Under Much Grace: Emotional Abuse and Your Faith on BTR and Additional Resources Concerning Domestic Violence

Monday, May 23, 2011

Emotional Abuse and Your Faith on BTR and Additional Resources Concerning Domestic Violence

This past Friday afternoon, Jocelyn and I invited Hannah Thomas, the host of Emotional Abuse and Your Faith, to blogtalkradio. Please visit the archives and listen to the show in the player below (or look for Jocelyn Andersen on iTunes podcasts)! It was my very first opportunity to talk with Hannah, and as usual, we didn't have nearly enough time to talk about all of the topics that we wanted and plowed through several. I'm also very grateful to Hannah for listening to our shows and for being so supportive of us in this effort. I love to see her pop in our show's chat room, and it always gives us an extra measure of loving moral support.

Listen to internet radio with jocelyn andersen on Blog Talk Radio

Jocelyn made reference to Hannah's recent clever commentary on Mary Kassian's creation of complementarian stereotypes that she claims that others invent as straw men (or straw women as the case may be). For those who are unfamiliar with her, Mary Kassian teaches for the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW), and she also travels from Canada to teach at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Hannah decided to poke some fun at these ideas by creating her own stereotypes of non-complementarian women by drawing heavily from Kassian's own writings, demonstrating that Kassian is quite guilty of the same mistakes. Read more in Hannah's article HERE.

Mary Kassian

As Hannah was astute to note in the interview, none of us have met any of these people in real life on either side of the debate, though Mary states that she meets these types of typical examples of women all of the time. (Actually, I think Mary fits one of the non-complementarian stereotypes that Hannah created.) Also, Hannah notes that the male mouthpieces for CBMW can only go so far in their teachings, so they make use of women like Kassian to advance their ideas, going where no man can take their own moral suasion. A woman can go a bit further with these ideas, and if a man did so, they would offend.

(Link HERE to read my own commentary on CBMW's guiding principles as found in their Danvers Statement.)

We also discussed the issue of domestic violence and the church's response to the problem. So many pastors either don't want to get involved with domestic problems when a spouse comes to them for help and advice, or the messages that they give people seem contradictory or shaming. Hopefully pastors can listen to this interview and get some ideas about how to deal with domestic violence and what women in particular go through when they seek help and support from their churches. I like to recommend her list of resources concerning emotional, spiritual, and domestic abuse to people who contact me looking for help. It's especially easy to both read and navigate.

Please visit Hannah at Emotional Abuse and Your Faith to read more about a wide variety of topics concerning contemporary ideas that affect the Christian Faith, how people apply their beliefs in terms of their faith, and how these ideas and applications affect the church.

Hannah and I tend to share the same soap boxes, so if you appreciate the material here on this site, you will enjoy hearing Hannah's keen perspective on many similar matters and more. You can also follow Hannah on Facebook where she often archives many of her blog posts where she's been following the Tina Anderson case and posting updates.

For more information regarding Tina Anderson:

Watch the 20/20 video HERE, read more HERE, listen to the blogtalkradio episode about Tina, and read Jack Schaap's response. Read more about similar abuses at Hephzibah House HERE.

If you listen to the archived show with Hannah and would like to learn more about how the Church can sometimes fail to properly respond to families who deal with domestic violence, I'd also recommend listening to this collection of clips from the 2010 Seneca Falls 2 Evangelical Women's Rights Convention concerning the problems and strategies for ministry to help churches minister to women experiencing domestic violence and abuse. And hopefully, Hannah can make it to the next the next one that we hope to put together for the Fall of 2012!

Please visit the Freedom for Christian Women Coalition YouTube Channel's domestic abuse playlist to view MANY MORE videos pertaining to this important topic featuring: