Catherine Roskam, Suffragan Bishop from New York, spoke at Lambeth about domestic violence: she rightly noted that domestic violence appears in all religious communities...she then went on to say that likely there were domestic abusers among the hundreds of male bishops gathered at Lambeth:
"We have 700 men here."Do you think any of them beat their wives? Chances are they do. The most devout Christians beat their wives.
"Culturally, many of our bishops come from places where it is culturally accepted to beat your wife. In that regard, it makes the conversation quite difficult."
Hmmmm.
On the one hand: three cheers to Bishop Catherine for discussing domestic violence. Thrity-plus years after feminist critics began insisting loudly that we address the problem of domestiv abuse and sexual assualt within religious communities, the topic is still too often brushed under the rug.
On the other hand: accusing her fellow bishops of commiting domestic violence, when she presumably does not have any specific knowledge thereof, seems at best incendiary and in poor taste, and at worst, laden with assumptions about brutality that must "naturally" arise in certain parts of the world. As Riazat Butt at The Guardian put it, "What bishops should be more concerned about is her insinuation that a non-white culture leads to domestic violence and that white, western culture is too civilised and too advanced to allow such atrocities to occur."
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+Roskam held a brief news conference after the fertilizer hit the fan, pointing out how she was badly misquoted and misrepresented in the press. Apparently, she was even capable of confirming her earlier statements as poorly quoted. (Some of the news coverage has been less than professional during Lambeth.)
+Roskam also spoke factually, which set some people off who have 45-lb. chips on their shoulders about anything that comes from the mouth of a westerner, which shows the truly strained relations among some in the Anglican Communion.
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