LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY catvincent)

Bill Berkowitz discussing the problem of Evangelist (and, though he doesn't use the term, Dominionist) leaders restricting the option of divorce for battered wives. In part a review of "Woman Submit! Christians & Domestic Violence" by Jocelyn Andersen.

Excerpt:
' Andersen, whose account of physical abuse by her husband makes for a harrowing first chapter, says that the problem is exacerbated by misguided advice and use of outdated information in the writing of Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, and Dr. John MacArthur, a pastor-teacher at the Sun Valley, California-based Grace Community Church. "We do see some very big-name evangelical leaders blaming the battered woman for the abuse," Andersen explained. "You know, talking about how she may provoke her husband into doing it; or that her poor, non-communicative husband can't handle maybe what she's trying to communicate to him and he lashes out and hits her -- [that] shifts the blame right off him and to her." '