Image by Angela Yuriko Smith from Pixabay

Abuse takes many forms: it can be physical, emotional, verbal, sexual, financial, social and spiritual. It’s relatively simple to recognise physical abuse as abuse (though, of course, not always). However, spiritual abuse can be easily mislabelled as spiritual zeal or even spiritual maturity.

Spiritual abusers often:

• Exploit the doctrine of our fallenness to accuse, berate, critique, attack, belittle, condemn or produce guilt in the victim. They may cultivate or take advantage of their victim’s conscientiousness in regards to moral matters in order to make them feel like the real problem is the victim’s inferior spirituality. They may make the victim feel like the only reason things aren’t better is because the victim is immature.

• Exploit the doctrine of our fallenness to excuse or minimise the severity of their own behaviour. They may try to convince the victim that since everyone is sinful, their abuse is normal, and they shouldn’t expect anything different.

• Exploit the doctrines of forgiveness and reconciliation to demand that a victim forgive the abuse, even if there has been no real repentance. They may pressure the victim to ‘move on’, as though any ongoing hurts are the result of ungodly bitterness or resentments. They may demand that forgiveness equate to the restoration of all the previous conditions of the relationship (including contact, communication and trust).

• Use the busyness, stress, pressures or responsibilities of ministry to excuse abuse. Abusers may use ministry to excuse deliberate neglect of the victim. They may blame outbursts, aggression, physical violence, on the pressures of ministry, making the victim feel that they can’t critique the abuse without also critiquing a valuable ministry.

• Use the Bible/other Holy Tome to justify abusive behaviour, and insinuate or explicitly state that if the victim understands the Bible differently, the difference of opinion is actually a product of sin.

• Use their - apparently - sophisticated knowledge of the Bible/other Holy Tome to position themselves outside of the teaching and authority of church leaders.

• Use the community to protect the abuser, and isolate the victim. The abuser may make himself or herself vital to significant ministries, in turn making the victim feel responsible for their possible collapse if they revealed the abuse. They abuser may manipulate others so that they think highly of the abuser and think little of the victim, making the victim feel like they wouldn’t have any support if they did expose the abuse. The abuser might paint themselves as the long-suffering or patiently enduring partner of an erratic or dramatic or emotional woman (or child), undermining the victim’s credibility whilst underscoring theirs.

• Lie to the victim about how they are regarded by the community, isolating them from possible sources of support.

• Isolate their victims socially, making excuses why the victim cannot participate in social or spiritual gatherings, and limiting their access to either information or support, or both.

• Appeal to the work of evil spirits as explanations for the victim’s accusations or behaviour.

• Attribute accusations against them to the work of Satan.

• Use Bible/other Holy Tomes passages about generosity to justify controlling the victim’s access to money.

• Use Bible/othere Holy Tomes passages about faithfulness in marriage to justify limiting the victim’s social life.

• Use Bible/other Holy Tomes passages about rebuking to justify verbal abuse.

• Use Bible/other Holy Tomes passages about sexuality to justify rape and sexual assault.

• Use Bible passages/other Holy Tomes about unity to justify silencing the victim.

https://www.commongrace.org.au/the_characteristics_of_spiritual_abuse

Using threats of "karma" to harrass another -

Most people don't know how it works

Karma is not just a mechanism by which the universe brings snarky retribution for someone’s misdeeds. It’s not simple luck or even destiny. It’s a Sanskrit word that means “action,” “work,” or “deed,” and it really speaks of the spiritual cycle of cause and effect. The good intentions and deeds you perform result in an addition of good karma, while the bad ones add to the bad karma. Notice that karma doesn’t necessarily have to be negative. It’s more a law of consequences than a particular reward or punishment.

It’s significant to point out, the laws of karma, caused by individual actions, can affect the life you are leading. But what’s also recognized are intentions. They are just as important in your karmic profile and the effect they have on you. Unintentional actions do not have that much influence. Even performing a good deed that stems out of questionable intentions can bring you negative karma. 1

Anyone who is tyring to threaten or manipulate by using Karma puts price on his/her own head not yours. There are all sorts of tricky little catchphrases like "This is a result of..." Or "What goes around comes around" Or “I can’t wait for the Karma Train to pull into their station” or they outright say “I hope they get hit by the Karma Train.” 2 when there is disagreement.

A person cannot be the judge and jury of another person through the use and threat of Karma. If you believe in Karma, then you should know it has been with you through all lifetimes. Yes, believing in Karma is also a belief in reincarnation. Because you carry Karma through lifetimes, both good and bad Karmatic energies are stored away till the next great adventure.

To hope negative Karma finds another human is a bad thought. You are creating negative Karma on yourself.

So essentially when we wish negativity on other people in the shape of our supposed friend Karma, we are creating a state where we’re actually bringing misery on ourselves too. 2

Throwing Karma into the mix is also abuse.

1. https://bigthink.com/thinking/karma-doesnt-work-how-most-people-think/

2. https://henpicked.net/instant-karma/

Posted for educational/Informational purposes only.