Preventing violence against women
The rape and murder of Melbourne woman Eurydice Dixon in July ignited national conversation about preventing violence against women. Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that 30% of women who have been in a relationship have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner since the age of 15. We live in a world where power is often established through violence.
What can we do about this sad situation? An Australian media article suggested that parents can promote gender equality and help prevent violence against women. Is this the best we can do?
The facts
Violence is common in Australia—40% of people have experienced at least one incident of violence since the age of 15 (AIHW, 2018). Women are more likely to experience violence from a known person and in their home, while men are more likely to experience violence from strangers and in a public place. Although men are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, most victims are women. In a recent 12-month period, 99 women and 27 men were killed by a current or previous partner. And since age 15:
– 17% of women & 6% of men have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a current or previous partner.
– 23% of women & 16% of men have experienced emotional abuse by a current or previous partner.
– 18% of women & 5% of men have been sexually assaulted and/or threatened.
Family violence is a leading cause of homelessness. Many women who experienced intimate-partner violence, suffer from anxiety and depressive disorders. And children exposed to family and sexual violence can experience long-term effects on their development and have increased risk of mental health issues, and behavioral and learning difficulties.
The article
Our Watch (2015) claim that gender inequality sets the necessary social context for violence against women. This includes:
– Condoning violence against women.
– Men’s control of decision-making and limits to women’s independence.
– Stereotyped constructions to masculinity and femininity, and
– Disrespect towards women and male peer relations that emphasize aggression.
Hamilton, Powell, and Pfitzner (2018) claim that violence against women is driven by gender inequality: “Rigid gender roles and stereotyped constructions of masculinity and femininity are key drivers of violence against women”. And “traditional attitudes towards gender are one of the strongest predictors of attitudes that support this violence”.
They distinguish between gender and a person’s biological sex. Gender is the way people think and act based on learned roles and social expectations. They recommend that parents challenge rigid gender roles and stereotypes by promoting gender equality and building children’s resilience to rigid gender stereotypes in early childhood. This includes monitoring the emotions and activities depicted in storybooks. And avoiding gender-specific toys.
They hope that supporting parents to promote more diverse concepts of gender with their young children may reduce rigid gender stereotypes tied to attitudes that support violence, and create a more gender equitable community in the long term.
What does the Bible say?
Violence began in the first family when Cain murdered his brother Abel when jealously escalated into anger. The Bible teaches that humanity inherits a sinful nature from our original ancestor Adam. All of us have a sinful nature that rebels against what God wants (Isa. 53:6). This is the source of all violence because the sinful nature includes: every kind of wickedness, evil, murder, hatred, fits of rage, drunkenness, rage and anger, lust, and those who kill their fathers or mothers, are abusive, are without love, are without self-control, and are brutal (Rom. 1:29-31; 13:13; 1 Cor. 5:10-11; 6:9-10; 2 Cor. 12:20-21; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 4:31; 5:3-5; Col. 3:5, 8; 1 Tim. 1:9-10; 2 Tim. 3:2-5; Rev. 21:8; 22:15). This includes verbal abuse (Col. 3:8). Our sinful nature drives the violence against women and every other kind of violence. And no amount of education, training or social manipulation can remove our sinful nature. So, according to God’s message in the Bible, the solution proposed in the article (gender equity) will only have limited success.
Jesus taught that all people have within them the potential for violence. The instinct and choice to be violent comes from our inner being (Mk. 7:14-15, 21-23). That’s the source and driver of all sinful thoughts and behavior. James confirms that fights and quarrels come from our inner desires (Jas. 4:1-3).
But God has provided a solution to the violence of this world. Jesus Christ was the only person in the history of the world who did not have a sin nature (2 Cor. 5:21). When He died, Jesus took the punishment for our sins. If we acknowledge this and follow Him we receive a new divine nature that produces: “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal, 5:22-23NIV). These attitudes and behaviors are the opposite to violence against women and every other kind of violence. Solomon advised, “Do not envy the violent or choose any of their ways” (Prov. 3: 31) and Jesus made this possible.
