{"title":"“Back Then It Was Legal” The Epistemological Imbalance in Readings of Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Rape Legislation","authors":"S. Scholz","doi":"10.1300/J154V07N03_02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1300/J154V07N03_02","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The article examines the epistemological imbalance that currently exists in the area of biblical and ancient Near Eastern rape laws. The imbalance reflects a larger development in western intellectual discourse in which we are moving from an empiricist-positivist epistemology to a postmodern epistemology. The former is characteristic of the modern western worldview and assumes objectivity, value neutrality, and universality. It is primarily interested in the historical quest. The latter recognizes the contextualized, particularized, and localized nature of all exegetical work, and emphasizes the readers' responsibilities in the meaning-making process. Three sections structure the investigation. A first section examines how empiricist-positivist readings present Deut. 21:10–14 as a law on marriage and not on rape. A second section analyzes Deut. 22:22–29, and shows how this biblical passage emerges as adultery laws within the modern paradigm of interpretation. A third section focuses on ancient Ne...","PeriodicalId":165629,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Abuse","volume":"85 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123100963","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Family violence in the Jewish community : Existing knowledge and emerging issues","authors":"S. Altfeld","doi":"10.1300/J154V07N03_04","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1300/J154V07N03_04","url":null,"abstract":"The myth that family violence does not exist in the Jewish community has been effectively refuted with both research and advocacy. However, unsubstantiated beliefs about the nature of Jewish family violence and its prevalence are widely accepted. Additional study is needed to explore the dynamics and epidemiology of family violence in the Jewish community and to provide a better foundation for addressing this problem.","PeriodicalId":165629,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Abuse","volume":"442 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116716495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Situating the Ninety-Nine: A Critique of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act","authors":"Yvonne C. Zimmerman","doi":"10.1300/J154V07N03_03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1300/J154V07N03_03","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000. Yet of the estimated 50,000 individuals trafficked into the U.S. each year, far fewer than one thousand victims have been identified under this legislative statute. I argue that the TVPA contains narrow definitions of ‘victim’ and ‘victimization’ that select for sexually exploited, passive females. Furthermore, the TVPA conceives coercion only with reference to inter-personal dynamics between traffickers and victims. A more complete and effective redress must include more complex conceptions of victimization, coercion, and harm in order to adequately grasp the socio-political and economic dynamics that structure global human trafficking.","PeriodicalId":165629,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Abuse","volume":"67 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129582294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"What Clergy Should Do to Reduce Potential Legal Abuses in Same-Sex Relationships","authors":"Rabbi Arthur Gross-Schaefer, R. Dixon","doi":"10.1300/J154V07N03_06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1300/J154V07N03_06","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Caring religious professionals who choose to perform same-sex commitment ceremonies should strongly encourage same-sex couples to retain competent counsel(s) to draft legal documents that will afford each partner certain legal rights in case of separation, death, or incapacity. Commitment ceremonies provide important ritual, religious, and spiritual moments. However, in the absence of legal substance, such a relationship can lead to problematic, confusing, and even appalling consequences.","PeriodicalId":165629,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Abuse","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122969160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Child Abandonment and Religious Organizations: A Case Study","authors":"D. B. Wolf","doi":"10.1300/J154V07N03_05","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1300/J154V07N03_05","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper describes the history and experience of child abandonment in the Hare Krishna movement. Causes and consequences of this phenomenon are discussed, as are processes of healing for individuals and the ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) institution. A historical perspective on abandonment, including an analysis of abandonment in connection with Christianity and boarding schools, is presented as a backdrop for understanding child abandonment in ISKCON. ISKCON, in attempting to authentically represent in the modern world the spiritual Vedic culture of India, must exercise maturity, sensitivity, and wisdom in its application of ancient principles. Otherwise, its endeavors will result in inhumane treatment of its members, especially those, such as children, who are most vulnerable.","PeriodicalId":165629,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Abuse","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130663829","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Betrayal of Their Sacred Trust: Rabbis, Cantors, and Chaplains Who Violate Sexual Boundaries","authors":"D. Zucker","doi":"10.1300/J154V07N02_06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1300/J154V07N02_06","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Since the 1990s, and certainly in recent years, there has been greater public attention given to rabbis, cantors, and chaplains who violate sexual boundaries. Writers authored a number of articles and books devoted to this subject. In the material below reference is made to some real-life situations because they are well known and covered widely in the secular and Anglo-Jewish press. This article introduces the subject, summarizes several sources published, and then presents resources readily available where one can access further information, learn more, and develop appropriate policy.1 An analysis of the psychosocial basis of this aberrant behavior is not addressed, for several of the sources cited do that well.","PeriodicalId":165629,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Abuse","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114253308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Repentance and Forgiveness","authors":"D. R. Blumenthal","doi":"10.1300/J154V07N02_05","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1300/J154V07N02_05","url":null,"abstract":"During the Spring of 1996, with the support of the American Jewish Committee, I was privileged to be in Rome to teach Jewish Studies at the Gregorian Pontifical University. The entire Rome experience was amazing (see my “Letter from Rome,” Cross Currents, Fall 1996, pp. 388–393). This paper is part of a continuing conversation with colleagues and friends in Rome as well as elsewhere in the Catholic world. In the spirit of ongoing Catholic-Jewish dialogue, I offer the following reflections on the Jewish teaching on repentance and forgiveness, which is an old tradition, reaching back thousands of years and drawing on the wisdom of untold numbers of sages. As a further part of the dialogue, I include here the Hebrew terms, accented for proper pronunciation, together with a short bibliography. (Note: the Hebrew “ch” is pronounced as in the German “Loch.”)","PeriodicalId":165629,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Abuse","volume":"59 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116587683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How Sex Abuse Crisis Awakens Us to Take Lay Responsibility–Slaughter of Innocence","authors":"C. P. Estés","doi":"10.1300/J154V07N02_03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1300/J154V07N02_03","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article is an eloquent response to the Roman Catholic clergy sexual abuse crisis from a lay Catholic woman. In it Estes outlines what a real apology would look like.","PeriodicalId":165629,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Abuse","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126055953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Clergy, Discipline, and the Salem Witch-Hunt: Popular Stereotypes vs. 17th Century Ecclesiology","authors":"M. Duntley","doi":"10.1300/J154V07N02_04","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1300/J154V07N02_04","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The so-called “Salem” Witch-hunts of 1692 involved 141 accused from 23 different New England towns. That year 20 were executed for witchcraft (19 hanged, and one crushed to death during torture/interrogation). This article will examine two types of excommunication performed in 1692: one imposed as a punitive act by the Salem Village Church's minister and the other as a voluntary protest by three petitioning church members. The Puritan Church's disciplinary processes in fact led to exoneration and restitution.","PeriodicalId":165629,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Abuse","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134272694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Forum on Sexual Violence: The Sin Revisited, by Marie Fortune","authors":"C. Adams","doi":"10.1300/J154V07N02_02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1300/J154V07N02_02","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT At the November, 2004, meeting of the American Academy of Religion, a panel discussion occurred celebrating the publication of Marie Fortune's Sexual Violence: The Sin Revisited. The book, a substantially revised twentieth-anniversary edition of Rev. Fortune's landmark book, Sexual Violence: The Unmentionable Sin, provided an occasion for several theologians, activists, and scholars (Andrea Smith, Traci West, Mary Hunt, Nantawan Lewis, and myself), to reflect on the importance of Fortune's scholarship, and offer their specific responses and critiques to the new work that is represented in the revised edition. At the conclusion of the panel's remarks, Fortune provided responses to the comments.","PeriodicalId":165629,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Abuse","volume":"57 7-8","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131790570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}