searching for what he desperately wanted — peace — another way,” his mother says. “And the way he chose to try first was drugs.”
He started with marijuana and alcohol, but within six months was also doing cocaine, crack, and heroin.
After 18 months, Ryan moved back home. Things between his parents improved slightly. But within 10 months, he was back into drugs. In the spring of 2009, he overdosed. He slipped into a coma, and 17 days later, he was dead.
He was 20 years old.
“What we had wished for … prayed for … hoped for … that we would NOT have a gay son, came true,” Linda writes. “But not at all in the way we used to envision. Suddenly our fear of Ryan someday having a boyfriend (a possibility that honestly terrified me) seemed trivial in contrast to our fear of Ryan’s death.”
She continues: “When I think back on the fear that governed all my reactions during those first six years after Ryan told us he was gay, I cringe as I realize how foolish I was. I was afraid of all the wrong things. And I grieve, not only for my oldest son, who I will miss every day for the rest of my life, but for the mistakes I made. I grieve for what could have been, had we been walking by FAITH instead of by FEAR.”
Now, Linda has made it her mission to share her story with other Christian parents, in hopes of dissuading them from making the same mistakes she did. Both she and Rob have spent the past few years traveling around the county, speaking on behalf of the gay community and hoping to convince Evangelicals to support their gay children.
“Whenever Rob and I join our gay friends for an evening, I think about how much I would love to be visiting with Ryan and his partner over dinner,” Linda writes. “But instead, we visit Ryan’s gravestone.”
“We celebrate anniversaries,” she continues. “The would-have-been birthdays and the unforgettable day of his death. We wear orange — his color. We hoard memories: pictures, clothing he wore, handwritten notes, lists of things he loved, tokens of his passions, recollections of the funny songs he invented, his Curious George and baseball blankey, anything, really, that reminds us of our beautiful boy.”
“That is all we have left,” she says, “and there will be no new memories.”
h/t: News.com
Related stories:
The Horrors Inside A Christian Conversion Cult Are Exposed First-Hand
How This Young Gay Man Forgave His Father For Forcing Him To Endure Hell Of Conversion Therapy
Steve Grand Says His Ex-Gay Conversion Therapist Is A Good Man
Graham Gremore is a columnist and contributor for Queerty and Life of the Law. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
GLF
Conversion therapy did not kill her son. Her religious bigotry killed her son. “Linda and her husband, Rob, gave Ryan an ultimatum: “Basically, we told our son that he had to choose between Jesus and his sexuality.”” Case closed. The twisted hate ideology peddled by most evangelical churches will not allow their members to see the truth, that it is THEIR actions which hurt those closest to them, not some external force. This is just an example of blame-shifting from people who did all they could to drive their son into an early grave.
grero
@GLF: “Basically, we told our son that he had to choose between Jesus and his sexuality.” Even this isn’t true. A 12-year-old does not have that choice as he can’t leave the environment. What would have happened if he refused to go to “therapy”? More shame, more guilt. Maybe no dinner? Where does it end?
erasure25
These bitches are lying. Gay conversion therapy did not kill their child. The parents killed their child.
erasure25
@erasure25: And these parent need to be prosecuted for murdering their son.
Paul Nadolski
This is why conversion therapy needs to be BANNED in all 50 states.
Scottie Warren
Gay lives are valueless to religitards. She chose a fairy tale over her son and now wants us to feel sorry for her, I don’t. I feel sorry for her son who had to commit suicide to escape her and her faith.
Never mind, she still has Jesus.
Daniel
My mom left her church and her parents to protect me. She fought with my dad and threatened to divorce him if he didn’t accept me. I am glad to have a great mom. That’s real mom. The mom in this article is a real bitch!!
Trippy
The kid never had a chance once he dove into that toxic mix of drugs. Few could survive that kind of abuse.
Now what about the therapists who tortured this kid for almost a decade? Will s/he be held accountable? It’s time that we push for a stronger media spotlight on this horrific practice and ban it completely. This is no better than the Inquisition.
