S. Stutzman claims 67% of Anabaptist women have been sexually abused

Christian ethics and theology with an Anabaptist perspective
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Josh
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S. Stutzman claims 67% of Anabaptist women have been sexually abused

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Steve Stutzman wrote:Yesterday I put up a post that had a comment or two, about why we may be suffering as a people group on a particular front. There is a track my mind is running down, that perhaps I don't make clear enough.
The Midianites were running rough-shod over Israel. They grazed their cattle on the wheat fields. They stole the grapes. They stole whatever they wanted. Israel hid in caves.
One of the most amazing thing to me about the story of Gideon, and his eventual defeat of Midian, is that NO ONE.. no one ever made the connection between the idols he tore down, and the oppression of Midian. Even as they suffered, they still worshipped the idol of Baal. No one made the connection. When Gideon tore it down, they tried to kill him.
I suppose, the argument was made, it has always been like this. Cattle always get out occasionally, and mess up wheat fields. Sheep always get lost occasionally. People are hungry everywhere. And Midian runs over lots of countries and tribes, not just Israel. And we have worshipped Baal for years.
And so the idolatry continued.
But Gideon chafed.
Something was out of line. This was NOT the way things were supposed to be, and he refused to accept it as normal.

I understand that sex has always existed. Thats how I got here. I get it that sex drive was always around. There has always been some fooling around between youth. There have always been pedophiles also. But not, I think, like today.

( There are no conclusive studies done anywhere, determining the rate of sexual abuse. One of the reasons is, there is no consensus on what sexual abuse is.... how it is defined. Another reason is, that on all studies attempted, a margin of 30% has to be left for lies... that is, children/youth who will say they were not when they were, or will say they were when they were not. This makes studies inconclusive)

Somewhere upwards of 2/3 of girls in Anabaptist- type churches, it appears to me, are suffering extensively from something of sexual nature done to them. (for those of you hating on the term Anabaptist, please suggest an alternative umbrella term) It may be considerably higher. This feels to me like a plague, a scourge, an overwhelming evil. I want to know why.
There has not been a sharp up-tick in murders. Or bank robberies. Or theft. Or laziness. Or divorce. Or fistfights. Or gossip. (that ones been here awhile) Or wife-swapping. Or beard-cutting. Or sloppiness.
Business ethics have taken a dive. Lying seems to be on a up-trend. Atheism has become more common. General selfishness is on the rise.
But none have spiked like child-molesting.

Why? What idol? Or is it not okay for me to ask?

"Ye are the light of the world", Jesus said. People called by His Name, should stand solidly in the right, even when all around them swings into darkness.( If this fails to happen, something has gone sadly awry.) Eventually, light will drive darkness back. The slavery issue would be a good example of this.

If the darkness of culture and society, washes in over the church like a flood, that is a spiritual issue, not only a physical one. I can't be stopped on a physical level. I am doing things to try to stymie the flow of this curse in among us, physically...... but the reality is spiritual. Sure, we can "individualize" it away, and say it was just him, not me. But, the problem remains...... if it affected him, or her, especially on a broad scale, it affected you. We are members one of another.

From my admittedly limited vantage point, I would say, "Houston, we have a problem. " It troubles me, it bothers my sleep in the night, which is why I am writing this at 4:00 AM. Perhaps I should forget it all, and go back to slamming my head into a wall that grows thicker every day, but there is a certain kind of futility to that, and it gives me headaches.

I suppose this post could have a thousand comments too..... but what I really want, is just 1. One lone comment... from Heaven.
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JimFoxvog
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Re: S. Stutzman claims 67% of Anabaptist women have been sexually abused

Post by JimFoxvog »

2/3 seems high to me, but I expect at least half that.

I don't expect abuse or child molesting have increased, just the proportion of people who are reporting it.

But the statistics are not what's important. How can we help the victims and decrease the incidence of this sin?
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Re: S. Stutzman claims 67% of Anabaptist women have been sexually abused

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You expect 1/3 are being/have been abused?
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Dan Z
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Re: S. Stutzman claims 67% of Anabaptist women have been sexually abused

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JimFoxvog wrote:2/3 seems high to me, but I expect at least half that.

I don't expect abuse or child molesting have increased, just the proportion of people who are reporting it.

But the statistics are not what's important. How can we help the victims and decrease the incidence of this sin?
I would agree on both accounts.

First, these percentages seem overstated to me based on studies I have read on abuse within society, and the (admittedly limited) knowledge I have of abuse within the Anabaptist community. The post quoted doesn't give a lot of support for where Stutzman's numbers come from. But...only God knows the whole story (Stutzman is right, many women simply endure abuse, sadly - often to a greater degree within tight religious communities).

