Church abuse

From Encyc

Church abuse is a distinctive label for the abusive practices done inside a church.

The term "church abuse" and "religious abuse" are often associated with spiritual abuse. "Religious abuse" is used interchangeably with "church abuse", but it is more of an abuse related to aberration in an organized belief system and communal practice than personal conviction or personal affiliation.

Church abuse done in the name of God, faith, or church, whether habitual or not, includes any of the following:

  • Psychological and emotional abuse of a church member
  • Any act by deeds or words that demean, humiliate or shame the natural worth and dignity of a church member as a human being
  • Submission to church authority without any right to disagree; intimidation
  • Unreasonable control of a church member's basic right to make a choice on spiritual matters
  • False accusation and repeated criticism by negatively labeling a church member as disobedient, rebellious, lacking faith, demonized, apostate, enemy of the church or God
  • Prevention from practicing faith
  • Isolation or separation of a church member from family and friends due to doctrinal differences
  • Physical abuse that includes physical injury, deprivation of sustenance, and sexual abuse
  • Exclusivity; dismissal of an outsider's criticism and labeling an outsider as of the devil
  • Withholding information and giving of information only to selected loyal members of the church
  • Conformity to a dangerous or unnatural church creed and practice
  • Hostility that includes shunning (relational aggression, parental alienation) and persecution

Terminology[edit]

Christian denominations have different doctrines, standards, and terminology on church abuse. For the sake of awareness, notable terms related to church abuse issues are listed here:

  • Authoritarian – stringently forcing any person to obey an erroneous set of rules; or favoring blind submission to authority[1]
  • Brainwash – to force someone to believe or accept something that is not true; hence compelling them to participate
  • Cult – an extreme religious group or religious conviction regarded as deviating from established religion
  • Defection - conscious abandonment of allegiance or duty (as to a person, cause, or doctrine)[2]
  • Demonized - a person described as evil or possessed with a demon
  • Divisive - someone dividing a community into factions with opposing opinions; hence creating disunity or dissension[3]
  • Exclusiveness – limiting a group and preventing others from participation
  • Heresy – a belief or adherence to a religious statement contrary to official church dogma
  • Intimidation - making a person inferior and fearful
  • Isolation – the condition of being totally separate from family or group
  • Manipulative – someone who is deceiving others to get what he or she wants
  • Shaming – forcing someone to feel ashamed or guilty and unworthy of respect
  • Shunning – avoiding intentionally a former member

Background of Church Abuse[edit]

Church abuse and the Early Church

Followers of Jesus Christ include the apostles, the elders or overseers, and the whole body of professing Christians. These followers or disciples forming several congregations are members of one church. These church members habitually assemble together in one place or in several places to worship but "church abusers" too can be found among the group during their gathering.

Early church leaders were appointed by the apostles to handle particular needs of some members[4][5]. Concerning persecution and the rise of heresy, leaders were also given authority to protect the church and to discipline erring members.

The impending appearance of "church abusers", named by the Apostle Paul as "grievous wolves" in Acts 20:29, required members to be vigilant. The Apostle gave the church a specific label concerning would-be "church abusers". Besides the labeling, Paul warned the church about the rise of "church abusers" within their order. [6]

The Apostle described a typical example of "church abuse" from within: (1) Church abuse occurs when a certain member speaks perverse things in the church and (2) when that member draws away a disciple from the Church to spawn and lord over a personal adherent.

Church abuse and the Heretics

Gnosticism joined Christianity in the quest of knowledge about God, man, and redemption but the mixture of Eastern, Greek, and Christian tradition resulted in a dysfunctional version of the Church. The absence of common doctrinal statement between congregations caused far-reaching changes in the Church.

The heretic Marcion was generally known as a former member of the Christian church at Rome. According to the early church apologist Irenaeus, Marcion "dismembered the epistles of Paul" and "also those passages from the prophetical writings which the apostle quotes"[7] to the extent that Marcion created his own canon and regarded it as completely authoritative thereby rejecting the other books of the holy scripture. For this reason, Marcion was definitely "speaking perverse things" and his epistle revisions became one of the greatest heresies in Church history.

Marcion was excommunicated[8] by the Christian church at Rome but the gospel of Marcion continued to draw away a number of disciples from the Church thus causing schisms.

Church abuse and Christian Religions[edit]

Roman Catholicism

The Roman Catholic Church is committed to preventing church abuse and ensuring that the diocese's policies are adhered to.[9]

Pope John Paul II admitted that there were abuses done by priests (referring to sex offences against children) and he was deeply grieved by the fact that priests and religious, whose vocation it is to help people live holy lives in the sight of God, have themselves caused such suffering and scandal to the young. However, the Pope reiterated that there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young and reminded the Church to understand and deal with the crisis in its midst.[10]

In the past, Martin Luther, a former Roman Catholic theologian, with his 95 Theses challenged both the authority of the pope and the integrity of the clergy when he presented his concern on financial extortion and doctrinal abuses. Luther was outraged by his so-called "church abusers" and went so far as to associate the institution of the papacy with the Antichrist.

