Vicar Spiritually Abuses Parishioners

[Slim]

This is a Grauniad piece so I offer no expectation as to its veracity. However it certainly is an interesting read.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/21/c-of-e-vicar-michael-hall-spiritually-abused-parishioners-says-report

My view is that people who suffer from the delusion that they've been "called" to exert authority over others by a sky fairy are probably compensating for the lack of importance and authority they'd never had in real life. I think that's especially obvious here.

Parishioners described Hall as a bully "who used coercion and control to silence dissent, isolate the congregation, make them dependent on him and to exploit them".

The report said he "emotionally abused people and used scripture and fear of hell to control them". Some parishioners did not realise they were being abused at the time.

[Matt2112]

He was only accurately proclaiming what the Bible tells him to - the fact that much of it is absurd, nasty, vindictive bollocks is by the by.

[pxr5]

That's the sort of thing you'd expect from the bible belt of the USA, not Buckinghamshire. I struggle with anything like this as my brain simply can't comprehend religious belief of any type. 

[The Picnic Wasp]

That's the sort of thing you'd expect from the bible belt of the USA, not Buckinghamshire. I struggle with anything like this as my brain simply can't comprehend religious belief of any type.

I sometimes feel that I wish I could slip off the shackles of belief, it would make things easier in many ways and I know I would still retain morals and conscience. But it's ingrained in me now and gives me hope even though that hope can be fleeting and wavering. However, I get angry when these people are described as bad priests, or bad ministers. They are just criminals unless there is an underlying mental health issue. I totally get Matt's comment above (everybody loves Matt😁) but there aren't too many issues in those respects in the teachings of Christ.