Everyone yells at times, but most don’t mean it in such a harmful way. Psychological bullies thrive in our society through emotional abuse. Emotional abuse is way too common in
âThere are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isnât true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.â â Soren Kierkegaard
The word is gaslighting. It has been a new one in my vocabulary over the past few years of sometimes difficult discussions with friends and family, but while the word might be new to me, the action certainly is not.
Kierkegaard was right â believing what is not true is a sure way to be fooled, but unless we know ourselves, we are as likely to be the gaslighters as we are to believe them.
Unsplash/Alex Ronsdorf
Two individuals who hit “rock bottom” in their lives by either committing or experiencing domestic abuse have turned their lives around and established programs designed to help prevent others from experiencing the same fate.
Both Michael Clark and the Rev. Linda Thomas credit their respective relationships with God for giving them the strength they needed to overcome their difficult situations. Clark founded The Ananias Foundation, which is designed to help “individuals who have committed acts of domestic violence to stop hurting the ones they love,” while Thomas established a domestic violence ministry at her church and has teamed up with state and local officials to provide resources for victims of domestic violence.