"Toxic faith is a destructive and dangerous involvement in a religion that allows the religion, not a relationship with God, to control a person's life." 
-Stephen Arberburn and Jack Felton-

Now, we will take an indepth look at toxic faith and who is prone to become involved in this false religion. According to the book Toxic Faith, "people broken by various experiences, people from dysfunctional families, people with unrealistic expectations, and people out for their own gain or comfort seem especially prone to it. It is abusive and manipulative and can become addictive." (p. 19) Arterburn and Felton explain that many people are susceptible to religious addiction; however, they explain that they have uncovered factors that characterize religious addicts:

Common Characteristics of Religious Addicts (p. 20)
- Rigid parents 
- Experience of disappointment
- Low self-worth
- Victims of abuse 

Toxic Beliefs of a Toxic Faith 
-Inability to think, doubt, or question religious information and/or authority 
-Black-and-white, good/bad, either/or simplistic thinking: one way or the other 
-Shame-based belief that you aren't good enough or you aren't doing it right 
-Magical thinking that God will fix you/ do it all, without serious work on your part 
-Scrupulosity: rigid obsessive adherence to rules, codes of ethics, or guidelines 
-Uncompromising judgmental attitudes: readiness to find fault or evil out there 
-Compulsive or obsessive praying, going to church or crusades, quoting scripture 
-Unrealistic financial contributions 
-Believing that sex is dirty; believing our bodies or physical pleasures are evil 
-Compulsive overeating and/or excessive fasting 
-Conflict and argumentation with science, medicine, and education 
-Progressive detachment from the real work, isolation and breakdown of relationships 
-Psychosomatic illness: back pains, sleeplessness, headaches, hypertension 
-Manipulating scripture or texts, feeling specially chosen, claiming to receive special messages from God 
-Maintaining a religious "high", trance-like state, keeping a happy face (or the belief that one should...) 
-Attitude of righteousness or superiority: "we versus the world," including the denial of one's human-ness. 
-Confusion, great doubts, mental, physical or emotional breakdown, cries for help 
-The ultimate temptation of the believer is to assume that his or her way to God is the best or only way for others. 
-The particular Way to God becomes what is adored, not the ineffable and incomprehensible Mystery to which we give the name of God. 

In essence we have become addicted to the certainty, sureness or sense of security that our faith provides.
It is no longer a living by faith, with hope and growing in unconditional love. 

External Source:
Adapted from When God Becomes a Drug, by Leo Booth
Deb on Mon, Aug 02 2010. Last revised by: deb on Mon, Aug 09 2010.