In response to my Sunday column about spiritual abuse, I received what I believe is a sincere email from a man in his 60s. I edited the part in brackets to protect identity, but otherwise here is what he said:

"I really think that there must be a huge culture chasm between north and south Arkansas. For instance, it is only when I travel in the northern areas (which I do quite frequently) that I see the MAGA Trump-like signs in the yards. There are none here in our area south of Little Rock. I don't know but one or two folks in our area who are unabashedly MAGA.

"The type of spiritual abuse you describe as a woman, and especially a married Christian woman, is just foreign to me, my wife, my [daughter and son-in-law in their 30s, both highly educated], all of us SBC Christians. My daughter was captain of cheerleaders, homecoming queen, prom queen, all that, but never did she hear from her mom or me to subjugate herself to a domineering man, Christian or not. My mother and father didn't teach any of their four kids to follow their faith blindly. I have lived among Baptists all of my 64 years down here and the culture of spiritual abuse you speak of is again just foreign to us. And to be clear, I am not referring to spiritual authority used to commit sexual abuse of minors; that is a whole different subject.

"Do you personally know a bunch of women who had a similar experience as you? ... . I am not trying or wanting to minimize or mitigate your experience at all; it is clear it was real and extraordinarily painful for you and your family, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

"Recently you painted all Christians with the same brush that you painted the crowd at the Charlie Kirk funeral with: All MAGA types that have no Jesus in them, or have misused Jesus for purposes other than how you think He should be used or represented. Again, this is a foreign concept to me, relating to the hundreds of Christians I know, work with, serve with, fellowship and worship with.

"Since you have been writing about your experience with spiritual abuse, have you gotten a bunch of responses from other women (and/or men) across the state that have had the same experiences? I am genuinely curious. Has religion failed other folks the same way as it did you? I am just wondering if I am living in an insulated........

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