Protestantism

Christians who challenged Catholicism on the subject of abuse of power and practices were excommunicated by the leaders of Roman Catholic Church. These former Roman Catholics and the disciples of Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, and John Calvin became known to their opponents as Protestants.[11]

There are about 800 million Protestants worldwide [12] but "church abuses" and controversies are also widespread:

  • On abuse of authority, 838 Protestant ministers have sexually abused children[13]
  • On defection, a deacon of the United Methodist Church converted to Islam[14]
  • On brainwashing, accused Pentecostal church pastor manipulates its members to expect financial blessings from God as long as they give "sacrificially"[15]
  • On division, Radical Reformers distinguished themselves from established Protestant churches following the The Five Solas and called some Protestant theologians as the 'new papists'[16]

Church abuse and Human Rights[edit]

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion[17] but the Church and religious leaders in general consistently emphasize that the "law of God is above any human law."[18]

Typically, inequalities in a community can hinder the exercise of human rights. Consider the power of the Roman Catholic Church in Brazil that has the largest number of baptized Catholics in the World.[19] By increasing prosecutions under existing laws, the Catholic Church made it harder for Brazilian women to get reproductive health care.[20] Further example is the opposition of the Catholic archbishop in the city of Recife concerning an abortion done by doctors on a nine-year-old Brazilian girl who has been raped by her stepfather. The archbishop criticized the decision as against "the law of God" and excommunicated the girl's mother, the doctors and other people involved in the abortion. According to media reports, the girl could have died if her pregnancy with twins was allowed to continue. Brazil's health minister challenged the church on issues from abortions to the government's supply of free condoms, defended the doctors' decision to perform the abortion, saying they had acted "strictly within the law."[21] Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.[22]

In this example, each side or point of view is valuable in considering whether an act done by the religious group is a type of "church abuse" or not. However, when a church group or leader intimidates an ordinary member or citizen and limits or disregards that person's freedom to change his/her religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance[23] is beyond any doubt committing an abuse and a violation of human rights.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights apply to each individual, regardless of gender, race, religion or cultural background.[24]

Further reading[edit]

  • Enroth, Ronald (1993). Churches That Abuse. Zondervan. ISBN 0310532922.
  • Enroth, Ronald (1994). Recovering from Churches That Abuse. Zondervan. ISBN 0310398703.
  • Blue, Ken (1993). Healing Spiritual Abuse: How to Break Free from Bad Church Experiences. InterVarsity Press. ISBN 0830816607.
  • De Haan II, Martin (1994). How To Identify a Dangerous Religious Group. RBC Ministries.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ authoritarian. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved March 30, 2009, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/authoritarian
  2. ↑ defection. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved March 30, 2009, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/defection
  3. ↑ divisive. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved March 30, 2009, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/divisive
  4. ↑ Acts 11:29-30 "Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea: Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul."
  5. ↑ Acts 14:23 "And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed."
  6. ↑ Acts 20:28-30
  7. ↑ Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 27:2
  8. ↑ Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem, a near-contemprary polemic.
  9. ↑ Church settles Texan abuse claims
  10. ↑ Address of John Paul II to the Cardinals of the United States, 23 April 2002
  11. ↑ Protestantism. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 30, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/479892/Protestantism
  12. ↑ Jay Diamond, Larry. Plattner, Marc F. and Costopoulos, Philip J. World Religions and Democracy. 2005, page 119.(also in PDF file, p49), saying "Not only do Protestants presently constitute 13 percent of the world’s population—about 800 million people—but since 1900 Protestantism has spread rapidly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America."
  13. ↑ http://reformation.com/CSA/allabuse.html
  14. ↑ Former Minister of United Methodist Church
  15. ↑ Jesus wants you to drive 4x4, says S.African church
  16. ↑ Radical Reformer Andreas von Bodenstein Karlstadt referred to the Wittenberg theologians as the 'new papists.'
  17. ↑ Article 18, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  18. ↑ Brazil attacks church opposition to girl's abortion
  19. ↑ IBGE - Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics). Religion in Brazil - 2000 Census. Accessed 2007-04-24
  20. ↑ Brazil's Mornings After
  21. ↑ Brazil attacks church opposition to girl's abortion
  22. ↑ Article 3, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  23. ↑ Article 18, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  24. ↑ Frequently Asked Questions about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

External links[edit]

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