Tag: Domestic Violence
How Gender Roles Contribute to the Abuse of Women
"It wasn’t until I was older that I realized what an extraordinary thing it is for survivors to speak up, especially if they grew up in a system that valued their silence and submission above all else."
Light Shines in the Darkness: My Healing Journey through Sexual Abuse and Depression
“I see in my mind’s eye that we women are standing in a circle, holding hands and singing. The picture reminds me of my feminist days in the ’70s, when we banded together and fought for women’s rights,” writes Lucille.
Behind the Scenes Theodicy: Three Stories of Why It Happened
August 2019 Poetry Selection
I. The angels stood guard like the hollyhocks
In my garden: swaying in the wind, yet
Immobile. A portal had opened, how they knew not...
I. The angels stood guard like the hollyhocks
In my garden: swaying in the wind, yet
Immobile. A portal had opened, how they knew not...
An Interview with Ashley Easter
"... forgiveness is more about getting to a place where the abuse no longer controls your life. Pastors and church leaders often advise to 'forgive and forget.' You can never forget. Being a Christian doesn’t give you selective amnesia; you never forget. "
Redemption from Biblical Battering: Your Path to Faith-Based Freedom
I could see Redemption from Biblical Battering being used as the basis of a wonderful small group book study, and I think church pastors would benefit from keeping a few copies on hand to provide to parishioners struggling within violent relationships.
Survivor Care: What Religious Professionals Need to Know About Healing Trauma
Christy Gunter Sim succeeds in providing an incredibly insightful and meaningful text that is significant for survivors, the Church, and all people and entities who support survivors.
At Least It’s a Start — Southern Baptist Women Protest Paige Patterson’s Misogynistic Comments
May 14, 2018
In a move that surprised many, thousands of Southern Baptist women signed an open letter to the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Board...
The Evangelical #MeToo Moment
May 9, 2018
"Christianity poses the question: What if every man and woman — every victim of abuse, every abandoned child, every lonely senior, every...
How Men Can Be Allies in the #MeToo Movement
April 17, 2018
Writing for the Ms Magazine blog, Sahana Dharmapuri and Jolynn Shoemaker provide some useful suggestions for conscientious, caring men who want to...
Pamela Jacobs Shares How to Help Victims of Abuse
October 30, 2017
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM), and here on Christian Feminism Today we are featuring a variety of links about this...
Just What is Domestic Violence?
October 23, 2017
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM), and here on Christian Feminism Today we are featuring a variety of links about this...
National Week of Action to End Domestic Violence
October 16, 2017
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM), and here on Christian Feminism Today we are featuring a variety of links about this...
Ally Kern Speaks about “The Exile of Abuse”
October 12, 2017
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM), and here on Christian Feminism Today we are featuring a variety of links about this important topic.
One...
Domestic Violence Frequently Asked Questions
October 9, 2017
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM), and here on Christian Feminism Today we are featuring a variety of links about this...
How Church Communities Respond to Domestic Violence
July 24, 2017
CFT Executive Council member, Rev. Dr. Christy Gunter Sim Hailey, writes about how church communities may have good intentions when it comes...
The Keepers: The Case of the Murdered Nun
I wish this whole story were fiction. Unfortunately, the truth of these events leaves viewers with urgent responsibilities, especially women who are committed to other women and to a walk with Jesus of Nazareth, the one who said, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40 NRSV).
Sexual Assault: A Violation of God’s Body
April 26, 2017
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. CFT's Link of the Day blog will feature a variety of posts about this issue during...
Sexual Assault on Campus
April 24, 2017
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. CFT's Link of the Day blog will feature a variety of posts about this issue during...
The Impact of Sexual Violence
April 19, 2017
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. CFT's Link of the Day blog will feature a variety of posts about this issue during...
Understanding Sexual Violence: Prevention
April 17, 2017
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. CFT's Link of the Day blog will feature a variety of posts about this issue during...
Understanding Sexual Violence: Consent
April 12, 2017
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. CFT's Link of the Day blog will feature a variety of posts about this issue during...
The Real Danger to Women’s Safety: Sexual Violence
April 10, 2017
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. CFT's Link of the Day blog will feature a variety of posts about this issue during...
The Dangers of Cutting Funding for the Violence Against Women Act
Multiple sources, including the conservative website The Hill, have reported that the new administration in Washington is considering cutting federal funds that support VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) grants. The grants fund domestic violence related programs across the US.
Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife
Tucker’s hermeneutics are thoughtful and thought provoking. She questions why a husband would beat and terrorize his wife, and answers, regarding her ex-husband, “his perspective on male supremacy and on female submission was front and center.”
Ending the Silence about Sexual Assault
Today, as in the biblical narratives, instead of focusing on the details of the rape and the sufferings of the women who were victimized, we focus on the accomplishments of the powerful men who caused their suffering. We may even support them without thinking about it.