[email protected]
I agree with many of the sentiments expressed above especially the fact the parents in this equation ultimately must bear responsibility. I can only assume it is the breathtaking in its magnitude vapid stupidity of christian evangelicals/fundamentalists (exceeded only by their arrogance)that led to these “parents” failure to hold their own belief system to the same standards of proof as they regularly do evolutionary theory etc If they had done so they would have demanded the their hidious deity do what was promised in the bible i.e. perform miracles in which case their son would have been cured of his homosexuality instantly with prayer and the laying on of hands (not to mention local hospital wards being emptied of healed sick folk the moment these nutbars fell to their knees and prayed it be so) none of this you must choose bollocks as though ones sexual orientation were chosen with no more difficulty than one chooses a breakfast cereal in the morning.
To add insult to injury as far as their belief system is concerned their son who was crowbarred through clearly ineffective reparative therapy to the point of suicidal misery is now crispy-frying in their loving gods hell. I lack the vocabulary to express my utter contempt for these evangelicals who make a god of their feelings, dignify them with the term faith and hold this up as a virtue and a superior means of discerning truth than getting off their behinds to find out.
Stache99
This reminds me of the true story movie “Prayers for bobby”. Very few movies that stache cries over and this would be one of them.
Sigourney Weaver plays the religious funde parent who drives her gay son to suicide. Later she becomes a gay rights crusader.
Sad that it takes a suicide to change someone. The parents would eventually come around but religion messes that up.
Xzamilio
It never ceases to amaze me how dangerous and hurtful religion can be to so many of us. Many of these ignoramuses were raised in religious households being told that being gay was wrong and immoral, all while ignoring the other “sins” that would inconvenience them, like sleeping with the person they married or being married when they put it in. Well, guess what? The majority of us have grown up in those same environments and who do you think has a harder time dealing with that? This young man was tortured when he couldn’t change who he was because he had parents that put their iron age nonsense over their real child. My heart goes out to them, but all too many of us have had to deal with this intolerance masking itself as love. Frankly, in hindsight, my Christian friend showing me her true colors made me take a second look at what I believe, and after diligently studying my beliefs and religion in general when the discrepancies began to unravel, I am now a nonbeliever and have never felt more moral and at peace with who I am as a person.
If it takes this kind of stuff to show people how dangerous religion is, then we need more stories like these, but not more deaths. And while I’ll freely admit that NOT all Christians are nowhere near as closed minded as some of the ones who are more known, religion in of itself serves us no beneficial purpose. You want to be a good person? Be a good person. You want to help your fellow man? Help your fellow man. You want a warm feeling inside? Eat a bowl of soup… drink some hot tea… heat up a dildo on the stove and then sit on it.
It’s 2014 and people are still listening to ignorant Jewish campfire stories.
Stache99
@Trippy: Yeah, there’s a reason the LGBT community has a higher rate of drug and alcohol addictions and mental issues and this would be a prime example.
Stache99
@Xzamilio: THANK THE GODS.. I don’t come from a religious family. I’ve avoided that insanity like the plague. I have to confess when I meet people like this I’m just thinking WTF is wrong with you people. I can’t even begin to get in their heads enough to understand.
Billysees
@[email protected]:
“I lack the vocabulary to express my utter contempt for these evangelicals who
1. make a god of their feelings,
2. dignify them with the term faith
3. and hold this up as a virtue and a superior means of discerning truth…”
You couldn’t have expressed it any better.
‘Making a god of their feelings’ is perfectly, perfectly said.
In many ways, conservative Christianity is upchuck worthy.
dvlaries
@[email protected]:
I lack the vocabulary to express my utter contempt for these evangelicals who make a god of their feelings, dignify them with the term faith and hold this up as a virtue and a superior means of discerning truth than getting off their behinds to find out.
You don’t lack vocabulary in the least. In fact, your closing sentence should be sold on a plaque.
DarkZephyr
All I will say is that I hope she and her husband are successful in their endeavor to stop other Christian parents from making the same mistake.
Arkansassy
Must suck to realize you are responsible for the death of your own son. Still… have absolutely no sympathy for her. What a horrible woman. Hope he haunts her for the rest of her life.
