Blaming the Victim: From Blacksburg, VA to Selmer, TN
I was appalled to run across this post by the National Review's John Derbyshire, in which the author chides the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre for not doing more to stop the gunman who was shooting at them. (Two weeks ago, Derbyshire also called the British soldiers taken hostage in Iran wimps. Nice.)
As much as I would like to take Mr. Derbyshire to task for blaming the victims in this tragedy, I discovered this morning that I myself am not above victim-blaming. Consider Matthew Winkler, the Selmer, Tennessee Church of Christ pastor murdered last year by his wife. While Mary Winkler was obviously wrong to kill her husband, I can't help but think that Matthew Winkler's woman-do-my-bidding theology and abusive tendencies put Mary in a desperate situation. Mrs. Winkler says that her huband "nailed her to the ground" and that she "took it like a mouse" for a long time.
Throughout history, the church has wrongly given many women the impression that putting up with (or even accepting) their hubands' abuse is the godly thing to do. Scriptures on husband-wife (and more generally man-woman) relationships written by and/or attributed to Paul, such as 1 Corinthians 11:9 and Colossians 3:18, have long been used to justify this dangerous point of view. (Elsewhere in Paul's letters, I should note, he suggests that hubands and wives equally belong to each other. See for instance 1 Corinthians 7:4.) Entire books have been written on these texts and how they should apply to a modern, industrial society, so I'll spare you the exegesis. But I will say this: While Paul was a brilliant writer and theologian, he was never married. I'm just sayin'.
Again, I will not excuse what Mary Winkler did, and I do not want to suggest in any way that Matthew Winkler deserved to die a violent death. On the other hand, when women are forced to submit to their husbands to the extent that they have no mode of self-defense or airing grievances, they can only bottle up their frustration, desperation, sadness, and rage. If any of these things is bottled up for too long, an explosion is inevitable.
As much as I would like to take Mr. Derbyshire to task for blaming the victims in this tragedy, I discovered this morning that I myself am not above victim-blaming. Consider Matthew Winkler, the Selmer, Tennessee Church of Christ pastor murdered last year by his wife. While Mary Winkler was obviously wrong to kill her husband, I can't help but think that Matthew Winkler's woman-do-my-bidding theology and abusive tendencies put Mary in a desperate situation. Mrs. Winkler says that her huband "nailed her to the ground" and that she "took it like a mouse" for a long time.
Throughout history, the church has wrongly given many women the impression that putting up with (or even accepting) their hubands' abuse is the godly thing to do. Scriptures on husband-wife (and more generally man-woman) relationships written by and/or attributed to Paul, such as 1 Corinthians 11:9 and Colossians 3:18, have long been used to justify this dangerous point of view. (Elsewhere in Paul's letters, I should note, he suggests that hubands and wives equally belong to each other. See for instance 1 Corinthians 7:4.) Entire books have been written on these texts and how they should apply to a modern, industrial society, so I'll spare you the exegesis. But I will say this: While Paul was a brilliant writer and theologian, he was never married. I'm just sayin'.
Again, I will not excuse what Mary Winkler did, and I do not want to suggest in any way that Matthew Winkler deserved to die a violent death. On the other hand, when women are forced to submit to their husbands to the extent that they have no mode of self-defense or airing grievances, they can only bottle up their frustration, desperation, sadness, and rage. If any of these things is bottled up for too long, an explosion is inevitable.
posted by Tinley | 4:25 AM
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