No Time For Weak Men - Rev. Benjamin Glaser
A term that has grown in popularity among counselors and in psychological textbooks is gaslighting . One hears it on TV, reads it in print, and sees it used in any number of contexts. Gaslighting is the attempt to create a false reality which forces another person to accept or do something that they under normal psychological circumstances would never do. This term originates from a mid-20th century film (itself based on an earlier stage play) where the protagonist successfully convinces his wife, and others, that she is crazy by slowly dimming the lights and then denying it is happening, eventually leading to her being committed to a mental institution. Gaslighting is wicked and destructive. Yet, this is the way much discourse in the church and society at-large operates. Sometimes this shows up in passive aggressive attempts to motivate decision makers to move in the direction desired by the instigator, but usually it is a reactive action of a party trying to appease ...