Kieran
If the media really cared about helping gay kids and their families they would regularly show the powerful, heartbreaking film “PRAYERS FOR BOBBY” as often as they do mindless crap like “Goodfellas”, “Billy Madison” or “What about Bob?”. Educating the public is key. Most heterosexuals, like gays themselves, have been fed a steady diet of ignorant stereotyping about gay men.
The mother clearly reflects the deep-seated prejudicial view of gay men in our culture when she frankly admits: “[My] only brother had come out to us several years before, and we adored him. But Ryan? He was unafraid of anything, tough as nails, and ALL boy,” So in this mother’s mind her son’s being gay meant that he would be somehow less than the ideal MAN. And isn’t that why society pushes these effeminate stereotypes at every opportunity? To foster shame and embarrassment as a deterrent to men to accept their homosexual or bisexal inclinations?
Stache99
@johnny42: I watched the movie without knowing anything about it. I really thought it was going to turn into one of those happy endings where everyone comes together. Besides being a true story the acting by Sigourney Weaver was beyond good.
The comments are really great too..
“All very religious people should watch this and learn from it especially if they have a gay son/daughter.”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSee8On2lEQ
johnny42
I actually had the opportunity to hear Rob and Linda speak this past year in January, when I was in Chicago attending the Gay Christian Network’s yearly conference. Suffice it to say their story is pretty heartbreaking, and they actually went into much deeper detail into their initial conflict with Ryan, the nature of their strained relationship over the next few years, and the final few months of his life. A version of that talk is here (not the best quality, and it’s long) – http://youtu.be/ocslKQG6PkY
I’m not sure at what point Linda Robertson actually said “gay conversion therapy killed my son” – if those were her exact words, in no way would she or her husband not blame themselves for sending Ryan to those reparative therapy meetings. It was clear that both of them share an immense amount of regret over the way in which they dealt with Ryan’s sexuality, and they fully realize they made wrong choices in an attempt to reconcile things with their faith.
One area not fleshed out too much in the article is the extent to which Linda and Rob were able to reconnect with Ryan after he started to speak to them again. While it was definitely not perfect, considering how much Ryan justifiably loathed his parents just months before, they were able to get over some major hurdles in their relationship (again, I do recommend giving the video a watch if you have the patience).
I believe the way in which Rob and Linda reacted to Ryan and the way they treated him was the wrong approach, and I would say the same for any other Christian parent that would reject their children out of “faith.” The difference with the Robertsons is that not only did they realize they were wrong, but they are publicly admitting it – and in the process are encouraging other parents to not make the same mistakes they did.
Saint Law
Wishing that the parents be haunted by guilt for their former zealotry seems a bit beside the point given what the mother actually wrote. They will neither of them ever get over the loss of their son.
It seems to me their behavior was the product of the same indoctrination that killed Ryan. They are only too aware of this and have dedicated their lives to trying to prevent other parents making the same mistakes they did.
My heart goes out to them.
stranded
It’s good that they’re taking the initiative to talk to evangelicals about the dangers of conversion therapy, but there’s something she wrote that bothered me. “My only brother had come out to us several years before, and we adored him. But Ryan? He was unafraid of anything, tough as nails, and ALL boy.” WTF is this “all boy” bullshit? She still seems to be working on stereotypes.
StephK
These parents have, like so many others, paid a big price for their stupidity.They are going to have to live for the rest of their lives with this sorrow and guilt, and that is punishment enough. At least they are trying to prevent the same thing from happening again in other evangelical communities.
StephK
These parents have, like so many others, paid a big price for their stupidity.They are going to have to live for the rest of their lives with this sorrow and guilt, and that is punishment enough. At least they are trying to prevent the same thing from happening again in other evangelical communities.
I might add that” gay conversion therapy “is banned by law in NJ..here’s hoping other states, especially the red ones, follow suit.
AnitaMann
She’s an example of parenting done wrong.
I have 4 kids. Nothing could make me treat them the way this mother treated hers.
martinbakman
Conversion therapy didn’t kill there son. That’s BS.
These folks still believe being gay is a sin. They still believe in the thing that killed their son.
martinbakman
@Saint Law: @johnny42: I refuse to listen to people that believe being gay is a sin.
