Attitudes & Outcomes

Following the line of thought that who a father is sets a child down the path to be a problem or a solution, here’s a new edition of an article I sent out in August 2013…

Words define thoughts,
Thoughts define actions,
Actions define destinies.

And so it has been for 6 people directly and countless others indirectly.
Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, a six year old girl and a murdered baby – all victims of Ariel Castro.

Of note from an article detailing this…

Castro speaking of himself:

‘‘I am not a monster. I am a normal person. I am just sick. I have an addiction just like an alcoholic has an addiction,’’ he said.
‘‘Alcoholics cannot control their addiction. That’s what I can’t control my addiction, your honour. Most of the sex that went on in that house, practically all of it was consensual.
‘‘These allegations about being forceful on them, that is totally wrong,’’ he said.

Castro claimed that he had himself been sexually abused as a child and had grown up obsessed with sex, addicted to pornography and a compulsive masturbator.

Are victims of childhood sexual abuse more likely to perpetrate such abuse? Yes.
Are they in need of help? Yes.
Should we as a society stop recognising such actions as crimes? No.
Should we as a society not intervene and not hold accountable any who commit such crimes? No.

Recognition of and help for the damage inflicted upon individuals like Castro needs to be afforded but to not hold them morally accountable for their actions or to ignore the societal factors which contributed to them is to perpetuate this vicious cycle.

This is a tragic case of toxic attitudes and values leading to horrific outcomes at the level of individuals. What happens when it plays out on a societal level?

Attitude In Culture

Thailand has an unfortunate reputation along these lines.

There’s an Old Khmer saying which states..

“Women are like white cloth and men are like gold.”

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her”
Ephesians 5:25

As the Khmer (Cambodian) culture has been influential on Thai culture, this saying tells a lot about their foundational attitude toward women. It basically reflects the mindset that you can drop both a man or a woman in mud, but the man will wash off clean and still be valuable, whereas the woman will be forever stained.

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment”
Hebrews 9:27

Pair that with a belief system which sees your body and societal position as a reincarnated “Karma product” in judgement of your past life’s deeds and you have masses of women and men resigned to their “fates” with the perpetuation of abuses at a systemic level. Whilst technically illegal in Thailand, the sex trade is clearly tolerated and partly regulated with an estimated 2.8 million involved in it, including 800,000 minors.

A further reflection of this attitude is a Thai saying that “Women are pawns in times of need” which manifests in the priority that boys are to be educated, whereas girls are purely there to support the family by whatever means possible. Poverty is certainly a factor but such attitudes are certainly the determinants for such outcomes. Hence the thought of some there that when one comes back, one wants to be reincarnated as a man.

Recognise And Stand

This practically points to our heritage in Australia. It’s important to recognise that it is our Judeo-Christian heritage which has us thinking that such attitudes are unacceptable, but it is exactly this heritage which is being disrespected.divergesign

Little by little, the concept of the sacredness of sex, the sanctity of marriage and the value of human life and dignity are being eroded. My encouragement to you is to recognise this and to advance against it.

For some of us, this practically means getting a clear understanding of the values of those whom you will be called to vote for and to vote wisely.
For all of us, this means thinking and communicating clearly about the Godly values which have made Australia great and can make us greater.

The Church needs to make this happen. No one else can.

One Response to “ Attitudes & Outcomes ”

  1. […] considering others as someone or something affects your views on using, abusing, aborting, burning, abandoning and talking about them as well as euthansia, sex, abortion […]

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