Suffering ...in the name of the Father

Page 12

(first reading)

Wife battering is a wide-spread problem in Canada. Women are the victims of physical, sexual, financial and emotional abuse which is inflicted on them by the men who are important in their lives.

This is not a new phenomenon; women have been abused by men over the centuries. The Christian church has played a major role, both by its theology and its practice, in contributing to the attitudes that have led to wife battering.

Our theology has taught women that they are inferior, that they should be submissive and that their husband has the right to treat them in any manner he chooses. Yet, a careful study of both Jewish and Christian scriptures makes it clear that it is not possible to use scripture to justify abuse of persons in the family.

Certainly, Jesus never taught that women were inferior. Rather, women were among his followers preaching the Gospel in the early church. His message was an egalitarian gospel of peace and love.

Many of the teaching that have contributed to the abuse of women have developed since the time of Christ. The church has historically denigrated the body. The early church fathers were strongly influenced by the concept of the split between the mind and the body in classical philosophy.

In the church, the higher principles of the mind and spirit were labeled male and respected. The lower principles of the body and matter were labeled female and devalued. Men were considered rational and women were considered emotional and carnal.

It was felt that the body had to be subject to the mind so women must submit to men. The male mind having control over the female body led to the husband having the right to correct or chastise the wife.

During the Middle Ages, canon law (the law of the church) gave man the right to control his wife as a possession. These teachings also led to the concept that a man is not emotional. The only acceptable emotion for a man to exhibit is anger, which could be directed against his wife in the form of physical violence.

The church has allowed patriarchal myths and values to influence its theology. The seeds of wife beating lie in the subordination of women and in their subjection to male authority an control.

Christianity has actively taught that men and women should fit into a patriarchal form of marriage. God is the head of the church, God is male and the man is the head of the family. Much of the emphasis on the submission of the wife can be traced back to interpretations of Paul's letter to the Ephesians 5:22-24, "Wives, be subject to your husbands..."

The traditional picture that the church has given us of Jesus' mother, Mary, is one of submission as she passively accepted God's will for her. Yet, we could see her as an independent courageous person of faith, willing to do God's will even though life was going to be very difficult.

The insistence that suffering is the highest and holiest of Christian virtues is another theological concept that has kept the battered women in the abusive situation. "Suffering for righteousness" has long been used by the church as a justification for violence. Surely, God does not mean for people to suffer and be oppressed. The resurrection did occur. The church needs to move from a "theology of the cross" to a "theology of resurrection and liberation."

Women have been encouraged to accept the suffering role. This leads to abuse. We need to discard the idea that abuse is a wife's "cross to bear."

For centuries, women were considered to be a man's possession. Formerly, in the marriage service, the woman was the possession of her father and given away to her husband to become his possession. She would promise to obey her husband.

Divorce is often the only answer in a violent marriage, yet until recent years the church has refused to recognize divorce.

Until recently, the church has dominated women by men predominately having the leadership roles. This, in turn, provided the model for the family. All peple of North America nor European backgrounds have been affected by the patriarchy of the church whether they are religious or not.

But changes are occurring in Christianity. The hierarchical nature of the church is changing. Men and women are working together with models an image of mutuality for families.

Our use of languages is changing to one of mutuality and reciprocity. Clergy and lay people are making themselves aware of the nature of wife abuse. There is an air of questioning and a desire to get back to the authentic teachings of Jesus Christ which emphasized equality, mutuality and concern for the marginalized and oppressed.

(Marilyn McClung is a deacon in the Anglican church, presently working at All Saints Cathedral in downtown Edmonton. She has been involved for a number of years, both as an in-house volunteer and as a member of the Board of Directors, at the Edmonton Women's Shelter, which sponsors WIN House, a shelter for women with children who are experiencing family violence.)