Deafening Silence, Unheeded Cries
by Jessica Glaser
I’ve slowly begun to work my way through books written about the Emergent movement or reflecting theology, orthodoxy, and practices that many Emergent groups have come to embrace. Nearly all of them are written by men, which says something much larger than I’d like to discuss here. Nearly all of them gingerly step around the issues of abortion and “promiscuity” (whatever that means), seeing them as modern societal problems. I find this problematic, in that abortion and “promiscuity” are usually two words that are thrown about when seeking to impose restrictions on the lives and bodies of women (the other being “family values” in the unholy antifeminist trinity). I leave bigger discussions of these implications for future essays and debates, but when I hear these, I am forced to notice a deafening silence around much more pervasive issues affecting an enormous number of women in the United States and on the planet at large: sexual violence and violence against women.
Around 1 in 5 women in the United States has been raped or sexually assaulted. Only 37% of rapes are ever reported, according to the FBI, let alone prosecuted. Approximately three women are murdered each day. Nearly 5 million acts of domestic violence occur every year. These assaults and murders are usually performed by an intimate partner or someone the victims knows. Furthermore, somewhere around 50,000 women and children are trafficked into the United States every year.
On a global scale, approximately one in three women will be beaten or sexually assaulted during her lifetime.
I hope these statistics are enough to convince you that there is a major problem here. Numerous advocacy groups working since the beginning of the Second Wave Feminist movement have been able to help millions of survivors in their fight to be taken seriously and their struggle to find safety. Over 40 years, a societal shift has occurred (although not strongly enough) wherein it is no longer acceptable to hit or rape your wife, or any other woman, and that it is not the woman’s fault if such violence is perpetrated upon her. And yet, violence and rape of women are still happening on a massive scale.
Every election cycle, I hear numerous condemnations coming from Christian communities on the subjects of abortion, homosexuality, promiscuity, and even occasionally pornography (without the requisite acknowledgment of the work of feminists such as Andrea Dworkin or Catherine MacKinnon). But I never, ever hear condemnations of domestic violence or rape, which hurts families on a grander scale than most (if any) of the issues listed above.
I don’t understand this silence. Is it because American Christians think that people know that they’re automatically against this kind of violence, and thus don’t need to address it? Is it because there is still a society wide (not just Christian) implied pervasive need to blame the victims and survivors of such violence, and residual from the time when women were chattel, less than human according to legal status and protections? Is it because the Christian community at large still values women less than it does men because of the strong patriarchal history and context of the church and its orthodoxy? I’d argue that it’s probably the intersection of all three of these reasons, and others I haven’t mentioned or am not aware of. And based on the way Jesus treated women and his teachings, I’m sure that the fact that this violence goes unmentioned or ignored, or is tacitly sanctioned by the Christian community, is utterly unacceptable.
So let’s have it, churches, theologians, evangelicals, mainliners. Let’s hear what you’re going to do about the abuse of 50% of your members, who you may not see as equals, but who have been equals in God since the beginning, with society just now learning to catch up. This violence inscribed on our bodies, minds, and souls needs to stop, and you need to be part of the solution.
Statistics taken from http://www.feminist.com/antiviolence/facts.html and http://www.now.org/issues/violence/stats.html, which in turn have been taken from the United Nations, the CIA, the FBI, and the US Department of Justice, among others.
Jessica Glaser is a recent graduate of the University of Denver, a former activist with the V-Day Campaign, a mainline United Methodist, an Emergent Lutheran, and an unapologetic feminist.
Tags: abortion, domestic violence, feminist, Jessica Glaser, rape, sexual assault
April 6th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Jessica,
I have been asking this question for years; when I learned as a teenager about my mother’s rape, when I was raped only a year later, when my sister was stalked and assaulted in her apartment 5 years later, when my own daughters were assaulted by the son of an Elder in the church I worked for and even louder when I was told I was not permitted to talk about it. There has yet been a reasonable answer presented to me and so I refuse to be silent. It is the silence in the church that not only sweeps sexual abuse and domestic violence under the rug but in the absence of speaking out loudly against such sin the church in fact condones it. This is a grievous problem.
Fear. While I see that these issues are certainly related to women and ones women should be aware and concerned about I am not convinced that the reaction (and lack of action) of the church is because this is a women’s issue but rather one of fear. The statistics regarding sexual violence and abuse of boys aren’t that far behind those of women. Most sources agree that one in five boys are sexually abused by the time they reach the age of 18. With numbers as significant as this I can only see fear being the problem. Fear of being uncomfortable, fear of exposure, I don’t know but fear is a powerful force.
The connection that I do see to this being a dismissible subject within the church is the perception that this is solely a women’s issue. In the more patriarchal congregations where a woman’s value is placed entirely in her service to her husband and her family then a woman or girl treated as merely an object to control, exude power over and derive sexual pleasure wouldn’t be viewed as a sin against the woman or girl herself but against her husband or future husband and father. There is Biblical precedence for this in the Old Testament where a woman’s rapist could reimburse his victim’s father and even marry her to make it “right.” It is only a small leap from this to looking the other way, a condition we have perfected in the cultural setting of our churches.
