Pulpit bullies and the spiritual abuse of minorities

Spiritual abuse is real. Pulpit bullies abound. Beware of those religious leaders who constantly quote scripture texts to affirm their authority over others.

Spiritual abuse is the use of religious authority to advance one’s power and influence over others, while reducing the autonomy of victims and potential victims. Words and actions are used to attack others while employing the use of stigma and discrimination.

The horrible subject of bullying continues to plague the society unabated. Videos and stories abound in which the bully or bullies abuse with impunity. However, as a society, maybe we have been more tolerant of bullying than we have been concerned. Our bias for the dominant and the popular are inseparable from misogyny, abuse of power, rape, and disregard for the seemingly powerless, the weak, the lonely, the minority, and unfortunately those who may be deemed quiet or harmless.

In the Bible, examples of stigma and discrimination are more common than we may realise. When someone was referenced as a Canaanite, a Samaritan, or a woman with a bleeding problem, to name a few, in all these contexts, there was a recognition that these various statuses rendered the individuals as ‘less than’ or ‘unclean’ or ‘suspect’ or ‘not so fit’ for wholesome society. In the gospels, Jesus constantly centred those who were stigmatised to depict how they had the capacity to do that which fulfilled the ethic of God’s kingdom.

The religious community was often offended and concerned when Jesus used such approaches which were inconsistent with the religious status quo.

In Jamaica, many parents now encourage their children to literally hit back and fight, rather than making a complaint about any issue of bullying. This is consistent with the “na tek nuh chat, bus up a bwoy or a gyal ed” approach. This serves egos, and the violence perpetuates to the point of being fatal sometimes.

Interestingly, even the non-religious invoke the Bible directly or indirectly when doing discrimination which is stigma in action. It is therefore “okay” for many adults to be comfortable with various acts of violence on children. They simply misuse the Bible to legitimise their “punishment”. And there are religious leaders who dutifully advance this approach,

It is also acceptable for youths suspected of LGBTI identity or gender non-conforming ways of being, to be ridiculed, shamed, and again admonished with the use of Scriptures. Too many Jamaicans have suffered from being beaten in contexts of prayer meetings where they were being subjected to fasting, prayer, and the beating out of a supposed demon as they “pray the gay away”.

These are matters that we are not facing. The elephant in the room concerning bullying is massive! We have had various campaigns about peace and love and respect, and other nice-sounding expressions with good intentions. We are yet to practically deplore expressions which condemn men and women who though good examples of parenting in the society have not exercised the status of parenthood. It is therefore an “acceptable” pejorative for a parent or pupil to refer to a teacher in such terms as “mule” or “gelding”. The same is true of pejorative expressions used to define sexual minorities. However, there is no political mileage to be gained from addressing these matters in society.

If we cannot protect minority victims of bullying, we should avoid feigning shock when it gets out of hand and children in schools feel a sense of right to abuse others with impunity!

Many Christians like to quote Proverbs 22:6 which more accurately translated is observing that if children are allowed to go in their natural way, doing what they would want to do (without discipline/guidance) then they will become fixed in such ways. There is a reason why healthy parenting does not give in to tantrums. There is also a reason why healthy parenting should not include beating a child who is throwing tantrums! How do we help people to understand that the text is not inviting parents to treat children like robots to be programmed or to beat them? How do we help them to understand that they are not to be held responsible for the choices of their adult children when we have been socialised to judge parents based on what their adult children do?

References to the rod in the book of Proverbs have been used to suspend processing modern nuances regarding corporal punishment. Many have not been able to reflect on the fact that the descendants of our enslaved ancestors are more likely to perpetuate the use of corporal punishment than the descendants of the enslavers. Many do not even know that there was a time when it was acceptable in religious circles for adult women to be treated with corporal punishment by their husbands. Men on the other hand were subjected to corporal punishment by the state.

Corporal punishment might inadvertently feed such notions as exacting power over the smaller, the younger, the weaker, the offender, if it is being done by the supposed stronger and superior. Should a progressive society model such values?

Fighting, though an understandable self-defence mechanism, is not always the way to go. In fact, doing what feels natural may not always be the wise thing to do. Human beings are also informed by values and various attitudes, which make a difference with how we process the challenges of life. Spiritual abuse often comes with a lack of capacity to engage the nuances in ancient texts. Psychology has afforded us the opportunity to process in ways which were not available to ancient thinkers and writers. The Bible has gone through centuries of writers, translators, editors, redactors and so on. There are mistranslations, weak translations, and sometimes even deliberate interpretations used in place of translation for a text. Sadly, this has also contributed to the misuse of texts which are today used to excuse abuse and even bullying.

Maybe we would better understand the debilitating effects of bullying if more of us imagined what it must have felt like to have lived under slavery with its tools of racism and white supremacy. Think about the reality of racial profiling. Think about the assumption that one is less-than simply by being female. Think about stereotyping based on one’s address!

There is an inseparable connection between misogyny, queerphobia, heteronormativity, the hype for bling, and the worship of the gun and all things associated with male chauvinism in Jamaica! Like the youths whose admired and feared role model is the don, our sick society admires and fears a warped system that uses convenient support from spiritual abusers.

Spiritual abuse and pulpit bullies advance control over women and children, and disregard for gender and sexual minorities. We hide behind expressions which give the impression that we are being sensitive to these issues. However, we have a long way to go if Jamaica is to realise development goals consistent with international best practices for human rights and justice for all.

Fr Sean Major-Campbell is an Anglican priest and advocate for human rights

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