Articles
Gaslighting
What is gaslighting? The New Oxford American Dictionary defines gaslighting as a: "verb, (to) manipulate (someone) using psychological methods into questioning their own sanity or powers of reasoning.". ChatGPT explains it this way: "Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person seeks to make someone doubt their own perception, memory, or sanity. This is often done by denying or distorting facts, presenting false information, and causing the individual to question their reality." Why do people gaslight? It is "used in relationships or situations to gain control or undermine someone's confidence." Well, that does not sound very good, but what does it look like in practice?
An obvious example is Holocaust denial. Radical organizations deny the Holocaust despite overwhelming historical evidence to promote dangerous ideologies. The technique is used in individual relationships to manipulate a person by undermining their perception of reality. Gaslight, a 1944 movie tells the story of a man who convinces his wife she is insane by removing pictures, dimming lights without adjusting them, and other machinations to make her question her sanity. Thus the term "gaslight." All of us observe less extreme examples such as shifting blame, invalidating emotions, and withholding information. A familiar workplace tactic is withholding information to set up a colleague to fail. The frequent motive in all these examples is control.
A biblical example of gaslighting, is found in the story of Nehemiah. Nehemiah's efforts to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem were opposed by Sanballat and Tobiah. They used every tactic they could think of to impede the work and make it fail. Through trust in God Nehemiah overcame every obstacle. Finally, they accused Nehemiah of planning to rebel against Artaxerxes, and become King of Judah (Neh. 6:5-9). Some prophets aided Sanballat by attempting to convince Nehemiah of plots to kill him (6:10-14). Nehemiah overcame these attempts by Sanballat to control the narrative and manipulate public opinion. He did it through prayer. "Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid" (6:14).
Deception for purposes of manipulation and control is the motive in gaslighting. Paul taught Christians to tell the truth to one another. "Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another." Paul's instructions are based on the command, love your neighbor as yourself. "Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law" (Rom. 13:10). Christians are to love one another as Christ loved us. Christ told us the truth, and we should tell the truth to one another. Manipulating others by creating a false reality, is sin. Remember Christ's words, "whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the prophets" (Matt. 7:12).
