Concerns have been raised in the past six months about the application of the term ‘spiritual abuse’ (‘SA’) which has begun to be used by organisations in their safeguarding training.
Advocates of ‘SA’ terminology argue that there’s something so particular about emotional and psychological abuse in religious contexts that it deserves its own special name. However, other forms of abuse in different settings are not called ‘show business abuse’, or ‘sporting abuse’.
Giving a clear definition to ‘SA’ is almost impossible to achieve. If it became a distinct criminal offence concerns have been raised that regular gospel work could be branded ‘SA’.
Rejecting ‘SA’ as a term shouldn’t mean there follows a denial of people’s experiences in churches which would fall into the category of emotional or psychological abuse. Church leaders should have standards above and beyond the law as they are representatives of Jesus.
The Evangelical Alliance (EA) plans to work with theologians, psychologists and lawyers to produce precise definitions of emotional and psychological abuse applicable to religious contexts. This would help detect, report and reject actual abusive practices, rather than just adopt the opaque and misleading terminology of ‘SA’. The EA noted it is doing this to honour the Lord Jesus, who cared for the vulnerable.