Ogre Magi
Another gay teen made to sufferbecause of christianity.THANKS A LOT JESUS!!!
Saint Law
@martinbakman: She says that whenever she and her husband have dinner with their gay friends she thinks how much she would love to be able to have dinner with Ryan and his partner.
That doesn’t sound much like somebody who still believes being gay is a sin.
Diesel69
SERIOUSLY–MAJOR STUPID PARENTS THAT KILLED THEIR SON–NO PITY FOR YOU–MONSTERS–When i came out–Our family had already rejected my cousin for being gay–To get back in the family he had to marry a girl–he made a son but he was also HIV and this was given to the girl and child–He is now dead–My Mother told our family that i was gay and if they want to reject us–Fine because I was her Family not the Haters–Plus i was also adopted so not even her blood–But she took the decision to stand by me and not listen to anyone else–By the way i can mention my mother was also a Nun before her marriage–So she knows the hatred and ignorance of the Catholic religion from the inside–THESE SO CALLED PARENTS NEED TO BE CHARGED WITH THE MURDER OF THEIR SON—–THIS WILL SEND THE MESSAGE TO THE RELIGIOUS FREAKS–LISTEN TO FAIRY TALES–PAY THE PRICE–
Trippy
@Diesel69: As satisfying as that sounds to a lot of us, arresting the parents for murder won’t happen because there exists no law that could be used for such a thing. Instead, these parents (and others like them) need to do the full media mea-culpa tour on every major network and push this abuse into the mainstream narrative.
Unfortunately, thousands of parents who are doing the same thing to their sons and daughters will not see this story because their churches refuse to share it with them. This couple can do a lot to prevent further harm on other children, and hopefully they will dedicate their lives to exposing this fraudulent science and shame churches into moving away from it.
Jonty Coppersmith
I’m no fan of religion, and this is one of the reasons why. It’s horrible what these parents did to their son. At least the realize that and are working to try to prevent other parents from making the same mistake. I personally would love the have dinner with them to hear more about their story, more about their mission to discourage reparative therapy and whether they are having any success in their efforts.
SteveDenver
I nearly ended my life because I thought Christian faith could change me and end my homosexuality. I attended Bible college and was married for six years trying to “straighten out.” ALL RELIGION IS BAD. Anyone who tries to point out the good things in religion fails to see that most of those good things would happen anyway, and religion is the case where throwing it out would be worth losing the tiny benefits it yields.
These parents suffered a great loss. Too bad they don’t give up the religious bullshi† altogether.
Alan down in Florida
I’d like to know what the gay uncle has to say about this. It’s bad enough when a kid thinks he’s the only one in the world but this one had an openly gay uncle as a role model. I would hope that he stepped up when the parents made him make an unmakeable choice.
DarkZephyr
“Conversion therapy didn’t kill there son. That’s BS.
These folks still believe being gay is a sin. They still believe in the thing that killed their son.”
I don’t think that they do.
pattyboy101
First, I am so sorry for their loss. I do not want to seem harsh, but their views and pushing him into gay conversion therapy is what killed him. Yes I agree that the place they sent him to was probably horrible, but they made him go. When you are a child and your parents tell you to choose between being who you are and the church you have to choose. Do I get thrown out of my house? Probably do not want that at 12 years old… Sorry but live with your guilt because your son is the only person who deserves my pity.
GraciesDaddy
@StephK: That is to say that it is illegal for MINORS to be subjected to “conversion therapy.” I think California has passed a similar law. The so-called “ex-gay” devotees are totally up in arms about this legislation, too.
