How do spiritual leaders benefit from being abusive?

Here is an interesting little blurb from a web site called My Savvy Sisters

Her comments below describe perfectly the various leaders of the 700 some splinter cults of Armstrongism.

My Savvy Sisters: How do spiritual leaders benefit from being abusive?

Interesting question! The benefits vary from group to group, and leader to leader. It depends on the end goal of the group and the leaders themselves. Some groups are driven by money, and others by power. Some religious groups also exploit sex as well. Other groups serve to meet the psychological needs of the leader.

The primary group leader of a group generally fits a typical narcissistic profile, what some have termed the Machiavellian Personality after the famed Prince Machiavelli. With only casual contact with such an individual, one would never suspect that they had anything less than the highest moral character, but this is just on the surface. In addition to being very charismatic, charming and keenly shrewd, they never show humility, they believe that ethics apply only to the weak (so they are exempt from moral standards which serves their exaggerated sense of entitlement), and they prefer to be feared (prefer an authoritarian style of control). Despite their capacity for arrogance, they can feign compassion and humility impeccably when it suits their objectives, yet they have a very limited capacity for showing true empathy to others. Those who tend toward this profile demand a great deal of attention and praise, and they thrive on the power others surrender to them.

Your question also speaks to a dynamic found within spiritually abusive groups themselves. The sub-status of a type of “middle management leader” that is bestowed on followers within spiritually abusive groups provides “true believers” with status, prestige, and the rewards of approval and worth. Groups promote an external basis of worth, discouraging individuals to derive confidence and well-being from within themselves. The profoundly powerful sense of reward comes with these positions in middle management within the system, and members lust after them because it offsets the discomfort of the shame-oriented control measures used in such groups to control members.

Women Ruling Over Men

Apostle Malm will not be too happy to learn that COGaWA has a woman in charge of a summer camp for church youth.  How soon we all seem to forget that MEN are to remain in charge of all aspects of the church.  Women are not to lead, rule or teach men.  Yeah right!  There are some women in the Church of God who would certainly make better ministers and leaders than some of the evangelists and splinter group leaders today!  On this I do have to at least congratulate COGaWA on doing SOMETHING right!  :-)

COGWA Youth Camps

There Is No Other Warning Quite As Important As Mine...

Apostle Malm seems to think he and his message are the most important thing on earth right now. He has a word of warning that you all had better be heeding!  Reprobates!  Delusions of grandeur......?

Apr 21st 2011

By: admin

I am coming out very strongly now and I will continue to do so as the Conferences take place and this year progresses.  The brethren and elders will NOT be left without a warning.  This is NOT some game; it is a matter of life and death; now and for eternity.

People Are Wicked And Need To Be Painfully Spanked

Apostle Malm has more wonderful comforting words of wisdom:

Israel was a hard, stubbern, rebellious,  stiff necked people; who insisted on doing things their own way and refused to keep even the physical Covenant with God.  If one adulterer were stoned it would have ended adultery for another generation.  The law was harsh because the people were wicked and needed a powerful example to get through to them that they were living in a manner that would lead to their death.

We must not forget the great mercy of God.  When an evil deed is repeated often, it becomes a deeply ingrained habit.  The quick death of the unrepentant stopped that repetition in its tracks so that these folks could be resurrected into a better world without a deeply ingrained habit of evil to overcome; and with an experience that they would not want to repeat. Capitol punishment is a mercy to the criminal and his victum and to society at large.

 We are now in a society where there is great sympathy for the evil doer and little for the potential victims that are saved by the putting away of the evil doers.  Through this we have become the most wicked and sinful people.  The fruits of our liberalism are obvious.

God is a mighty God, who does his will for the ultimate good of all peoples.  Sometime that involves a hard spanking and some pain, yet it is for an awesome purpose. Who are we to speak evil of our Maker?  Who are we to say that he is the auther and creator of evil?  Are those not the thoughts of Job as he had maintained himself against the judgement of God?

Armstrongites always take great boastful pride in proclaiming that they will become god's and rule over worlds in the world of tomorrow.  Given how mentally ill some of these people are, particularly those in charge of various splinter cults, can you imagine them in charge of a world in the Kingdom of God?   Being sent to Armstrong's lake of fire would be a better alternative than living in a hellish world ruled by these people!