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Justice Made

Justice Made

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“There can be no healing without justice. And justice requires courage.” This has been our basic message from FaithTrust Institute for many years. As we have worked with individual survivors, perpetrators and institutions, often people have asked, “well, what does this justice look like?”

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I Am Not Worried

I Am Not Worried

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Ramadan began on July 8. It is a month of fasting, prayer and study of the Quran with an emphasis on self-sacrifice for Muslims around the world. Malala Yousafzai spoke to the Youth Assembly at the United Nations just after the start of Ramadan. Malala was shot in the head last October by the Taliban in Pakistan's Swat Valley because she was going to school and advocating for education for all girls. So on her sixteenth birthday, she spoke to the United Nations continuing her efforts to encourage compulsory education for all girls and boys. In her speech, she reflected on her own experience of being assaulted: "The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions but nothing changed in my life except this: Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born. I am the same Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. My dreams are the same."

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"Christian Domestic Discipline" Continued

"Christian Domestic Discipline" Continued

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I think the thing that wearies me is this tendency to slap the label “Christian” on something to somehow justify or legitimize a program, practice or ideology. My latest encounter with this came as I walked by a storefront for a business called “Totally Christian Karate.” What in the name of Jesus does that mean? I continue to struggle with the way “Christian” is used and what its use conveys.

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"Christian Domestic Discipline" - Really?

"Christian Domestic Discipline" - Really?

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Some days it’s embarrassing to be a Christian – and not in a good way. It’s those days when something like “Christian Domestic Discipline” is spread across the internet and I have to wonder, who are these people? For those of you not readily familiar with this lifestyle choice, here is the definition: "A Christian Domestic Discipline (CDD) marriage is simply a traditional, male-led, Christian marriage which utilizes aspects of Domestic Discipline. It is set up according to Biblical standards." The "methods" include corporeal punishment such as spanking with objects.

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Where is a Samaritan When You Need One? Continued

Where is a Samaritan When You Need One? Continued

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It turns out that being fired for being a battered woman is not all that unusual. In fact it is legal in 44 states. Carie Charlesworth, a teacher at a Catholic school, was fired after her abusive husband came looking for her at her work. Her case has brought this circumstance to the fore. Here is an update from one online resource, Ultraviolet, which includes a way for you to get involved.

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"The Invisible War" Goes On

"The Invisible War" Goes On

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The invisible war of sexual assault of female and male military personnel by their fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines continues even as the U.S. Senate holds hearings and presses for substantive changes in the way cases of sexual assault are handled. The Academy Award nominated documentary tells the story of survivors of rape and of an institution long on rhetoric and short on change.

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Where is a Samaritan When You Need One? Let's Review

Where is a Samaritan When You Need One? Let's Review

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Carie Charlesworth taught school at Holy Trinity Catholic school in San Diego for the past 14 years. Because she is a battered woman with four children, she has been fired. Clearly the problem here is Mr. Charlesworth who has a history of violence, restraining orders and is currently incarcerated. But the consequences of his violence have now been exacerbated for his victim by her employer, a faith-based school.

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How It's Going Down Under

How It's Going Down Under

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The convergence of several very interesting situations in recent weeks in Australia reveals the complexity of the institutional responses of churches to child sexual abuse. In response to questions in a Victorian parliamentary inquiry, Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Melbourne, said he was “fully apologetic and absolutely sorry” about the years of sexual abuse of children by priests.

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Happy Father's Day Revisited

Happy Father's Day Revisited

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This year as we approach Father’s Day, I remember my father. He passed away on May 12 after a short illness. He was 97 years old. He was a small business owner and church lay leader. He loved his garden and had been nurturing geranium starts in his greenhouse to be ready for the summer flower season. Family and friends were his priorities with college basketball a close second. I remember that he was a decent and generous man who generally spoke his mind but usually with the grace and charm of a Southern gentleman. Fortunately his mind grew more open with age. Although his strong will and mine did clash from time to time, we always circled back to what was most important. I am grateful that he was always present in my life.

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Accidental?

Accidental?

