A Universal and Shameful Connection

Religion and domestic violence have, unfortunately, not been strangers to each other. And which religious tradition doesn't seem to matter, unless there are comparative statistics I haven't seen.

Let's see, a few years ago a rabbi on New Jersey was convicted of hiring a killer to kill his wife for the sake of a mistress with whom he began an affair after she came for grief counseling upon the death of her husband. Uggggggggghh.

I'm not even going to try to count, let alone list, the cases of sexual molestation of children by Catholic priests -- which I think counts as family abuse because the celibate(?) priests had chosen the people of the Church as their family.

There may even be a psychospiritual process whereby the elevation in status and perceived holiness that defines the clergy of many different religions gives them a sense of superiority, entitlement, -- and, therefore, the right to use physical or emotional abuse.

By Arthur Waskow  |  February 25, 2009; 4:13 AM ET Save & Share:                 
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