Exposing the Reality of Spiritual Abuse in the Church

Is Your Story of Spiritual Abuse Dismissed?

My cartoons and posts on spiritual abuse get reactions from many claiming I focus on a rarity in the Church. They are usually angry and defensive. 

They say: 

• Why are you so bitter? 
• How dare you attack Christ’s bride whom he died for!
• This hardly happens.
• You’re just trying to make us look bad to the world.
• Do you have to be so negative?
• You’re in the Church so don't bite the hand that feeds you.
• You aren’t in the Church so you have no right to criticize it. 

Mind your own business!

I claim spiritual abuse, from control to sexual assault, is rampant in the Church. It’s all over the internet.

The Church is the perfect culture for abuse. It has all the ingredients: 

• Ignorance of systemic evil;
• The lack of accountability;
• Leader adulation;
• Predation of women and children;
• Fear of criticizing something sacred;
• Submission as a value;
• Unquestioning loyalty as a requirement;
• Denial as a default position;
• The compulsory forgiveness and restitution of fallen leaders. 

All these combine to make churches perfect for spiritual abuse. 

To deny this is ignorant and insensitive. They silence victims. They dismiss their pain and nullify their experience just so they can hold their idea of Church. They sacrifice people to the institution.

When someone says their church doesn’t spiritually abuse I think one of three things: 

1. They are right and are therefore fortunate.
2. They don’t recognize spiritual abuse because we are so used to being assaulted every week and expect to be dominated by their leaders.
3. Spiritual abuse is rebranded as discipline or authority or our weakness and unwillingness to submit.

I try to convince people that spiritual abuse is real and it’s wrong. 
Period.