The Bible describes this godly love as follows: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Cor. 13:4-7). Note that “it is not easily angered”, because it’s associated with “forbearance kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”. Husbands are to show this kind of godly sacrificial love: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Eph.5:25). And, “Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them” (Col. 3:19).
The cure for male aggression, oppression, and abuse is not gender equity. It’s the good news about Jesus, which can change our minds to produce peace, love, justice, and humility. Time with the Bible and God transforms us (Phil. 1:9-11; 2:13; Heb, 13:20-21).
Conclusion
The best way to reduce violence against women and every other kind of violence is to trust in Jesus and follow God’s teachings in the New Testament. This changes our lives and addresses the real source and not just the symptoms of violence.
References
AIHW (2018), “Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia”, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra, Australia.
Hamilton G, Powell A, Pfitzner N, (2018) “Parents can promote gender equality and help prevent violence against women. Here’s how”, The Conversation, July 30, 2018.
Our Watch (2015), “Change the story. A shared framework for the primary prevention of violence against women and their children in Australia”. Our Watch, Melbourne, Australia.
Written, August 2018
Also see: Gender confusion
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Nashville statement on marriage and sexuality
Narrow-minded, hateful, divisive, intolerant, bigotry, homophobia, backward theology that’s not in the spirit of Jesus; and sinful practices of exclusion, abuse and condemnation of the LGBTQ community. That’s how the statement has been attacked. And it’s been accused of causing LGBT people harm and rejecting the diversity seen in the broad spectrum of sexualities that reflects a diversity inherent in God’s creation.
The statement was drafted recently by some US evangelical theologians and pastors. The aim of the Statement is to declare the goodness of God’s design in our sexuality and in creating us as male and female. It’s a summary of what the Bible says about gender, homosexuality and marriage. It was written in response to a growing acceptance of same-sex marriage and transgender rights and to address the destructive consequences of modern inclusive culture. It presents the biblical approach to sexual ethics in a world being swayed by secular culture.
Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves (Ps. 100:3 NASB)
Preamble
Evangelical Christians at the dawn of the twenty-first century find themselves living in a period of historic transition. As Western culture has become increasingly post-Christian, it has embarked upon a massive revision of what it means to be a human being. By and large the spirit of our age no longer discerns or delights in the beauty of God’s design for human life. Many deny that God created human beings for His glory, and that His good purposes for us include our personal and physical design as male and female. It is common to think that human identity as male and female is not part of God’s beautiful plan, but is, rather, an expression of an individual’s autonomous preferences. The pathway to full and lasting joy through God’s good design for His creatures is thus replaced by the path of shortsighted alternatives that, sooner or later, ruin human life and dishonor God.
This secular spirit of our age presents a great challenge to the Christian church. Will the church of the Lord Jesus Christ lose her biblical conviction, clarity, and courage, and blend into the spirit of the age? Or will she hold fast to the word of life, draw courage from Jesus, and unashamedly proclaim His way as the way of life? Will she maintain her clear, counter-cultural witness to a world that seems bent on ruin?
We are persuaded that faithfulness in our generation means declaring once again the true story of the world and of our place in it—particularly as male and female. Christian Scripture teaches that there is but one God who alone is Creator and Lord of all. To him alone, every person owes glad-hearted thanksgiving, heart-felt praise, and total allegiance. This is the path not only of glorifying God, but of knowing ourselves. To forget our Creator is to forget who we are, for He made us for Himself. And we cannot know ourselves truly without truly knowing Him who made us. We did not make ourselves. We are not our own. Our true identity, as male and female persons, is given by God. It is not only foolish, but hopeless, to try to make ourselves what God did not create us to be.
We believe that God’s design for His creation and His way of salvation serve to bring Him the greatest glory and bring us the greatest good. God’s good plan provides us with the greatest freedom. Jesus said He came that we might have life and have it in overflowing measure. He is for us and not against us. Therefore, in the hope of serving Christ’s church and witnessing publicly to the good purposes of God for human sexuality revealed in Christian Scripture, we offer the following affirmations and denials.
