Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 30, 1994 TAG: 9408190012
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID BRIGGS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Since the arrest of the former pro football star in the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, 35, and her friend Ronald Goldman, 25, battered-women's hotlines have reported a sharp increase in the number of callers, and legislators are considering new laws to protect spouses in danger.
Simpson, who in 1989 pleaded no contest to charges of wife-beating, has pleaded innocent to the murder charges.
Now, in pulpits throughout the nation, clergy should seize the moment of opportunity to let abused women know that God is on their side, says Carol Adams, author of the new book ``Woman-Battering'' from Fortress Press in Minneapolis.
``Remember what is written in Jeremiah 29:11: `For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future of hope,''' Adams writes.
But if the Bible offers hope to battered women, it also has at times been misinterpreted by victims of domestic violence - sometimes with the complicity of the church - to justify staying in an abusive relationship for the sake of preserving the marriage covenant, Adams says.
``God is not a mystery to battered women,'' Adams says. ``They know God exists, and God has abandoned them or is punishing them.''
But it is the community, not God, that has abandoned the battered spouse, Adams says.
Just as sexual abuse by clergy had been a dark, unspoken secret in some houses of worship, so have people on both sides of the pulpit been reluctant to talk about battering, according to Adams, who also serves as a consultant to churches on abuse issues.
For some clergy, it is partly a lack of education as seminaries have uneven records in preparing ministers to deal with domestic violence. Also, many clergy are more likely to seek reconciliation of the couple and to believe the pledges of sorrow of the battering husband than to lead the women to the safety of a shelter and the man to a separate counseling program, according to Adams.
``Many people in the church are uncomfortable calling people to account, and batterers will manipulate that,'' Adams says.
For the battering spouses, little is sacred. Adams says they will use just about any excuse to justify their abuse, including the passage in Ephesians 5 that states man is the head of the household.
Adams told of one man who informed his religious wife that she must suffer because her suffering would be a model of forbearance that would lead him to Christ.
After two decades, the woman found the courage to ask, ``How much longer do I have to suffer?''
Not a moment longer, Adams says is what the church should teach. Jesus died to offer redemption to others, but during his ministry took opportunities to heal individuals and relieve suffering, Adams says.
``Suffering from abusive men does not redeem, indeed it guarantees that the violence will continue,'' she writes.
As battered women set themselves free, Adams says, they can be effective witnesses to others.
``Go into the world and witness about the resurrection, about a new life free from violence'' is the message Adams asks the clergy to share with abuse survivors. ``You begin to be saved and to save others when you are released from the cross and proclaim that no one should be forced to tolerate abuse.''
by CNB