Rex, this column brought this quote to mind, which can be applied to many of those in the public eye these days: "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.” - Oscar Wilde.
Are there more narcissists and sociopaths these days, or are they just more visible?
It may have been your posing the question - why do white evangelical Christians support Trump, whose conduct is not particularly Christian? - which caused a question to pop into mind... and your focus today on childhood development, and on how responsible adults should be both adult and responsible, is a good prompt to share the answer to that question.
The question: what is the rate of incest in white evangelical Christian communities?
Usually the questions that come to mind can be phased for an internet search, and lead to scholarly articles and such, but this search produced nothing like that.
There were several articles about Job. One article made it clear from the headline that the Bible does not in fact promote incest, as some apparently seem to believe.
"The Tattooed Buddhist" wrote:
"... a Duggar family skeleton involving incest and pedophilia emerged from the closet, resulting in the prompt suspension of their popular television show “19 Kids and Counting” which aired for years on TLC network... the Duggars are evangelical Christians. ... it became known that the Duggar's oldest son Josh had been sexually molesting his younger sisters and other young females unfortunate enough to spend the night at the Duggar family home.
The story first came to the parents’ attention in March 2002 when one of Josh’s victims came crying to her parents about his nighttime visits to her bedroom. He admitted his bad behavior and was disciplined. Four months later, he admitted to more of the same. More discipline.
The family had adopted ‘basic life principle’ instruction from Bill Gothard’s “Advanced Training Institute for Homeschooling.” As advised by Gothard, persons involved in a sexual abuse situation shouldn’t ask why God let it happen but instead consider what the abused person did wrong, such as dress immodestly, indecently expose the body, or hang out with evil friends. Further, “if the abused is not at fault,’ he/she should welcome the gift of gaining spiritual strength from the experience..."
It's her fault, and if it's not her fault, well, 'what doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger'.
... and it's not just white evangelical Christians who support Trump despite his insults to the teachings of Christ.
"...a local police detective was frustrated at how often a non-offending parent and child’s cultural or spiritual background justified non-reporting. The detective found that a number of Hispanic Catholic mothers were ambivalent about reporting family incest, believing instead that faith and reason would prevail over enforcement. What had happened in their family was God’s will and if any punishment was to be exacted, God was to do it…now or in the here-after.
Secrecy allows an offender to continue his crimes unhindered. This fatalistic religious line of thinking that ensures security also guarantees that the needs of the victim remain secondary to the sanctity and privacy of the family. If the truth remains behind closed doors, the mother, who is left in the middle, does not need to confront the untenable position to either protect her husband or her daughter. Protecting her daughter means rejecting her husband. Protecting her husband means rejecting her daughter. Regardless of her stance, other family members, friends and acquaintances will all have an opinion. For the mother, any choice is likely to alienate her from her extended family and her most important source of support in a time of crisis.
...not to suggest that incest is more prevalent in the Hispanic culture or Catholic religion, but merely how the two forces bolster a world view that perpetuates underlying negative assumptions about women. ..."
One might assume that incest may occur at similar rates in any community, but it's documented that there are differences between communities in how they relate to reporting and responding. Common sense suggests that his would lead to different community-wide child development outcomes between different communities.
So, is there a correlation between the way a religious or cultural group silences and sacrifices incest victims to save face for father, family, or church - does that correlate with their propensity to politically sell out their own best interests to an anti-Christ like Trump?
If a community allows for adults with authority to behave in ways adults know adults should not, will they elect leaders who resemble the badly behaving adults in their families and/or churches?
And how many women and girls, people, in those communities have experienced incest or sexual violence, and never gotten the care they need?
Thank you for the column. I am fond of saying, after displays of what I might call "bad behavior" or even more "disgusting behavior", that the actor learned that at home. I think the fundamentals are there at home. However you can read and listen to teachers pointing out today that parents appear to have resigned from their responsibility for raising children and given it to the school teachers. Very difficult issues. Perhaps they learn it on the street, or among their friends and social peers at the time. -Chris
Rex, this column brought this quote to mind, which can be applied to many of those in the public eye these days: "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.” - Oscar Wilde.
