Published: October 13, 2008 06:59 pm            

'Domestic terror' affects 'ordinary houses,' speaker says

Since the start of the Iraq War, more Americans have been killed by their spouses and partners than U.S. soldiers have been killed in battle, says the Rev. Marie Fortune.

Fortune, founder of Seattle’s FaithTrust Institute, spoke Monday at the second domestic violence conference hosted by the Dalton State College School of Social Work and the Center for Continuing Education.

“When I say ‘domestic terror,’ what’s the image that comes to mind?” Fortune asked. “It may be the image of the Twin Towers collapsing in a cloud of dust on 9-11.”

But Fortune said that isn’t the image that comes to her mind when she hears the phrase “domestic terror.”

“I think of a house, an ordinary house, and inside a woman and children are living in fear,” she said. “And then I pull back from that image to a neighborhood, where 25 percent of the homes in that neighborhood are either living in fear or bear the memories and scars of violence.”

Fortune, an ordained pastor of the United Church of Christ, said religious texts have often been misinterpreted to justify violence against women and children.

“Wives, be subservient to your husbands. God hates divorce. Honor your father and your mother. The Bible says you must forgive. The Koran says you can hit your wife. These are the classic and frequently misused texts,” she said.

She said the thrust of both the Bible and the Koran is against violence. She noted, for instance, that in Ephesians the call to honor your father and mother is repeated.

“But it adds, ‘Parents, do not provoke your children to anger,’” she said. “I cannot but assume that at that point in time the commandment to honor the father and mother was being misused.”

Fortune said faith leaders must call to repentance those who commit violence.

She also spoke of the parable of the Good Samaritan.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells of a man who was beaten, robbed and left by the side of the road. Religious leaders passed the man by and offered no help.

“Perhaps they were afraid. Or perhaps they were concerned they didn’t know what to do,” Fortune said. “The person who stopped was the Samaritan, the outsider. If this story was being told today, the person who stopped would be the illegal alien who has only two days wages in his pocket.”

Fortune said victims of domestic violence need justice. She said they also need to be able to tell their stories and they need compassion.



For assistance with domestic violence, contact the Northwest Georgia Family Crisis Center at (706) 278-5586. The Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office’s domestic violence unit can be reached at (706) 272-2911.

        

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