re: Softly and Tenderly

So, I looked at the wiki on her.

As someone who has been through fundamentalim and heavy legalistic churches in my life, I wasn't at all surprised to see these bolded parts in her story, the story of someone deconstructing their faith.

A Christian life that is obsessed with sinning less instead of first and foremost being in love with our sinless Savior is going to be an empty walk. Speaking from experience.

quote:

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Assad was raised in an Evangelical Protestant religious household; she reconfirmed her faith at the age of 19.[15][6] In 2007, she converted to Roman Catholicism, citing an attraction to the "physicality" and "mysticism" of the sacraments.[34][35][36]

Assad met her future husband, William Gene Prince III, in Arizona while on tour with Matt Maher in 2008; the couple married on February 19, 2011, in Phoenix.[37] In October 2017, Assad gave birth to their second child, a daughter named Camila St. Clare.[38] The couple divorced in 2019.[39]

In 2016, Assad was diagnosed with obsessive–compulsive disorder, specifically scrupulosity, a form of OCD involving religious or moral obsessions. She has also disclosed a diagnosis of complex post-traumatic stress disorder, which she attributes to a combination of genetic factors and her high-control religious upbringing.[34] Assad has spoken in public (including in her concerts)[40] about her past addiction to pornography and masturbation, while recommending "confession, accountability and counseling" to overcome them.[41]

Following a public "deconstruction" of her faith, Assad announced in 2021 that she was no longer a practicing Christian. She describes her current spirituality as being centered on embodiment, nature, and the interconnectedness of humanity, stating that she now views God as being present in "a blade of grass" as much as in herself.[34]

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