Probably pissed off because they can no longer rip off parents.
dr35
What breaks my heart about a story like this is all the ignorance that pours out of it. This mother isn’t sharing her story because she wants attention, and God knows, the attention she IS getting certainly isn’t very positive. She’s speaking out on her mistakes. She isn’t shifting blame here either. I don’t see anything in this article where she blames her God, or her Church, or therapy. She’s taking responsibility for her own decisions, along with her husband, to force her child to basically choose his religion, and them, or hit the road. It’s a heartbreaking story because the only real enemy here is fear. These parents never wished harm on their son, and They certainly didn’t wish him dead. They were scared, as many parents today are. Does that excuse their decision? Absolutely not. But let’s be real here, they didn’t stick a needle in their sons arm either. What should’ve happened here is family counseling where they could’ve all spoken openly, and received support for what they were dealing with. The reality is counseling didn’t happen though, and that’s that. There’s also a vast number of groups, support, and resources that were available to sweet Ryan as well, instead of drugs. We all make mistakes, and we all fear what we don’t understand. Fear is the enemy here folks. A parents fear of the repercussions of their son being gay. A Gay son’s fear and uncertainty in himself and his future, and an overall fear and lack of understanding for what it really means to be gay in this world.
We’ve come a long, long way. Stories like this though? These stories remind us there’s still a ways to go. We shouldn’t be ostracizing these parents for their mistakes. Instead, We should be applauding their courage to own them, and to push forward to help other families struggling with the same fears, so we get to a day when the precious Ryan’s of this world don’t live such short lives.
rand503
My only hope is that the mother directly confront people like Linda Harvey or her ilk in a public forum. It wont change Harvey, but if seen in you tube, could change other parents and keep them from falling into this trap.
Billysees
Here is another very sad story about what happens when very fundamentalist Christian parents are not able to create a loving family full of precious memories.
If they could have done that, then Mr. Zeller would have had something ‘comforting’ to fall back on in the midst of his sorrow and sadness and he probably would never have taken his own life.
The part of his long suicide note that I’m emphasizing here starts with the paragraph — “I’d also like to address my family, if you can call them that.”
His account is chilling about how Christian/Religious fundamentalism can infect the mind of a mother and father and produce such hardheartedness.
It scares me to think of this potential of Christianity, which is already doing it meanspirited and scornful work.
We must be thankful for and encourage liberal religiosity in the world.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/07/bill-zeller-dead-princeto_n_805689.html
Sebizzar
@Paul Nadolski: Agreed. I just finished reading another recent story about this subject, and questioned why it’s still legal. I understand it’s the parent’s fault too, but the “therapy” contributes a lot to driving people insane/suicidal.
GayEGO
@Scottie Warren: Love the term – “religitards”! :>)
DimAsAnEmber
Maybe instead of hating the parents, we should sympathize with these people who are desperately holding on to the last fragments of their child they have. They did pull quite a turnaround, and that’s great. It’s so sad, that their own son had to die, to make them see the truth. But although it’s too little, too late, they want it to at least positively affect other parents and children with the same problems. Don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing that they didn’t see the signs, nothing. But they’re trying to make up for it. It may seem that they don’t deserve new memories after what they’ve done. But the ducts are flowing, just imagining losing something so precious to something you believed would help your own kin. Please, see that they’re trying to make sure other parents get to have new memories. Don’t shame them, I’m sure enough pain and guilt will be on their shoulders for the rest of their lives.
junk4sts
There is so much bile and hate in the comments, Most are missing the bigger picture here, these parents made a big mistake, they prayed to not have a gay son and that prayer was answered, and they realize that they did a bad thing, now they are turning that bad thing into something good for other christian parents of gay children. From the outside looking in, it’s easy to see the error these parents made, what happen to empathy and understanding?
These parents THOUGHT they were doing the right thing for their son, hoped that they could help to make his life better, they couldn’t see the forest for the trees. Christianity does not teach hate, in fact it teaches quite the opposite, it teaches patience and selfless love, somewhere along the way these parents forgot those lessons, forgot them because in general Christians have forgotten these lessons.
No parent, especially a Christian parent, would ever ask for a homosexual child, but if they believe in what Christianity teaches, they would see their homosexual child not as a curse, but as a blessing, not as a person who needs to be fixed, but as a gift that brings a deeper understanding of what unconditional love is and how having the capacity for unconditional love for another human being can change us and make us better people.
As homosexual men and women we want understanding and love, but so often we can’t seem to give it to others, we often don’t even try. These parents story is pro love, not anti-gay, this story is about what happens when narrow-mindedness give way to a greater understanding, the themes of this family’s story have relevance in all of our lives. The work that this couple does within their faith will surely save a life, and make other families stronger, it is through their story that other Christians will begin to open their eyes and leave their bigotry behind.
