Violence Begets Violence

No matter how desensitized our society is, it's one thing for a person to tell you about something as violent as a shooting, but it's another thing for you to see the shooting on video.  And even further, it's a totally different feeling to see the shooting first hand.  Yesterday I believe, was a situation where we in America saw some violence that we previously just heard about...and it appeared to be too much to stomach.  So much so, that the Baltimore Ravens allowed their wallets to lead them to make the acceptable decision for public taste.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it was completely the correct one.

Should Ray Rice be allowed to play this season?  The answer is a clear no.  A business such as the Baltimore Ravens that sells the violent product of football cannot allow their upcoming poster boy to be smeared with a wife-beater tag....it's terrible for revenue.  But there's something deeper to why they had to make that decision, and it lies in the general public's incorrect view of domestic violence.
Generally, when the term domestic violence is used, what's really meant is men who are violent to women.  But that generalization doesn't capture the true definition of the term....because included in the definition are women who are verbally and physically abusive to men.  Rarely, that truth is considered in any domestic violence situation; and it's so rare that the American public can literally see the aggression of the women and still stand on the same skewed view of domestic violence.

Terrance Jones is not condoning what Ray Rice did to his now wife Janay.  But Terrance Jones is equally not condoning what Janay did to her now husband Ray.  Yet it appears that even though the camera (taking into consideration that our starting point is what was seen on the video) clearly shows Janay hitting Ray first, no one is acknowledging that action.  In fact, many are proudly dismissing it or willfully choosing to ignore its occurrence.  Friends, this is wrong.  It's wrong because it continues to further the socially accepted idea that a woman is allowed to hit a man without any social or legal ramifications.  It supports the temporary-equality ideal that is the undercurrent of modern-day feminist movements.  And even though Jesus says in Matthew 5:39 to offer the other cheek when attacked, it would be ridiculous to think he was only talking about when a woman hit a man.  Additionally, no human is in a position to determine what consequence he or she should receive after being violent to another human.  This is not to say that all abuse victims "earned" their abuse.  But it is to say that not all people claiming to be abuse victims are indeed victims, some are participants and initiators.  And in order to tackle domestic violence, we must stop looking at half of the problem.

The Rice's need prayer and godly counseling from Believers who understand how to deal with attacks on marriage.  They need to be left alone by us who need to be thankful we aren't popular like that; knowing very well how abusive we can and have been.  But most of all and maybe more importantly, we need to begin to discuss and address the global and specific definitions of domestic violence.  We need to teach our young girls it is terribly wrong to hit a boy just like we teach our boys it's terribly wrong to hit a girl.  We need to learn how to communicate without violent words or actions.  And sometimes, we need to just walk away, whether male or female.

Peace