Article 1
WE AFFIRM that God has designed marriage to be a covenantal, sexual, procreative, lifelong union of one man and one woman, as husband and wife, and is meant to signify the covenant love between Christ and His bride the church.
WE DENY that God has designed marriage to be a homosexual, polygamous, or polyamorous relationship. We also deny that marriage is a mere human contract rather than a covenant made before God.
Article 2
WE AFFIRM that God’s revealed will for all people is chastity outside of marriage and fidelity within marriage.
WE DENY that any affections, desires, or commitments ever justify sexual intercourse before or outside marriage; nor do they justify any form of sexual immorality.
Article 3
WE AFFIRM that God created Adam and Eve, the first human beings, in His own image, equal before God as persons, and distinct as male and female.
WE DENY that the divinely ordained differences between male and female render them unequal in dignity or worth.
Article 4
WE AFFIRM that divinely ordained differences between male and female reflect God’s original creation design and are meant for human good and human flourishing.
WE DENY that such differences are a result of the Fall or are a tragedy to be overcome.
Article 5
WE AFFIRM that the differences between male and female reproductive structures are integral to God’s design for self-conception as male or female.
WE DENY that physical anomalies or psychological conditions nullify the God-appointed link between biological sex and self-conception as male or female.
Article 6
WE AFFIRM that those born with a physical disorder of sex development are created in the image of God and have dignity and worth equal to all other image-bearers. They are acknowledged by our Lord Jesus in His words about “eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb” (Mt. 19:12). With all others they are welcome as faithful followers of Jesus Christ and should embrace their biological sex insofar as it may be known.
WE DENY that ambiguities related to a person’s biological sex render one incapable of living a fruitful life in joyful obedience to Christ.
Article 7
WE AFFIRM that self-conception as male or female should be defined by God’s holy purposes in creation and redemption as revealed in Scripture.
WE DENY that adopting a homosexual or transgender self-conception is consistent with God’s holy purposes in creation and redemption.
Article 8
WE AFFIRM that people who experience sexual attraction for the same sex may live a rich and fruitful life pleasing to God through faith in Jesus Christ, as they, like all Christians, walk in purity of life.
WE DENY that sexual attraction for the same sex is part of the natural goodness of God’s original creation, or that it puts a person outside the hope of the gospel.
Article 9
WE AFFIRM that sin distorts sexual desires by directing them away from the marriage covenant and toward sexual immorality— a distortion that includes both heterosexual and homosexual immorality.
WE DENY that an enduring pattern of desire for sexual immorality justifies sexually immoral behavior.
Article 10
WE AFFIRM that it is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism and that such approval constitutes an essential departure from Christian faithfulness and witness.
WE DENY that the approval of homosexual immorality or transgenderism is a matter of moral indifference about which otherwise faithful Christians should agree to disagree.
Article 11
WE AFFIRM our duty to speak the truth in love at all times, including when we speak to or about one another as male or female.
WE DENY any obligation to speak in such ways that dishonor God’s design of His image-bearers as male and female.
Article 12
WE AFFIRM that the grace of God in Christ gives both merciful pardon and transforming power, and that this pardon and power enable a follower of Jesus to put to death sinful desires and to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
WE DENY that the grace of God in Christ is insufficient to forgive all sexual sins and to give power for holiness to every believer who feels drawn into sexual sin.
Article 13
WE AFFIRM that the grace of God in Christ enables sinners to forsake transgender self-conceptions and by divine forbearance to accept the God-ordained link between one’s biological sex and one’s self-conception as male or female.
WE DENY that the grace of God in Christ sanctions self-conceptions that are at odds with God’s revealed will.
Article 14
WE AFFIRM that Christ Jesus has come into the world to save sinners and that through Christ’s death and resurrection forgiveness of sins and eternal life are available to every person who repents of sin and trusts in Christ alone as Savior, Lord, and supreme treasure.
WE DENY that the Lord’s arm is too short to save or that any sinner is beyond His reach.
Written, September 2017
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