Unfortunately, “big religion” is a business, it feeds off of those who want to believe in a higher power, but tries not to “offend” those who pay the bills, attacking homosexuality is easy for “big religion” because it’s a topic that doesn’t offend the members. “big religion” should be preaching about Lying, cheating, stealing, addiction, idol worship, adultery and other issues that affect their members, but these topic hit to close to home, offend too many in the congregation so “big religion” finds topic like homosexuality and feed on them to make their members feel superior to ‘lesser’ folks. Don’t confuse Christianity with “big religion” they are two different things. The parents in this story found that out the hard way, but they have dedicated themselves preventing others from making the mistakes they made, that’s a win for them, the gay community, and for what it means to be a Christian.
littlechicky
My son came out about 18 months ago when he was 16. I told him that it doesn’t change anything, he is my son and I love him. I told him I respect his choices and that I was glad he felt secure enough to tell me. I feel proud that he felt secure enough to tell me when so many parents respond in a negative way. My ex husband who I feared would take it badly was awesome, he has accepted it well and neither of us have treated our son any differently because he is gay. He is a happy, well adjusted child and I can’t believe a parent would tell their child they need to choose between Jesus and being gay. It is not a choice, he is gay, that is it, you are trying to force him to be something he doesn’t want to be and look at the end result, it is tragic. People don’t “choose” to be gay/lesbian/bi-sexual, they just are, just like people are straight. People need to be careful how they deal with this as the end result can be absolutely devestating. Nothing has changed between myself and my son, he is very open with me and he is turning into a responsible, hard working adult, we are closer than ever and I am so glad that it is out in the open, it is not anything to be ashamed of as a lot of people think.
DimAsAnEmber
@[email protected]:
Please, maybe we should try to empathize with a mother and father who lost their child and realize that it was purely through their actions. All they have now are memories, with no new ones to be made. They may not deserve them, but it’s cruel to wish something like this on them, even after what they did. It sounds timid, but at least they have recognized their mistake and are trying to convince others not to follow in what they have done. All these two have now are ruins of a life they never really knew. So please, don’t destroy what few shadows they have with unkind words and apathetic glances, because that’s only repeating their mistakes.
GraciesDaddy
@DimAsAnEmber: Point taken, the emotion (hatred?) here toward the Robertsons could float a boat. HowEVER, as junk4sts said: “Big Religion” is big business and the Robertsons ARE making a living attending small-c “christian” conferences which a) Garner sympathy for them; b) Provide them with a chunk-a change and c) Give them an “out” and the opportunity to say, “Look how strong our ‘faith’ is!… We gave up our son for what we believe!” I’ve already gone 3 e-mail rounds with the director of the Reconciliation Network for giving the Robertsons a megaphone for their poison. I won’t go hear them and I certainly won’t support any organization that embraces them their excuses which led to THEM killing their son!
Musk
It must be horrifying for a parent/parents to know that they played a critical role in the death of one of their children.
littlechicky
It still amazes me that “conversion therapy” continues. This boy did not choose to be gay, people still seem to think it is a choice when it isn’t, and he was brave enough to confide in his mother who then along with his father sent him to conversion therapy which they say killed their son. They drove him to it with over the top religion and now they have lost him forever. It is just so sad. My son came out to me when he was 15 and I would never have treated him any differently, he is my son and I love and support him with all my heart, no matter what!
Billysees
@littlechicky:
” It still amazes me that “conversion therapy” continues. ”
It continues because there’s ‘money in it’ for those allowed to practice therapy.
” …people still seem to think it is a choice when it isn’t… ”
Of course it isn’t, but there is a frequent refrain from gay haters that it is, and so the unwise and stupid about LGBT issues repeat it because they don’t know what else to say.
” They drove him to it with ‘over the top religion’ and now they have lost him forever. ”
And how sad that really is too. Their ignorance and trust of religious conservative opinions made it happen.
‘Over the top religion’ is a phrase I’ve never heard before, and it is an excellent one to describe misguided religiosity.