WASH LINE - Fall 2005
By Peggy Harris, W.A.S.H. Board
Chair
Women and Men Against
Sexual Harassment and Other Abuses
www.tagnet.org/wash
You are encouraged to make copies to share.
NEW PROJECT: We have started a new project of collecting Bible texts on abuse. So far we have texts from every book of the Bible and six categories of texts – “Bible Council to Abusers,” “Bible Healing Promises,” “Bible Instructions,” Bible Promises,” “Stories of Abuse,” and “Where Is God When I’m Hurting.”
These will be published on our web site when the editing is completed. With a project of this magnitude there will be updates from time to time as more texts are added.
NEW BOOK: After posting some of the “Bible Stories of Abuse” on Survivors-n-Thrivers, someone who read about the Ezekiel’s Dry Bones story, told me about a new book titled “The Bare Bones of Healing by Donna Paddock. “The author struggled with painful memories of abuse and a crippling lack of self confidence until the biblical principles discovered in Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones offered her help and hope. These life changing principles can bring freedom and healing to all.” The web site for this book is at – www.tatepublishing.com
FOR THE IMMOBILIZED VICTIM OF ABUSE: Two stories I found in the Bible that deal with this are “The Story of the Dead Dry Bones” Ezekiel 37 and “The Story of Healing of the Man Who Could Do Nothing” John 5:1-16.
SCHOOL BULLYING: Bullying is nothing new. It’s been going on for years. What shocks most parents is to find it occurring in religious schools. The Internet has a wealth of information on school bullying to help train educators as well as Bullying Assemblies for students from elementary through high school ages. Cary Trivanovich’s web site at www.carytrivanovich.com/bullying.htm is one of America’s premier school assemblies.
The damage done both to the child abusers and their victims is a very serious problem and not to be lightly dealt with. These episodes can have long lasting effects in a child’s life. There have been recent made for TV movies dealing with this problem in schools.
Parents have the opportunity and responsibility to see that the schools their children attend are safe places, free from bullying. They can talk with the teachers, take an active role in school/parent associations and check the schools policies.
SLANDER: Word abuse is not talked about much but is a deadly abuse that cripples and leaves some paralyzed. Most people have experienced some word abuse either in families, on the job, in church or in school and have been able to shrug it off or deal with it positively.
Sadly sometimes Christians indulge in this aberrant behavior which can destroy lives every bit as much as rape. When they do this (or any kind of abuse) they are actually blaspheming God. We have a responsibility to work towards an abuse free environment in our homes, schools, churches and work places. Slander can lead to broken careers, failed marriages, and worse.
A book “Fighting Slander” is a plain-English guide to defending yourself against defamation. There is a personal edition and a business edition of the book. Information can be found at www.dancingwithlawyers.com
Jeffrey Wigand ( www.jeffreywigand.com ) is another example of the terrible harm done by slander portrayed in the movie “The Insider,” a documentary about the 60 Minutes interview of Jeffrey’s report on the tobacco lies about the harm done by smoking. It cost him his job, his marriage, and his life as he had known it.
SPOUSES AND CHILDREN OF ABUSE VICTIMS: Abuse needs to be treated as early as possible. In childhood, counseling is very important to bring healing early on for the child victim. When this is shoved under the rug and not treated, it will come back later in life. Facing it then is much harder and many times costs a marriage. Spouses often can’t deal with the trauma their wife or husband is going through when they are finally able to go through the long healing process. Children also suffer because the parent who is in this process cannot always deal with life in the ordinary way most parents can function. When a victim of abuse is going through counseling the whole family really needs to be in counseling to help them each understand the healing process.
BUILDERS OF THE HOME: In Ellen G. White’s book “The Ministry of Health and Healing” this chapter emphasizes the importance of building a successful home. “The family tie is the closest, the most tender and sacred, of any on earth. It was designed to be a blessing.”
It is no wonder that Satan tries in every which way to destroy such. While Christians are trying to share the good news of salvation, many are being destroyed by the effects of abuse in our society. Tearing apart this most tender and sacred relationship is the design of the evil one to prevent our children from developing a healthy relationship with parents, each other and ultimately with God. As home builders we can change this and thus become a light of heaven here in this darkening planet Earth.
RESOURCES:
A Door of Hope Ministries, www.adoorofhope.com
Collusion in Clergy Sexual and Domestic Violence Abuse, www.takecourage.com
God’s Healing Touch – Divorce Recovery, www.serindipityrancher.com/ <PAGE NOT IN SERVICE>
Holy Secrets, Holy Lies, www.holysecretsholylies.com
The Hope of Survivors, www.thehopeofsurvivors.com
Restoration International, www.restoration-international.org
Survivors-n-Thrivers, www.survivors-n-thrivers.com
This page last updated on Tuesday May 23, 2006 05:16 PM
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