Sexual Abuse Analysis

"This is a deep subject that dominates our living. I appreciate the courage it took to write as you have written, Karen. Advocacy for this group of people plunges an activist, a prayer warrior, a Protector and the police and others into the fabric of this culture itself bound into a history of abuse, murder and conquest. The spirit in which we build determines the spirit of the house and the context of the home. . ." - Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories 

Freedom!!

"Amen. This is so true. Lately I have witnessed (I work at a homeless shelter with a lot of young women, some with children with them, some that have had their children taken away. everyone's story is different) many young women involved in lesbian relationships after being abused by men (mostly by men in their families or mother's boyfriend, etc.). They somehow think that dealing with another woman is safer. However, they end up in relationships with other women that are also abusive in some way or many. It's not the gender. It's the behavior of the abuser and to some extent the abused, because of their feelings of unworthiness. When one accepts the abuse, excuses and defends the abuser it becomes a hard cycle to break until they can do what you speak about in your status. 

I'm not saying this to get into a discussion on homosexuality, but just to bring up one example of how abuse affects some people. The same is true with a lot of young gay men (and, no, I am not saying that I believe that everyone that is gay has been abused). Abuse, especially sexual abuse, messes with one's spirit in a way like no other. I pray that the Church will start addressing sexual abuse more than it addresses homosexuality. It's time to get to the root of the issues that are so deep and not discussed in our homes or churches. It's as if it is taboo. What happens in families and is kept secret affects the entire family and thus the entire community. 

Again, I'm not speaking out against homosexuality, I'm speaking out about the how sexual abuse often affects it's victims. It (abuse) causes so many to end up abusing alcohol and drugs and going from one abusive relationship to another. AND, please if anyone knows about children being abused or if you have been abused speak out and get help for the child that can not advocate for themselves." - Karen Coy 7.19.14

walking away, Noëllie de Casterlé

Karen Coy, I understand the apologizes in your analysis. Pity, it has to be that way. But, beyond that I feel deeply what you are conveying to a sleeping giant.: indifference. The crux of your heart of concern you said with the direct point of a spear:

"I pray that the Church will start addressing sexual abuse more than it addresses homosexuality. It's time to get to the root of the issues that are so deep and not discussed in our homes or churches. It's as if it is taboo. What happens in families and is kept secret affects the entire family and thus the entire community..."

One of the things I can add to this is the misrepresentation of the teachings of Jesus. Jesus was a Protector. People become Saviors after they have saved someone from something. Protectors are Warriors and to become one requires much more than mouthing off at the insanity of an abusive lifestyle. In the call for help by the abused abusers are protected in the most subtle of ways by the inability of millions incapable of protecting another. To be a Protector, whether it is inborn, or not, requires tutelage of the spirit and the body needs a mind disciplined enough to discern a number of things in the act of protecting people.

The Church, as you mentioned, Karen, is historically not a protector in the complex realms of sex. The Puritans get a lot of credit for that in American culture, and the traceable line of sexual depravity from Europe we have absorbed into what became American culture colors our world deeply in mourning and terror. I agree with your assessments about abuse. Abuse tries to create paths to solace, to freedom and craves an identity away from the horrors of their abused lives. Homosexual communities over the centuries in Western countries provided some measure of safety because the Church could not and did not know how to validate the lives they (unknowingly, and knowingly) created from the doctrines espoused from the pulpit. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 7.20.14

Ann Marie Rios in dark shower