Book Comment: The Narcissist Next Door

 

I am going to recommend to you a book which, for several reasons, you might never otherwise read. The book is The Narcissist Next Door by Jeffrey Kluger. The reasons that some might object to reading this book include: the book is entirely secular, the concept of narcissism is not widely understood, the author is not a Christian, and the book contains some profanities and shocking statements.

The Narcissist Next Door concerns how the psychological condition known as narcissism is present in every level of civilization, in our governments, in every institution, in every business, and even in our own families. It is a self-centered type of personality and occurs in varying degrees of severity worldwide. Symptoms of the disorder include a feeling of grandiosity, an excessive need for attention and admiration, and an impaired ability to be empathetic. It is considered to be a psychiatric condition known as narcissistic personality disorder. The cause of the condition cannot be definitively stated but there are numerous suggestions: childhood parental neglect, childhood emotional or physical abuse, the person may crave the feeling of control generated by being able to abuse others who are too weak-willed to oppose them, the person may have a combination of narcissism and sociopathy with a total lack of normal emotions, the person also could have been the family’s golden child who never learned how to hear the word no.

You probably don’t think that you know any narcissists, but you do. They are around you every day, on television, singing the songs you hear on your car’s radio, one of your co-workers, they may be your political leaders, they may be a family member (particularly distressing), they may even be in your church. They may even be one of your deacons or your pastor or your priest.

Kluger points out that, in order to deal with narcissism, you first have to understand what is actually is. He explains what the arrogant narcissist is actually feeling, and gives examples of the narcissists living around us, going so far as to name the names of real people who are obvious narcissists.

Some of Kluger’s chapters are The Bastard in the Corner Office, The Peacock in the Oval Office, The Schmuck in the Next Cubicle, The Beast in Your Bed, and Death Row and Hollywood: Where the Narcissists Won.

One particularly awful type is the spiritual narcissist. These people with narcissist tendencies seem to be in almost every church. These are the persons who are sure that they are correct and who want everyone else to know it. They come across as overbearing, judgemental, and power-hungry. They assume that they are holy and spiritually knowledgeable and that everyone else falls short. This is the sin of Self, I am special. Hear the words I AM, one of the names of God.

You should not just ignore these spiritual narcissists, because they can poison a church. You should also not just attack or lecture them but you should handle the situation in the spirit of Christ. Never become defensive or hostile towards them, because that can interfere with your good judgement. An excellent approach is not to become part of the power struggle by gossiping and buzzing about the problem but, instead, to bring up the subject with trusted church leaders. Protect yourself by putting on the spiritual armor which the Holy Spirit has provided to you, the whole armor of God: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. 

1 Corinthians 7:15, 15:33; Luke 17:3-4; 1 Peter 4:8; Ephesians 3:14-19, 6:10-18.

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As with most books such as this, what you get from the book depends on what you bring with you. You may not agree with everything the author says. Luke (see below) advises you to think for yourself. Read your Bible and to listen to what it says. Do not believe anything just because someone else told to believe it; let the Holy Spirit guide you to the truth.

A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Information you will need to search for this book:

Kluger, Jeffrey, The Narcissist Next Door. Understanding the Monster in Your Family, in Your Office, in Your Bed – In Your World (New York: Riverhead Books, 2014)

Why I Sometimes Post Shocking Things on This Blog

Some web pages and sources referenced on this blog may shock you. Some may contain profanity, hostile attitudes, offensive images, and other disturbing elements. As Christians, we need to know about these things.  It is short-sighted to be like the proverbial ostrich and “hide our heads in the sand.” (See the note at the end of this post.)

 

I never edit sources which I quote here because I believe we are all big boys and girls.  Jesus said, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)

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Ostriches do not actually bury their heads in the sand. http://www.ostriches.org/factor.html#head

For Pete's Sake!

“For Pete’s sake!  Would you please stop doing that?!”

“For Pete’s sake” is an idiomatic exclamation in English which expresses annoyance, irritation, or frustration with the actions of another person or with a situation.  It is considered to have originated as a substitute for “For Christ’s sake!” which many considered to be an irreverent use of the Lord’s name. This substitution is called a euphemism (from Ευφημία (Greek:  Eu: “good” or “true” plus phemi: “speech, speaking”).  The idea od the word is the opposite of the word “blasphemy.” (Βλασφημέω (Greek:  Blaspho: “I injure”).  A euphemism substitutes a mild, indirect, vague, neutral, or inoffensive word for one which is considered to be rude, harsh, blunt, offensive, profane, vulgar, uncomfortable, insensitive, socially unacceptable, or blasphemous.

“For Pete’s sake! ” instead of “For Christ’s sake!”  The derivation of this substitution is not at first obvious until you realize that “Pete” probably refers to Peter the Apostle.  Many Christians would still find this phrase to be offensive.

A few examples of English language euphemisms:

“Fallen asleep” or passed away” instead of “dead.”

“In trouble” instead of “pregnant.”

“Weiner” instead of “penis.”

“Getting laid” instead of “having sex.”

“Bloody” instead of “God’s Blood.”

“Dang” or “darn” ” instead of “damn.”

“Gosh” ” instead of “God.”

“Gee” ” instead of “Jesus.”

“What the heck?” instead of “What the Hell?”

“Rosebud” ” instead of “anus.”

“Pardon my French” instead of “Excuse my use of profanity.”

“Mary Jane” instead of “marijuana”

“SOB” instead of “son of a bitch.”

“Take a dump” instead of “defecate.”

“Drinking” instead of “consuming alcohol.”

“Visually impaired” instead of “blind.”

“Not the brightest light bulb” instead of “stupid.”

Although this particular post is English-specific, euphemisms are used in most, if not all, languages.  Many consider the Tetragrammaton, YHWH, to be a euphemism which is used to ensure that the holy name of God is not pronounced out loud because of its extreme holiness.  Jews regularly substitute the word “Adonai” (Lord) in place of YHWH.

Jiminy Cricket

Jiminy Cricket is a character in the 1940 film, Pinocchio. He serves as the conscience of the main character, a wooden puppet who longs to become a real boy. Few people realize that "Jiminy Cricket" was originally an exclamation of surprise, a minced oath used as a substitute for the exclamation, "Jesus Christ!" This was considered very vulgar and blasphemous, taking God's name in vain, akin to the even more blasphemous modern form, "Jesus H. Christ!"

MInced oaths are also called pseudo-profanity and are altered forms of words and phrases considered to be profane or blasphemous because of the way they are used. The British have many of them: "bloody" is a shortened form of "God's Blood," "zounds!" is a shortened form of "God's wounds." Minced oaths were/are often used to avoid causing offense or to avoid inviting censorship.

Other minced oaths include:
"poppycock" from the Dutch words pappe kak, meaning "soft dung."
"gadzooks" from "God's hooks," the nails that held Jesus to the cross.
"Ay caramba" from "carajo," a Spanish word for penis.
"blankety-blank" refers to the dashes which were used to "disguise" (ie: d- - n) objectionable words.

TV Guardian

TV Guardian (http://www.tvguardian.com/gshell.php) is "The Foul Language Filter." Parents may be interested in checking this out. There are demonstration clips on the website. What the service does is drop the sound for the duration of the offensive word/s. Warning: the demos include the edited and unedited versions of the clips. The service works with television and films.