Are there more narcissists and sociopaths these days, or are they just more visible?
It may have been your posing the question - why do white evangelical Christians support Trump, whose conduct is not particularly Christian? - which caused a question to pop into mind... and your focus today on childhood development, and on how responsible adults should be both adult and responsible, is a good prompt to share the answer to that question.
The question: what is the rate of incest in white evangelical Christian communities?
Usually the questions that come to mind can be phased for an internet search, and lead to scholarly articles and such, but this search produced nothing like that.
There were several articles about Job. One article made it clear from the headline that the Bible does not in fact promote incest, as some apparently seem to believe.
"The Tattooed Buddhist" wrote:
"... a Duggar family skeleton involving incest and pedophilia emerged from the closet, resulting in the prompt suspension of their popular television show “19 Kids and Counting” which aired for years on TLC network... the Duggars are evangelical Christians. ... it became known that the Duggar's oldest son Josh had been sexually molesting his younger sisters and other young females unfortunate enough to spend the night at the Duggar family home.
The story first came to the parents’ attention in March 2002 when one of Josh’s victims came crying to her parents about his nighttime visits to her bedroom. He admitted his bad behavior and was disciplined. Four months later, he admitted to more of the same. More discipline.
The family had adopted ‘basic life principle’ instruction from Bill Gothard’s “Advanced Training Institute for Homeschooling.” As advised by Gothard, persons involved in a sexual abuse situation shouldn’t ask why God let it happen but instead consider what the abused person did wrong, such as dress immodestly, indecently expose the body, or hang out with evil friends. Further, “if the abused is not at fault,’ he/she should welcome the gift of gaining spiritual strength from the experience..."
https://thetattooedbuddha.com/2015/06/08/a-state-of-perversion-skeletons-in-the-evangelical-closet/
It's her fault, and if it's not her fault, well, 'what doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger'.
... and it's not just white evangelical Christians who support Trump despite his insults to the teachings of Christ.
"...a local police detective was frustrated at how often a non-offending parent and child’s cultural or spiritual background justified non-reporting. The detective found that a number of Hispanic Catholic mothers were ambivalent about reporting family incest, believing instead that faith and reason would prevail over enforcement. What had happened in their family was God’s will and if any punishment was to be exacted, God was to do it…now or in the here-after.
Secrecy allows an offender to continue his crimes unhindered. This fatalistic religious line of thinking that ensures security also guarantees that the needs of the victim remain secondary to the sanctity and privacy of the family. If the truth remains behind closed doors, the mother, who is left in the middle, does not need to confront the untenable position to either protect her husband or her daughter. Protecting her daughter means rejecting her husband. Protecting her husband means rejecting her daughter. Regardless of her stance, other family members, friends and acquaintances will all have an opinion. For the mother, any choice is likely to alienate her from her extended family and her most important source of support in a time of crisis.
...not to suggest that incest is more prevalent in the Hispanic culture or Catholic religion, but merely how the two forces bolster a world view that perpetuates underlying negative assumptions about women. ..."
(The linked document is "not secure")
http://longmontdomesticviolence.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/INCEST-paper-for-public_2007.doc
One might assume that incest may occur at similar rates in any community, but it's documented that there are differences between communities in how they relate to reporting and responding. Common sense suggests that his would lead to different community-wide child development outcomes between different communities.
So, is there a correlation between the way a religious or cultural group silences and sacrifices incest victims to save face for father, family, or church - does that correlate with their propensity to politically sell out their own best interests to an anti-Christ like Trump?
If a community allows for adults with authority to behave in ways adults know adults should not, will they elect leaders who resemble the badly behaving adults in their families and/or churches?
And how many women and girls, people, in those communities have experienced incest or sexual violence, and never gotten the care they need?
Thank you for the column. I am fond of saying, after displays of what I might call "bad behavior" or even more "disgusting behavior", that the actor learned that at home. I think the fundamentals are there at home. However you can read and listen to teachers pointing out today that parents appear to have resigned from their responsibility for raising children and given it to the school teachers. Very difficult issues. Perhaps they learn it on the street, or among their friends and social peers at the time. -Chris