In the book, "The Agony of Deceit", Joel Nederhood writes that "whenever a religious leader or a church comes up with a scheme that confuses salvation with some kind of monetary payment, you have the worst kind of dishonesty. That is like trying to sell something that is not yours to sell. It is like trying to sell something again that has already been sold and paid for. It is a scam. It's trickery. It's self-serving thievery."

[titus2menandwomen.org]


“Spiritual abuse is the misuse of a position of power, leadership, or influence to further the selfish interests of someone other than the individual who needs help. Sometimes abuse arises out of a doctrinal position. At other times it occurs because of legitimate personal needs of a leader that are being met by illegitimate means. Spiritually abusive religious systems are sometimes described as legalistic, mind controlling, religiously addictive, and authoritarian.” --David Henke


“Spiritual abuse can be difficult to detect at first if you have never encountered it. In a manipulative church, the pastor or senior leaders have subtly positioned themselves to take the place of the Holy Spirit in people's lives. They may try to put undue influence on the choices that people in their congregation are making. They might try to sway someone’s decision in a matter to keep them under their control, or to keep them from leaving the church.” --Craig von Buseck CBN.com Ministries Director


In this case, as it is in controlling churches today, the people were burdened with rules and regulations that needed to be performed to gain the acceptance of the religious leaders — in that day the Pharisees. Today, it is the manipulative spiritual leader.

[www.spiritwatch.org]


However, many others in our region no less zealously and sincerely concerned with their well being and that of their children have found just the opposite in their own religious journeys. Instead of finding fulfillment, they have become bound by fear, frustration, indoctrination, and manipulative mind control that have made their pursuit of God an endless drudgery punctuated by a driven and legalistic lifestyle.

Each of them, however, have one thing in common: they regularly inflict religious abuse upon their members in the name of God and Christianity and have committed untold amounts of spiritual violence upon them.

Also, perhaps the unwritten perception remains in more minds than we care to acknowledge, that to challenge a minister's authority is to be found challenging God, not something very many religious people (particularly here in Southeastern Tennessee) will contemplate doing. While we argue over these issues, the religious abuse goes on virtually unchallenged and unchecked

So what is religious abuse? Religious abuse is the crushing inner psychological, spiritual and emotional damage suffered by members of authoritarian communities of faith whenever its spiritual authority is twisted by spiritual leaders to achieve a desired goal through unethical, cruel and damaging means. Sometimes these may be physical or sexual in nature, but much more often it is more clearly seen in the many various forms of mental and spiritual trauma that are inflicted upon church members, often through the practice of abusive leaders using personal influence upon a community of faith to turn people on one another to exercise and magnify their power and position in the name of "church order." This sort of "discipline" often deeply crushes the mind and spirit of the church member who was unfortunate enough to become subject to it. Individual initiative, critical thinking and personal choices of action are strongly discouraged and condemned by aberrant church leaders as sinful pride. It is made quite clear to the group by the pastor or leaders that the only really important goals in life are those that they dictate to the group. These practices - harsh and bizarre as they often become - are viewed by the group leaders as genuine acts of devotion that all true believers will gladly submit to so as to obtain divine favor and spiritual growth.

For example, there is no qualitative difference, therefore, between a twisted therapist who unethically imposes his own warped worldview upon patients under his care through months of arduous "therapy", an aggressive cult recruiter indoctrinating prospective recruits with questionable dogma through months of "Bible study", and the errant pastor who abusively conditions his flock to adopt his unorthodox convictions through months of weekly "ministry."

Spiritual abuse occurs when a person in religious authority or a person with a unique spiritual practice misleads and maltreats another person in the name of God or church or in the mystery of any spiritual concept. Spiritual abuse often refers to an abuser using spiritual or religious rank in taking advantage of the victim's spirituality (mentality and passion on spiritual matters) by putting the victim in a state of unquestioning obedience to an abusive authority.

Spiritual abuse is the maltreatment of a person in the name of God, faith, religion, or church, whether habitual or not, and includes any of the following:

Psychological and emotional abuse
Any act by deeds or words that demean, humiliate or shame the natural worth and dignity of a person as a human being
Submission to spiritual authority without any right to disagree; intimidation
Unreasonable control of a person's basic right to make a choice on spiritual matters
False accusation and repeated criticism by negatively labeling a person as disobedient, rebellious, lacking faith, demonized, apostate, enemy of the church or God
Prevention from practicing faith
Isolation or separation from family and friends due to religious affiliation
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 a selected few
Conformity to a dangerous or unnatural religious view and practice
Hostility that includes shunning, (relational aggression, parental alienation) and persecution

Authority and Power - abusive groups misuse and distort the concept of spiritual authority. Abuse arises when leaders of a group arrogate to themselves power and authority that lacks the dynamics of open accountability and the capacity to question or challenge decisions made by leaders. The shift entails moving from general respect for an office bearer to one where members loyally submit without any right to dissent.

Manipulation and Control - abusive groups are characterized by social dynamics where fear, guilt, and threats are routinely used to produce unquestioning obedience, group conformity, and stringent tests of loyalty to the leaders are demonstrated before the group. Biblical concepts of the leader-disciple relationship tend to develop into a hierarchy where the leader's decisions control and usurp the disciple's right or capacity to make choices on spiritual matters or even in daily routines of what form of employment, form of diet and clothing are permitted.

Elitism and Persecution - abusive groups depict themselves as unique and have a strong organizational tendency to be separate from other bodies and institutions. The social dynamism of the group involves being independent or separate, with diminishing possibilities for internal correction and reflection. Outside criticism and evaluation is dismissed as the disruptive efforts of evil people seeking to hinder or thwart.

