A friend and I were having one of those late night discussions - this was about the use of power by pastors in a manipulative way to have control over people. We weren't talking about a context of any actual abuse or sexual seduction - though these things happen too. Rather, for some of us pastors, just the thrill of having the keys to someone's life is extremely hard to let go of. Noticeably, people without strong father figures are extremely vulnerable to this kind of relationship - they tend to hand over control of themselves to a strong male figure, and a pastor often fits the bill..
It struck me that, of all people, Michel Foucault had been most insightful at this point. Foucault invented the term “pastoral power” to describe what he saw as an extremely influential view of government which it inherited from Christianity. This very special form of power is a concern for the salvation of the individual, and seeks to care for the individual; it is not merely a form of power that commands, but is also prepared to sacrifice itself (as opposed to, say, royal power); and it demands that people reveal their innermost secrets and so is therefore is linked with the production of truth – the truth of the individual.[1] In its transferral to use outside ecclesiastical institutions, the concern for salvation has become this worldly and therefore taken up in terms of (to list some examples) health, well-being, security, wealth and sanity. The function of truth-production led to the proliferation of the human sciences, whether as a population or as an individual.
Why do we demand that people confess to us? Or, press them to tell us the details of their inner lives? Is it not because it is exhilarating to have that kind of power over someone? At least, that was my temptation in pastoral ministry...
Reflections anyone?
[1] Foucault, “The Subject and Power.” p.333-4
7 comments:
I suspect the feeling that one has gotten down to brass tacks --- "now, at last, we are getting somewhere" --- is a part of it too.
Have not read Foucault: maybe I should sometime.
And you can see the tie-in to Nietzsche's critique of Christianity here too.
Sometimes we are too busy deploring the Abuse (capital a) of power by others (non-christians, those of a different theological background) that we don't see the little-a abuse that can sneak in and accompany everyday relationships between pastor and church member, bible study leader and group member, husband and wife etc.
Hey Michael,
Interesting questions, I think i will need to read some of Foucault's stuff.
"Why do we demand that people confess to us?" I think you are right in saying that a lot of the reason that as pastors we demand people confess to us and we like to know is an issue of power and control.
It was interesting growing up in a Roman Catholic country where everyone went to confession, it created this sense of fear and respect of the local priest.
I also remember one of the questions Roger Bray asked me as i was applying for college "do you need to feel important? would you be prepared to step aside and take the back seat?" minsitry can be a power trip, and i think it is a struggle that all pastors and minsters face, i suppose it is like anything else that we need to keep in check and have people keep us accountable about.
That's my 2 cents worth on it.
knowledge is power, as they say...
that's asute! 'Could you please hand over the keys to the hearts of the people you love? Thanks.'
I am not sure if you will get this or I will come back to check it so this could be a thoroughly futile task but...
In Kierkegaard's "The Sickness unto Death" he talks about a wide variety of desparing states, one of which seeks a confidant to confess their soul to, but upon confessing their inner most secrets they begin to loath the condiant and wish their death.
So I wonder if "pastoral power" could back fire sometimes if a "nutter" confesses their sins to you and then regrets it? Have any pastors been "knocked off" for this? And if so would they be martyrs?
Well, I think for some the grows a resentment of the kind of power that they have felt tricked into handing over to another...
martyred? I dunno about that.
It would make a great novel though.
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