When trigger warnings are necessary

I suspect there is some confusion about trigger warnings. A confusion that exists in Christian circles as well as in wider society.

Increasingly, trigger warnings are being described – and used – as if they were a kind of worldwide version of film certification: "Today’s Old Testament reading is Certificate 12A, but the New Testament reading has a U certificate and is suitable for all." Now, if that is what we were dealing with – and if the basis for a higher certification was simply because the content was contrary to liberal Western thinking – then it’s not hard to see the problem.

Rightly understood, however, (and rightly used), trigger warnings serve an entirely different function.