Catholic Views On Domestic Violence

789 Words2 Pages

A social issue that is having a major impact on the lives of people around the world is domestic violence. Domestic violence is described as the behaviour used by one person in a relationship to control the other . This may be in the form of physical and sexual abuse or psychological, financial or emotional abuse . It isn’t always a male controlling a female; it could very easily be a female controlling a male. Domestic violence isn’t strictly bound to relationships between the opposite sexes; it also occurs in same sex relationships . Catholic perspective: The Catholic point of view on the topic of domestic violence ties in with the Catholic Social Teaching of the Dignity of the Human Person . It states, “No human being should have their …show more content…

It shows us that the Church is dedicated to speaking out about these issues and is willing to reach out and help those who have been affected by the hands of a loved one. This demonstrates certain traits of being a Catholic person such as helping those who are need, and loving them even in their darkest time. Some members of the Catholic community however, take certain Bible quotes out of context and use them against their partners. For example, “Wives, submit your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the Church , his body, and is himself its saviour. Now as the Church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.” (Ephians 5:22-24) This quote from the bible is reflective of a very different society to what we live in now, so using this quote as a means to justify the actions against a loved one is …show more content…

These rules condemn the mistreatment of any living being, human or not. In cases of domestic violence, this particular precept shows just how against violence people of the Buddhist religion are, so domestic violence is similarly associated. “Non-violence means dialogue, using our language, the human language. Dialogue means compromise; respecting each other’s rights; in the spirit of reconciliation there is a real solution to conflict and disagreement. There is no hundred percent winner, no hundred percent loser—not that way but half-and-half. That is the practical way, the only way.” (Dalai Lama, XIV) This quote from the Dalai Lama shows that instead of using violence to solve issues, the Buddhist religion teaches that there should be acceptance and respect of these differences, and the rights of other people. It teaches that if there are differing opinions on a matter, that violence will never be the way to overcome this problem. It will need to be spoken about and compromises may need to be made. This means that in a relationship, violence shouldn’t be used to solve conflict; respectful words should be shared in order to make

Open Document