Finding Our Voices
Breaking the Silence of Violence post #2
The challenge of finding a unified voice that specifies a theology within the context of violence and traumatology was challenging, and we found deep fragmentation in our process, as we all seemed to come from different directions. This led to some rupture within our group. Despite that, collectively, we proclaim the Church’s silence about violence against women as sin. Through our readings, we have been exploring ways that this sin needs to be called out from the podiums of influence, and exploring ways that we can invite and implement change to occur. We have 5 similar, yet distinct voices:
Voice one: Legitimizing violence against women starts at the altar with the priest. If the identification of violence against women were named as “sin” in daily sermons, a deeper consciousness would be sparked within the church. This exposure would open space to care for those who have been hurt or are currently experiencing violence, and cause a community outreach to support those on a global scale that have been persecuted because they are female. In The Cross and Gendercide, the suffering from violence imposed on women is not salvific but rather the consequence of sin. When the church remains silent, there is disconnection from the word of God, and evil is promoted.
Voice two: is struggling with the disconnect between the messages of violence and love that coexist within the Bible. As Pamela Cooper-White points out, the individual labeled as the “man after God’s own heart” (David) sides with his rapist son, over showing care or concern for his daughter — the raped. Viewing Scripture through a lens of ignoring trauma and supporting abusers makes theology derived from the Bible seem cheap and irrelevant. This member is wrestling through being in relationship with a God who is known only by the Spirit and a tainted text.
Voice three: believes theology and traumatology intersect at the integration of expressive art therapy, where suffering, when is it understood, owned, accepted, and transformed in any form or artistic act, becomes a gift that can be given away. In this generous act of giving and receiving, of a genuine encounter of a person with herself and with others, a healing community is mystically created. In this therapeutic space, pain can manifest itself and be contained. “The suffering is not thereby diminished or eliminated; instead the containment allows them to bear it more willingly.” This process can generate a feeling of agency and vitality that creates healing and regeneration.
Voice four: believes that our theology requires a shift in relational consciousness. When one hurts, we all hurt. Wounds must be exposed and witnessed within a communal engagement with trauma. The church must be willing to enter the suffering with others, the same way Jesus did. When we allow the liberating breath of the Holy Spirit, to bear the pain we are unable to bear ourselves, we make space for grief and lament, which is necessary for healing. Our engagement with text must be through a lens of justice and healing, rather than harm.
Voice Five: believes that our theology needs to make space for all people, victims and perpetrators. This is not to excuse those that harm, but to hold hope for their healing. Inherent in human consciousness is the capacity for deep seeing, and a deep faith in the sacredness of all persons. Yet, when trauma and violence assault us, we lose access to our deeper senses. The path to restoration is to remember our sense of connectedness and reconnect to our deeper senses. Therapy is often essential for the healing process to begin, but full recovery is rooted in restoring relationship. Therefore, the deepest healing occurs within community.
We live in a world saturated in violence and trauma. Not naming the trauma of violence within the church, and the ways it is often perpetuated, degrades our collective humanity. When we keep silent or minimize the harm, it erodes our souls, and as another in our group noted, fosters evil. Our collective hope is to better expose the sin of violence and trauma within our churches, and open more gateways to healing. We continue to grapple with how can we create deep and sustainable change. There are no simple answers. Those impacted by some form of interpersonal violence and trauma represent the norm, not the exception. Perhaps if we begin to read the Bible through the lens of trauma, it might enable us to build a theology of redemption for victims.
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Bibliography
Cooper-White, Pamela. The cry of Tamar: violence against women and the Church’s response. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 2012.
Gerhardt, Elizabeth L. The cross and gendercide: a theological response to global violence against women and girls. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014.
Levine, Stephen. K. Poiesis: The Language of Psychology and the Speech of the Soul. Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2005.
Monroe, Philip. “Why we need a theology of trauma.” Https://philipmonroe.com, April 05, 2017. https://philipmonroe.com/2017/04/05/why-we-need-a-theology-of-trauma.
Perry, Bruce Duncan, and Maia Szalavitz. The boy who was raised as a dog: and other stories from a child psychiatrists notebook: what traumatized children can teach us about loss, love, and healing. New York: Basic Books, 2006.
