Hey, Girl, you got a minute?

10 charts on church, pyramid schemes and the need to belong.

I have this theory—

That people just want to matter—

And when they don’t, they MUST prove that they’re better than SOMEBODY/ANYBODY—

Because there’s a purpose missing in their life, and that hurts—

Nobody wants to feel worthless, so they go along with what makes them feel special—

And a little sliver of identity is all somebody needs to do obviously crazy, unwise stuff.

In this context, hazing feels like an honor—

And even if what you joined is unhealthy, at least they let you join, right?

But everybody deserves better than exploitation.

And even though leaving a bad situation is tough, staying is worse.

The oils were never essential to who you were, or what you were capable of.