Christianity and domestic violence

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The correlation between Christianity and domestic violence is subject to debate, partly because there have been few studies to correlate the two, and complicated by a culture of silence and acceptance among abuse victims. There are some Bible verses that abusers use to justify discipline of their wives. A United Nations report on violence against women shows domestic abuse rates vary considerably among countries with a high majority of Christians.

Definition of Domestic Violence

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition, domestic violence is: "the inflicting of physical injury by one family or household member on another; also: a repeated or habitual pattern of such behavior."^[1]

Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, declared in a 2006 report posted on the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) website that:

Violence against women and girls is a problem of pandemic proportions. At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime with the abuser usually someone known to her.^[2]

Women in Christianity

As of the early 21st century, Christianity has around 2.1 billion adherents.^[3][4][5] The faith represents nearly one-third of the world's population and is the largest religion in the world, with approximately 38,000 Christian denominations.^[6] Christians have composed about 33 percent of the world's population for around 100 years. The largest Christian denomination is the Roman Catholic Church, with 1.17 billion adherents, representing half of all Christians.^[7]

Christian groups and authorities generally condemn domestic violence as counter to the general Christian duty to love others and to the scriptural relationship between husband and wife.^[8]

Degree of equality

Ephesians 5:22-24 states:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Ephesians 5:22-24.^[9]

According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, "Men who abuse often use Ephesians 5:22, taken out of context, to justify their behavior, but the passage (v. 21-33) refers to the mutual submission of husband and wife out of love for Christ. Husbands should love their wives as they love their own body, as Christ loves the Church."^[10]

Some Christian theologians, such as the Rev. Marie Fortune and Mary Pellauer, have raised the question of a close connection between patriarchal Christianity and domestic violence and abuse.^[11][12] Steven Tracy, author of "Patriarchy and Domestic Violence" writes: "While patriarchy may not be the overarching cause of all abuse, it is an enormously significant factor, because in traditional patriarchy males have a disproportionate share of power... So while patriarchy is not the sole explanation for violence against women, we would expect that male headship would be distorted by insecure, unhealthy men to justify their domination and abuse of women."^[13]

In Responding to Domestic Abuse, a report issued by the Church of England in 2006, suggests that patriarchy should be replaced rather than reinterpreted: "Following the pattern of Christ means that patterns of domination and submission are being transformed in the mutuality of love, faithful care and sharing of burdens. 'Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ'(Ephesians 5.21). Although strong patriarchal tendencies have persisted in Christianity, the example of Christ carries the seeds of their displacement by a more symmetrical and respectful model of male–female relations."^[14]

Bible

Bible verses are often used to justify domestic abuse, such as those that refer to male superiority and female submission, but use of violence is a misinterpreted view of the male role.^[8] For instance, Eve (Genesis 2-3), is often misinterpreted, particularly by Christians, to be disobedient to patriarchal God and man, and to many a generalized symbol of womanhood that must be submissive and subject to discipline.^[15]

There are some Christians who believe that it is the man's duty and right to discipline his wife, usually by spanking, such as the consensual Christian Domestic Discipline (CDD).^[16][17][18]

Undesirability of beating

There is a variety of responses, though, by religious leaders in how victims should handle abuse.

• Marjorie Proctor-Smith in "Violence against women and children: a Christian Theological Sourcebook" states that domestic physical, psychological or sexual violence is a sin. It victimizes family members dependent on a man and violates trust needed for healthy, equitable and cooperative relationships. She finds that domestic violence is symptom of sexism, a social sin.^[19]
• The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in 2002, "As pastors of the Catholic Church in the United States, we state as clearly and strongly as we can that violence against women, inside or outside the home, is never justified."^[10]
• The Church of England's report, Responding to Domestic Abuse advises that Christian pastors and counselors should not advise victims to make forgiving the perpetrator the top priority "when the welfare and safety of the person being abused are at stake."^[14]
• Significant numbers of Christian pastors ordinarily would tell a woman being abused that she should continue to submit and to "trust that God would honor her action by either stopping the abuse or giving her the strength to endure it" and would never advise a battered wife to leave her husband or separate because of abuse.^[20] One mid-1980s survey of 5,700 pastors found that 26 percent of pastors ordinarily would tell a woman being abused that she should continue to submit and to "trust that God would honor her action by either stopping the abuse or giving her the strength to endure it" and that 71 percent of pastors would never advise a battered wife to leave her husband or separate because of abuse.^[20][21]

A contributing factor to the disparity of responses to abuse is lack of training, many Christian seminaries had not educated future church leaders about how to manage violence against women. Once pastors began receiving training, and announced their participation in domestic violence educational programs, they immediately began receiving visits from women church members who had been subject to violence. The first Theological Education and Domestic Violence Conference, sponsored by the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence, was held in 1985 to identify topics that should be covered in seminaries. First, church leaders will encounter sexual and domestic violence and they need to know what community resources are available. Secondly, they need to focus on ending the violence, rather than on keeping families together.^[22]

Incidence of domestic violence among Christians

Christian women are often silent and accepting of any domestic violence that they may suffer. In the 1970s when programs were initiated to train church leaders about domestic violence, But no one ever comes to me with this problem was the most common response. Church leaders often believed that if no one was reaching out for assistance within the church that there was no problem in their church; however, women often withheld discussing their problems over concern that it would not be handled appropriately. When women became pastors they found that much of their time became devoted to handling domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women; Their involvement included crisis intervention.^[23]

See also

• Biblical patriarchy
• Domestic violence
• Domestic violence in the United States
• Islam and domestic violence
• Outline of domestic violence
• Violence against women
• Women's rights

Journal

• International Journal for the Psychology of Religion

(See also External links below)

Notes

References

External links

• FaithTrust Institute (formerly Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence), a multifaith, multicultural training and education organization in the United States with global reach working to end sexual and domestic violence.

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