What We Can Learn from Christianity Today’s Interview with Saeed Abedini
Allowing Saeed a public forum in which to further denigrate Naghmeh, Christianity Today also denigrates every woman who has heard an overuse of the word 'I' as they were being beaten, and shames every victim who takes the blame on themselves when it’s not theirs to take. The consequences of this piece reach further than one victim.
Joan Chittister: Her Journey from Certainty to Faith
This book serves as a useful introduction to an important spiritual figure. It also works to deepen her readers’ perspectives on her life, and to whet the appetite for seeing how the octogenarian feminist religious leader and her cohort continue to shape the monastic tradition in postmodern relief.
Women’s Bodies as Battlefield: Christian Theology and the Global War on Women
Delving into topics such as the religious, philosophical, and Christian roots of both war and the War on Women allows Thistlethwaite to educate the reader on the complexity of the historical indoctrination surrounding the topics of war and women, without entirely overwhelming those readers who may not yet be aware of the history surrounding these issues.
Shades of Gray: Toward Real-Life Christian Sexual Ethics
From a Christian perspective, sexual ethics can be extremely difficult to discuss in any kind of nuanced manner, particularly in the Catholic setting with which I am most familiar, because the Church’s sexual teachings are so rigid and narrow. They offer no shades of gray to accommodate the many and varied situations that real life presents. Church teachings are seen as obsolete, irrelevant to the 21st century, and seldom factor in to sexual decision-making by people of any age. Thus movies and other media messages readily fill the void.
Domestic Violence Allegations in the Faith-Based Community: How Shall We Respond?
Thus, I too suggest we commit ourselves to hearing all voices, even if it makes our hearts ache. Let’s not protect the ones in power simply because they are our friends and we cannot imagine such things. Let’s be willing to believe people who claim they were violated. Let’s listen to their stories.
#SurvivorLoveLetters: Honoring Those Who Overcome Sexual Violence
February 17, 2015
Over the Valentines Day weekend the hashtag #SurvivorLoveLetters came alive on Twitter.
Women wrote affirming letters to themselves and others who have survived...
How to Help a Victim of Domestic Violence
If someone is being abused, they feel responsible for the abuse. Why this logical inconsistency? Because if everything is the victim's own fault, they have the power to change it. I would advise you not to take that sense of power away, but, instead, to model what it is like to not accept responsibility for what the abuser is doing.
Patriarchy, Power, and Sexual Abuse among Christians
March 7, 2014
A special compilation of links you’ll want to know about.
by Letha Dawson Scanzoni
Amanda Marcotte writes that “the message in the Christian right...
mending broken: a personal journey through the stages of trauma + recovery
She writes delicious paragraphs about how yoga changed her relationship with her own body—paragraphs that would make even the most cynical reader want to sign up for a class. Pasquale also derives healing from her work as a trauma therapist.
Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found...
I’d heard that Franky had been expelled from boarding school and never finished high school. He’d gotten one of the young and lovely L’Abri students pregnant and they were newly married. Yet it seemed clear that despite his history, and all the gifted, spiritually mature L’Abri members (including his sisters), Franky was L’Abri’s heir apparent.
Twelve Ways to Increase Awareness of Abuse and Bring About Change
11. Encourage pastors to name mental illness among other illnesses that are mentioned in prayers and sermons. This destigmatizes it and gets out the message that mental illness is just another illness.
The Andrea Yates Tragedy: Three Commentaries
by Anne Linstatter
On June 20, 2001, many people were reading and talking about the latest sensational news story: a mother in Texas, Andrea...
Refuge From Abuse
One of the biggest impediments to applying biblical passages to sub-topics on abuse is that there really are not many passages that focus on women in general, much less women suffering at the hands of husbands or boyfriends in one-to-one relationships. In fact, many of the biblical reflection passages used in this book have male subjects.
The Truth Book: Escaping a Childhood of Abuse Among Jehovah’s Witnesses
One of the primary tenets of the Jehovah's Witness faith is to always tell the truth as Jehovah did. From early childhood that is exactly what Dr. Castro did and continues to do. Unfortunately, while living with her stepfather, Joy's truthfulness frequently resulted in beatings.
Verbal Violence Is No Joke!
Dear Kimberly,
I had many thoughts as I read your last letter about the fraternity hazing at Yale that required new pledges to march through...
but Joy Comes in the Morning – Margaret S. Meier
This quilt of text and music is not a warm, cozy listening experience, though. It is very challenging music and painful text, richly expressing the anger, despair, and, ultimately, courageous healing and hope of survivors of child sexual abuse.
Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse
This quilt of text and music is not a warm, cozy listening experience... It is very challenging music and painful text, richly expressing the anger, despair, and, ultimately, courageous healing and hope of survivors of child sexual abuse.
Latest Posts on CFT
Mary E. Hunt’s Suggestions for the Synod of Bishops
Dr. Mary E. Hunt, a feminist Catholic theologian, has five suggestions for Pope Francis to make the upcoming Synod of Bishops mean something.
