When Silence Abuses the Abused
By: Susan Schiller
Nice people say nice things about other period. I know, because I've been a "nice girl" all my life, as are the majority of Christians. I was raised with the motto: "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!"
Being a nice, quiet girl helped me to stay out of trouble… but I missed out on learning how to speak up for justice… how to stand in the gap to defend a victim against its predator… how to say "NO!" and mean it.
Christian leaders tend to stand conveniently silence, or even deliberately burying their heads in the sand, when someone does dare to speak up. Innocent men, women, and children end up bleeding, slain on the altar of a misguided sense of loyalty and friendship.
Each of us will be giving a full account of every single word we've ever spoken or written or thought, because these words are creating the atmosphere we all breathe and live in each day. We create our world by these words: spoken, written, and thought.
Silence is a form of communication. The withdrawal of words is just as powerful as speaking the words. What do you do when a minister's wife seeks help, claiming psychological abuse at home? If you're like the majority of nice, good Christian people you will be persuaded that something is wrong with her. She needs counseling. She needs to be set aside and taught to respect her husband. She needs to learn to submit to his authority, even if she is uncomfortable and in disagreement.
You are empowering the abuser? At home, he grins and tells her, "No one is listening to you!" So he proceeds to describe gory scenes of the mutilation of her body and the dumping of her body in a nearby rock quarry.
Are you a First Responder? Are you the first person she has come to, for help?
Don't fall into evil's trap of silencing the victim. You become evil's silent accomplice, if you do.
I've created a Healing Manifesto for first responders; I hope it will help victims get real help and genuine solutions. Together, we can turn the predators away!
Speak up for those who have no voice, for the justice of all who are dispossessed. ~ Proverbs 31:8
Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. ~ Isaiah 1:17
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Amen and Amen. It is our responsibility to help those who are not able to help them selves. If we know it and do nothing, we are just as guilty as the purpretator. Great article. Deb
It takes a mature person to say what you just said, Deb – thanks for commenting today!
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