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The recent song, “Accidental Racist,” by Brad Paisley and LL Cool J got me thinking about how one accidentally oppresses other people. As a white woman raised in the South, I’ve heard the angst expressed before. I just don’t buy it. Yet it inspired me to write another version.

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Beyond Shameful

Beyond Shameful

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Dear Forty-five Obstructionist Senators: The President used the word “shameful” to describe the Republican filibuster two days ago in the U.S. Senate of bipartisan legislation to address gun violence. “Shameful” doesn't even begin to describe what you did. This was an act of pure cowardice.

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Ethically Challenged Part 2: Youth Ministers Take Note

Ethically Challenged Part 2: Youth Ministers Take Note

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As I have continued to ponder and worry about the Steubenville, Ohio, rape case which I blogged about last week, I came across a two very interesting pieces. First is an open letter from Melissa Harris-Perry to the survivor of the Steubenville rape: “Dear Steubenville Survivor, I Believe You.” It is written from one survivor to another in appreciation for the courage of the young woman in coming forward in spite of knowing the response she would get. Please listen to it.

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The Ethically Challenged in Steubenville and Beyond

The Ethically Challenged in Steubenville and Beyond

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The fact that two teenage football players raped an intoxicated teenager is bad enough. They have now been convicted of their crimes. But the additional fact that other teens not only watched and did not intervene to help the victim but also took photos which they then broadcast with social media is even more disturbing.

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Correction to blog: UN Statement on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

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We have received several calls from people questioning the quote that I attribute to pope Francis in my last blog.

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Guest Blog: Reflection on a Journey Towards Freedom

Guest Blog: Reflection on a Journey Towards Freedom

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Ten years ago, the Center for the Prevention of Sexual Violence (now FaithTrust Institute), published A Journey Towards Freedom: A Haggadah for Women Who Have Experienced Domestic Violence. The text, borne out of a series of ongoing workshops with survivors of domestic violence, and lovingly crafted by a dedicated group of advocates, educators, and spiritual leaders spoke to the command l'hageed, to tell of our story at Passover.

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Faith Based Resistance to a UN Statement on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls?

Faith Based Resistance to a UN Statement on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls?

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In the face of high profile, horrific violence against women - the attempted assassination of a schoolgirl in Pakistan who had campaigned for education for girls, the brutal rapes and murders of young women in India and South Africa, and, lest we assume this is someone else’s problem, the rape of a drunk woman student in Steubenville, Ohio, by football players - one might assume that the meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women focusing this year on the elimination of violence against women and girls would have a singular agenda to speak in one voice on the pandemic of gender based violence that plagues every country of the world.

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Catholic Bishops Oppose Violence Against Women Act?

Catholic Bishops Oppose Violence Against Women Act?

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Dear U.S. Bishops: What is the matter with you? The headline "Catholic Bishops Oppose Violence Against Women Act" speaks volumes to women in the pews. It confirms what many Catholic battered women and rape victims have long feared or suspected: the church is not a safe place for them. They cannot expect to receive appropriate pastoral care and support from their priests. And sadly, they are probably correct.

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UN Women's 57th Commission on the Status of Women

UN Women's 57th Commission on the Status of Women

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Every year in early March in observance of International Women’s Day (March 8), hundreds of international delegates gather at the United Nations for the meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women. This year will be the 57th session. The priority theme for this year will be the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.

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Safe and Sound Sanctuaries for Teens

Safe and Sound Sanctuaries for Teens

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“Involvement in a faith-based institution does not protect teens against unwanted sexual experiences.” This was the conclusion of a study done in 2003 entitled Faith Matters: Teenagers, Religion and Sexuality. Perhaps this was news to some in faith communities who, in their wishful thinking, assume still that teen dating violence, acquaintance rape, and incestuous abuse don’t happen in our church/synagogue/mosque.

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Dear Archbishop: Please Clarify

Dear Archbishop: Please Clarify

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Dear Archbishop Gomez: Kudos for doing something. In response to the release of the personnel files on clergy sexual abusers in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, you actually did something about Cardinal Roger Mahoney and Bishop Thomas Curry who oversaw the years of silence, cover-up and non-response to the reports of sexual abuse of children by priests, though of course I wish you had done it earlier.

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