The Power of Spiritual Abuse

In order for abuse to happen, by definition, it has to come from a place of higher power to a place of lesser power. When someone perpetrates abuse from a position of power, the victim is vulnerable because, if he does not comply with the abuser’s demands, he fears that his spiritual and emotional needs, and perhaps even his basic survival needs, will not be met. If the victim is a child or adolescent, he is reliant on his parents to meet his basic survival needs, which include food, shelter, clothes, and love. A victim of simultaneous sexual and spiritual abuse feels that if he does not give his power over to the abusive spiritual leader, these basic survival needs will not be met. So, let’s always remember that “spiritual abuse is always a power issue.”