Ravi Zacharias Sex Scandal: An Example of Narcissism in the Helping Professions

There’s a common assumption that people who go into academia or the helping professions are compassionate individuals who uplift others at their own expense. While that may be true for many of them, studies by Zitek & Jordan and Kowalski, Vernon, & Schermer reveal that these careers also attract many malignant narcissists. A malignant narcissist is a person with an overly inflated sense of pride over himself. But because his self-delusions do not match reality, he copes with the grandiosity gap by creating an image of himself that is far superior to what he actually is. To sustain that image, he needs to: 1) constantly show off and embellish his accomplishments; 2) virtue-signal about his “victimhood”; and 3) attack other people who expose his weaknesses. The teaching and helping professions are attractive to narcissists because such fields give them a lot of control over people. Moreover, these vocations provide them with opportunities to get lavished with admiration as a reward for “serving” others (also called communal narcissism). It is difficult to identify who among us has malignant narcissism because pathologically proud people tend to be fun and charismatic. We like them so much that we gaslight ourselves into believing that we’re just being too sensitive when they low-key insult us, especially if their narcissistic traits are relatively benign.

The most dangerous of all is the spiritual narcissist who uses religion to gain advantage over other people. An extreme example of this is Ravi Zacharias, the late Christian apologist. First, he inflated his credentials. It wasn’t enough for him that he got his degrees from less reputable seminaries. He had to be an Ivy League academic! Second, he used his position as a teacher and theologian to sexually abuse women. Finally, he demonized those who had questions about his character. It is unfortunate that Zacharias can no longer defend himself against these accusations. While there is a remote possibility that he is innocent, the evidence for his sexual misconduct is overwhelming from a layperson's perspective.

What should the special needs community learn from this?

First, we helping professionals must be always aware that we have a dark side that seeks to harm other people to build ourselves up. We must tame this shadow so that it may be channeled towards creating a better world for those whom we serve.

Second, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and their families must build healthy relationships with helping professionals. They can do so by opening communication lines and doing their own research about the choices that they must make. There are many excellent, compassionate people in the academe and in the helping professions. Let’s give them the respect that they deserve. At the same time, we’re all fallible human beings. We must therefore keep each other accountable by thinking independently and sharing our knowledge with one another.

Videos about Benign and Communal Narcissism

The Grandiosity Gap by Sam Vaknin, psychopathology researcher

The Communal Narcissist: “Trust Me, I’m Really On Your Side” by Les Carter, PhD, psychotherapist

How to Manage Relationships with Communal Narcissists by Ramani Durvasula, PhD, clinical psychologist

Benign Narcissists 101 by Ramani Durvasula, PhD, clinical psychologist

How to Deal with Benign Narcissists by Ramani Durvasula, PhD, clinical psychologist

Peer-Reviewed Studies about Malignant Narcissism

Communal Narcissism by J.E. Gebauer, et al.

Narcissism Predicts Support for Hierarchy (At Least When Narcissists Think They Can Rise to the Top) by E. Zitek and A.H. Jordan

Signaling virtuous victimhood as indicators of dark triad personalities by E. Ok, et al.

Vocational interests and dark personality: Are there dark career choices? by C.M. Kowalski, P.A. Vernon, and J.A. Schermer

Ravi Zacharias’ Scandals