We’ve got a good conversation going on in the forums about eating disorders and whether or not the environment at the Honor Academy contributes to them. Now, this is not something I have personally struggled with, but it got me thinking…For some reason, Teen Mania seems to have a fascination with throwing up. I remember in my first few weeks of the Honor Academy, Dave Hasz would tell us stories of how when he was younger, he would routinely throw up after running. That is how he knew he pushed himself. To me, it seemed like a not so subtle encouragement to apply this same standard to my life. In fact, for years afterwards whenever I would exercise, I would think, “Well, I didn’t throw up” as evidence that I really could have pushed myself harder.
And then of course, we have “rolling the hill.” For the unitiated, this is an event during ESOAL where each particpant rolls down a hill. If they vomit, they are allowed to stand up and walk to the bottom. Lather, rinse and repeat for hours on end. There are plenty of videos online about ESOAL, and many of them show this throwing up in all its glory.
(I think the slogan for ESOAL should be “Reaching BAR* through Barfing.”)
So, other than the fact this fascination with throwing up is quite strange…what about the health implications?
- Rolling through other people’s puke is disgusting and must violate health codes.
- Exercising to the point of vomiting is not a healthy habit.
- What about people who struggle with eating disorders? All this talk of retching, and essentially forcing them to do it during ESOAL must really mess with their heads.
*BAR is the strange theology of Burial and Resurrection that is supposed to happen to you spiritually during ESOAL. I thought baptism was the burial of our old man and the resurrection of our new one, but apparently that has been replaced with sleep deprivation and lots of push-ups.
7 comments:
Eric P.says:April 7, 2010 at 5:30 PMReply
I’ve heard from one person involved in ESOAL–unfortunately I don’t have direct documentation to offer–that the morning routine involved eating an unpalatable cold breakfast. One girl, I was told, threw up and was made to eat her own vomit.
I’d easily place that on any list of the top ten most reprehensible things I’ve ever heard. I’m still staggered every time I think about it. Does anyone know of other stories like this, especially ones that could be confirmed?
Of course the whole idea of BAR–your sin nature can be killed by, wait for it, your own works!–is pretty much straight out of standard cult theology, and is explicitly contradicted by the biblical Gospel message. See Colossians 2 to begin with.
Conversely, Jesus says self-righteousness makes Him puke. (Not “lack of passion” as it’s usually preached– self-righteousness, in context.)
Eric P.says:April 7, 2010 at 5:32 PMReply
Then there’s this:
“All the tables are covered with vomit
and there is not a spot without filth.
Who is it he is trying to teach?
To whom is he explaining his message?
To children weaned from their milk,
to those just taken from the breast?
For it is:
Do and do, do and do,
rule on rule, rule on rule;
a little here, a little there.”
(Isaiah 28:8-10.)
I didn’t think I’d be ending my day doing a Bible study on puking, but there’s a time for everything I guess.
Anonymoussays:April 7, 2010 at 7:39 PMReply
Didn’t Mr. Hasz say that hitting bar wasn’t actually ‘finishing.’ in that one video? He’s mental. To actually ‘finish’ ESOAL you have to ‘finish finish’ so hitting bar isn’t actually good enough.
Dang it Teen Mania. Why all the head trips?
kristensays:April 7, 2010 at 8:06 PMReply
RA… i think you make an excellent point. as someone who has struggled with EDs, i know that hearing these things from DH and others definitely contributed to a lot of confusion and other strong emotions.
Anonymoussays:April 8, 2010 at 9:40 AMReply
I thought I was finished with my ED when I first entered TM. I hadn’t struggled with it for a year. Even the dreams of my ED were gone. So, I thought I was in the clear. However, My first few weeks of the HA I started back into that old pattern of self-loathing.
I think the “All GO” and no Resting before God mentality had something to do with that. I was healed of my ED but I knew I had to keep the Word fresh in my heart. I also, found outreach a huge part of that healing for me but at the HA there is little time for outreach. We mostly just focused on ourselves and what we needed to do to “change” into world changers.
It’s been 7 years since I have struggled in that area now. Thanks to God because He loved me even when I didn’t think it was “right” to love myself.
So, I guess it’s safe to say that in my case at least, the HA played a role in providing an atmosphere that triggered an ED that I struggled with in the past. However, the HA wasn’t the only factor.
Anonymoussays:April 8, 2010 at 10:57 AMReply
Um… I have to say this first… I was in the very first ESOAL and I Loved it.
How ever, I left TM with the beginings of an eating disorder that blossomed fully in the next two years and that I have just walked away from in the past 90 days…
It was alway clear to me that my body was not good enough for TM.
Alum2000says:April 9, 2010 at 7:25 PMReply
In some ways it’s good to know that I wasn’t the only one who struggled with an eating disorder after TM. I can honestly remember thinking that I was pleasing God by “beating my body” through excessive exercise and not eating. Even though I’ve overcome the physical side of the eating disorder, there are still times when I catch myself going back to the TM line of thinking and I have to consciously replace those thoughts with what I know is really true about God and myself.