Finally, perhaps we should consider an even more disturbing reason why the church is silent on this issue. To take a stand against abortion, promiscuity, and to promote “family values” creates an “us vs. them” mentality and the church can engage in a “holy war” waving righteous banners. The first two issues in particular can seem to be issues only outside of the churches doors (which they are not but we like to believe they are), not dilemas we have to personally deal with. With statistics as obvious as those surrounding sexual abuse and domestic violence the church would be required to turn inward if they were to take a vocal stand against them. It is possible that in doing so they would discover such abuse rampant in their own ranks. Perhaps the church would also reveal that they haven’t changed much in 40 years and in fact still blame women for the abuse and see little wrong with the growing problem much as they interpret Scripture’s passages regarding slavery to be condoning slave ownership. The scandal would make it difficult to wave our righteous banners in our other battles.
Thank you for your thoughtful piece and the tough questions you raise. I appreciate the voice you give to a serious problem in the Church and our society today.
Peace,
Jessica
April 7th, 2009 at 8:43 am
Jessica,
Thank you for your response. I am so sorry for the way you’ve been treated. I think all the points you bring up are incredibly valid and important, and I’m glad you’ve shared them. Everything you’ve said is part of the picture, part of the examination the church will have to go through at some point.
Thanks again,
Jessica
April 7th, 2009 at 11:40 am
If you want to see a mainliner pastor rip into men about this, watch this video (the best part is the last 7 minutes)
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/marriage-and-men
April 9th, 2009 at 8:01 am
Perhaps the deafening silence is that no one wants to go up against the verbosity of the Christian Right (like Piper and Drsicoll and Grudem) who are quick to blame many problems on women and their wild ideas of theology.
I didn’t watch the Driscoll video after tiring of the 4 or 5 minute intro and self-promotion. However, since he has blamed everything from poor sex drives to marital infidelity on women, I don’t hold out a lot of hope that he is rational on this topic, either. I would love to be wrong. I just don’t have 73 minutes to watch the linked video above. Perhaps there’s a transcript out there that I can speed read?
Having worked with women who were raped or brutalized by the men in their lives, there have been striking similarities in their stories. Shame (that they were trying to work, travel or socialize and it was ‘late’) and anger (that when they reported it to the police, they were basically told “we rarely catch these guys. are you willing to prosecute?”) as if the detective work would be done based on their personal strength to see the conviction through. It’s a rare person who, in the midst of PTSD, can say “sure let’s go through the hell of a court trial to put the jerk in jail.” They just know that their life as been turned upside down.
What also grieved me, though, when I did an unscientific, on=line data collection through Survey Monkey last year, was that the women who were raped did NOT go to their pastors or spiritual advisors until well after the initial treatment and medical care. They found ER nurses more understanding than a pastor. That grieves me. Men who were raped said that they didn’t even go to the ER.
Until we remove the social stigma of shame and embarrassment from reporting sexual crimes, we won’t get very far in raising the volume on this crime.
Deb
April 9th, 2009 at 8:10 am
Deb,
I would highly encourage you to watch the last 7 minutes. Really.
April 9th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Perhaps they don’t address it during election years because it is not a controversial issue that the two parties have opposing views on?
April 13th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Don,
Unfortunately, the file is streaming download only (both audio and video!) Since I don’t have 73 minutes to spend, how about you summarize it?
April 15th, 2009 at 3:57 am
The pastor who is speaking is addressing men only during this session. Here is a transcript (caps are used to emphasis yelling):
“HOW DARE YOU? WHO IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? Abusing a woman, neglecting a woman. COWARD, you FOOL…WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? YOU ARE NOT GOD, JUST A MAN. Not a responsibly man, not a noble man, not a respectable man…In this area, if you are a failure, it robs your dignity and masculinity…”
If you download the audio, you can fast forward it and hear it that way too.
-Don-
August 1st, 2009 at 10:39 am
I’m glad you mention Catharine MacKinnon and the late Andrea Dworkin. I was pleasantly surprised last year when I discovered that Dr. Stanley Hauerwas is also a MacKinnon fan (as I am). His theological and her political critique of modernism share a great deal.
One of the most gender-subversive aspects of Jesus’ life and teaching was (along with his easy acceptance of women against prevailing norms) was the implicit teaching that runs throughout his mandate to make peace. At the center of that teaching and ultimately practice is the critique of masculinity constructed as domination and conquest.
One way to unpack this around the subject of rape (as MacK and AD did) is to consider how often we hear — in everyday speech — themes of sexualized revenge, of sex as punishment, of prison rape, eg, as the ultimate punishment and comeuppance for “bad” men.
Another way to discern the cosmology of male dominance is by studying the “conquest-meme,” as Maria Mies and others have done, wherein male conquest applies — with interlocking metaphors — to conquest of women, conquest of colonies, and conquest of nature. Here is a three-and-a-half minute video that a friend and I did on that one.
Studying the conquest-meme through film, especially but not exclusively looking at male revenge fantasies, this comes through loud and clear.
I’m glad I found this blog; and I’m glad to have found this piece. And don’t let go of this topic, please. There will be plenty of pressure to do so.
As MacKinnon pointed out, “Rape is not prohibited; it is regulated.”
There will be no kingdom-not-a-kingdom, no on-earth-as-it-is-in-heaven, until our sisters are embraced in your full humanity;;and this is the precondition for our very friendship. This is the most important controversy awaiting resolution for those of us who have been baptized in Christ.