Life-style and Experience - abusive groups foster rigidity in behavior and in belief that requires unswerving conformity to the group's ideals and social mores.

Dissent and Discipline - abusive groups tend to suppress any kind of internal challenges and dissent concerning decisions made by leaders. Acts of discipline may involve emotional and physical humiliation, physical violence or deprivation, acute and intense acts of punishment for dissent and disobedience.

Characteristics of An Unsafe Church
[www.ccpas.co.uk]
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•Inability to ask questions or raise issues- If an individual raises a problem they become the problem.
•Lack of accountability - accountability suggested but not there in reality
•Increasing expectation of commitment
•Emphasis on external image- even if it is not reality
•Manipulation, dominance and control
•Social isolation of members from individuals outside of the church
•Obedience to authority in all circumstances
•Secrecy - over finance, decisions etc
•Emphasis on finance
•Misuse of scripture/pulpit
•The belief that the minister always knows best
•Fear of leaving
•Personal slander and subsequent isolation on leaving
•Loss of personal identity
•Elitism - there is no other church like this.

As already stated when people leave an abusive church situation, it is not uncommon to be ostracised by and become isolated from church members

[wiki.answers.com]


The narcissistic religious leader

Call him a pastor, priest, rabbi--whatever. But don't fall into the trap of thinking that this institution exists for the sake of faith or spiritual development. Forget it. If the leader is a narcissist, then this church or synagogue (etc.) exists solely for the purpose of enhancing the image of the man in charge. That is all. Congregants exist to provide a steady stream of narcissistic supply. People are moved into, or out of, various positions as they prove their ability to bring honor and glory, NOT to the Almighty, but to the narcissistic leader himself. Of course there is a spectrum; but in the extreme case, the narcissistic religious leader is an idolator. He worships his own image, and he expects you to do so as well.

Narcissists seem almost telepathic at times in their ability evaluate anyone's value to their mission. From the moment that you first enter his domain, you are being sized up. Whether the sign on the door says Agape Fellowship, St. Xavier's, or Temple Shalom, the true mission is to promote the honor and glory of Pastor X, Father Y, or Rabbi Z. Your first encounter with the narcissistic leader is likely to be pleasant and he will compliment any obvious qualities that he can use for his own purposes.

But this is important: He will also be able to identify your vulnerabilities just as quickly as your strengths, and he will use these in the classic narcissist's cycle of first over-valuing, and then de-valuing you, your spouse, your children, and basically your entire existence. You will be manipulated so that you provide him with all the resources at your disposal that may enhance him, while you yourself get very little in return, and certainly not the spiritual growth you were looking for. If you object or disagree with him in any way, you be marked as a threat. And then it can get ugly.

[www.neirr.org]


Eight Distinctives Of An Aberrational Christian or Bible-based Group


There are many groups that do have peculiar doctrinal emphases which are in no way "dangerous" or "cultic", however, it is more accurately the gravitation towards high-control, authoritarian leadership structures that actually make a group "aberrant". In describing this tendency towards spiritual totalitarianism, one could accurately depict the methodology in terms of it's visible manifestation, as does Steve Hassan in his BITE Model of Mind Control. In our explanation below, however, we address the process in the specific way that it expresses itself in a Bible-based group, inasmuch as the beliefs of the group are utilized to create and maintain that strict authoritarian schema. It is the perversion of otherwise benign belief and doctrine which becomes the vehicle for the leader(s) to gain control over the members.

[caic.org.au]


HOW TO DISCERN SPIRITUAL ABUSE


If you are a church leader think of what you could get away with in your church if you taught your flock NOT TO SAY ANYTHING THAT THEY DISAGREED WITH TO OTHERS. THEY CAN ONLY COME TO YOU IN PRIVATE AND NOT SHARE THIS WITH OTHERS. That would give you time to work on that person and "help" them see that they are not thinking right. If the person still held their own ground claiming that you were not scriptural, then you would have a chance to discredit this person. You could tell the congregation that this person was "totally irrational" to ensure that no one will listen or believe that person's information. You could even secretly encourage this person never to come back to this church. If the person felt unwelcome enough by this approach, you may never have to deal with them again. Or you could simply excommunicate them and turn the congregation against them to the point they won't even speak to that person.

[caic.org.au]


ACTS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF FALSE LEADERS
This is a minimal list. Evil people are constantly devising new evil schemes.

DECEIT AND DECEPTION
A false leader's primary concern is to lead you away from the Lord Jesus and the Word of God to himself/herself or to his/her organization. Jesus warns His followers not to be deceived by such people. There's no need for demons to possess these men because they willingly serve Satan. I believe it is possible for a Christian to be deceived into apostasy; though like the slowly boiled frog, it might be a gradual process of denying truths in order to believe lies. (See also Mark 13:5-6; Luke 21:8; 2 Tim. 3:13)

Some false leaders seduce others by promising success and wealth and health and power. Others mislead people, promising to lead them to Jesus but always arriving at themselves or some doctrine or cause instead. They disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness, but their works are unrighteous.

They deny the Lord who "bought them", but they'll sell you to the highest bidder. And if you 'break' (physically, emotionally, or financially) and appear to be no longer profitable to them, they'll quickly toss you aside like old rubbish. "Many will follow their pernicious ways." They will appear successful, but Christianity will be blasphemed because of them. The world will clearly see their greed for money and rightly call them hypocrites.

Don't let anyone add to or take from your simple faith in Christ. There are different kinds of gifts and services and works which grow from relationship with Jesus. God has blessed His Body with various abilities for healthy wholeness, not to create division (1 Cor. 12). If someone has faith in the Biblical Jesus for forgiveness of their sins, then that person is a brother or sister in Christ. If they trust in some other person or teaching for their salvation, then they are not in Christ.