It’s about time.
My life long I’ve been the kind of man who raised children well, from diapers to first school day, to first date, to first day of university, to wedding, baptism, ….
My adult life long I’ve been the kind man who ensured that my wife’s career as pastor was not only still possible even after she had our children, but that she would excel. And I was privileged to raise our children as the stay at home dad.
I’m the kind man who gives to give others a good life.
I’m agonized to have been too often a helpless bystander,
all too often as
abused women die at the hand of their trusted men.
All good people are also agonized to be so helpless.
I’m even more distressed as I’ve learned that our wise people have known for so long that
men abused by women die at their own hand.
This is so contrary to peace that we all seek for all.
Women abused by men die … at the hand of the man. It’s a psychological attack, and then a violent physical attack.
It’s about time we got so tired of abused women (our daughters and granddaughters, our sisters and mothers, our friends) dying at their man’s hand that we, as a whole village, do everything to finally stop it.
We’ve learned to recognize how and when the abuse of women starts and where it too often leads. We’ve learned and need to learn more. Now it’s time to do what we’ve learned about intervening, as a village.
Men abused by women die …at the hand of the man, manipulated so by the woman. It’s a psychological attack, and then a drawn out violent psychological attack.
It’s about time we got so very tired of abused men (our sons and grandsons, our brothers and fathers, our friends) dying at their own hand, manipulated so by their woman, that we learned that we must do everything to finally stop it.
It’s about time,
Because though our wise people have told us now for decades, we still do not want to listen and learn, we still do not know as a village how when a man dies at his own hand, that if his wife abused him at home, she has played a huge role in his death.
There is no excuse that we have not learned as a village, because only as a village can we bring this to an end, before it brings our brothers, sons, grandsons, fathers, grandfathers, and friends to their ends.
It takes a village to raise a child, starting with at least one parent, or grandparent or friend, who can love unconditionally.
It takes a village to keep everyone in the village safe, safe from the hidden causes of death, safe from those things that we do not want to know about, safe from the inconvenient truths.
You and I are members of the village, along with our sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers …
The other ignored truth, that is so agonizingly painful to recognize
is that when
a woman dies at the hand of a man, OR
a man dies at his own hand driven there by a woman
then the children are next …
The children are at danger of dying from the abuse in the same way.