Second, the stats are not the important thing here - the fact that any of our sisters in the faith (or any of God's precious children anywhere for that matter) face this kind of trauma (or even the risk of it) is appalling and should be a grief that we all carry - and we all know that being in the Anabaptist faith community doesn't seem to protect women from sexual harm (both inside and outside of the church), and it is happening all too often. We have to be stronger together in keeping sexual abuse out of our community, which starts with an openness to fully admitting that it plagues all of our communities. I think that's what Stutzman was hoping to achieve here.
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Re: S. Stutzman claims 67% of Anabaptist women have been sexually abused

Post by Heirbyadoption »

Josh, out of curiousity, what's your purpose in sharing these claimed stats, and the particular fact that they come from Steve Stutzman?
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Wade
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Re: S. Stutzman claims 67% of Anabaptist women have been sexually abused

Post by Wade »

Dan Z wrote:
JimFoxvog wrote:2/3 seems high to me, but I expect at least half that.

I don't expect abuse or child molesting have increased, just the proportion of people who are reporting it.

But the statistics are not what's important. How can we help the victims and decrease the incidence of this sin?
I would agree on both accounts.

First, these percentages seem overstated to me based on studies I have read on abuse within society, and the (admittedly limited) knowledge I have of abuse within the Anabaptist community. The post quoted doesn't give a lot of support for where Stutzman's numbers come from. But...only God knows the whole story (Stutzman is right, many women simply endure abuse, sadly - often to a greater degree within tight religious communities).

Second, the stats are not the important thing here - the fact that any of our sisters in the faith (or any of God's precious children anywhere for that matter) face this kind of trauma (or even the risk of it) is appalling and should be a grief that we all carry - and we all know that being in the Anabaptist faith community doesn't seem to protect women from sexual harm (both inside and outside of the church), and it is happening all too often. We have to be stronger together in keeping sexual abuse out of our community, which starts with an openness to fully admitting that it plagues all of our communities. I think that's what Stutzman was hoping to achieve here.
This is so surprising to me growing up unchurched with so much encouragement towards sexual immorality continually, that it is much of a problem in Anabaptist churches...
And sad.
And quite discouraging...
Women are precious and delicate - not for man's selfish pleasure.

And who is Steve Stutzman?
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Re: S. Stutzman claims 67% of Anabaptist women have been sexually abused

Post by Valerie »

Wade wrote:
Dan Z wrote:
JimFoxvog wrote:2/3 seems high to me, but I expect at least half that.

I don't expect abuse or child molesting have increased, just the proportion of people who are reporting it.

But the statistics are not what's important. How can we help the victims and decrease the incidence of this sin?
I would agree on both accounts.

First, these percentages seem overstated to me based on studies I have read on abuse within society, and the (admittedly limited) knowledge I have of abuse within the Anabaptist community. The post quoted doesn't give a lot of support for where Stutzman's numbers come from. But...only God knows the whole story (Stutzman is right, many women simply endure abuse, sadly - often to a greater degree within tight religious communities).

Second, the stats are not the important thing here - the fact that any of our sisters in the faith (or any of God's precious children anywhere for that matter) face this kind of trauma (or even the risk of it) is appalling and should be a grief that we all carry - and we all know that being in the Anabaptist faith community doesn't seem to protect women from sexual harm (both inside and outside of the church), and it is happening all too often. We have to be stronger together in keeping sexual abuse out of our community, which starts with an openness to fully admitting that it plagues all of our communities. I think that's what Stutzman was hoping to achieve here.
This is so surprising to me growing up unchurched with so much encouragement towards sexual immorality continually, that it is much of a problem in Anabaptist churches...
And sad.
And quite discouraging...
Women are precious and delicate - not for man's selfish pleasure.

And who is Steve Stutzman?
Unfortunately, abuse/molestation has not been limited to the women- I have heard testimonies of men who shared they were abused as boys-
Also MAP Ministry had shared some prayer requests for those who had been abused and even older girls who sexually abused their brothers (this within the Amish communities) and serving jail time)

It is very sad,, I didn't realize the % was that high- but have always heard about it since seeking Anabaptism-

Steve Stutzman is in ministry- him and his wife- and his family are well known singing team as well:

http://www.straitpaths.com/
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KingdomBuilder
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Re: S. Stutzman claims 67% of Anabaptist women have been sexually abused

Post by KingdomBuilder »

Somewhere upwards of 2/3 of girls in Anabaptist- type churches, it appears to me, are suffering extensively from something of sexual nature done to them.
Really confused here. So are there any real statistics or is it all personal whim? Did he walk into the room and just get the "feeling" that two out of every three women in the room had been sexually assaulted?
What are his qualifications for judging sexual misconduct based on surface impressions?
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Josh
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Re: S. Stutzman claims 67% of Anabaptist women have been sexually abused

Post by Josh »

Heirbyadoption wrote:Josh, out of curiousity, what's your purpose in sharing these claimed stats, and the particular fact that they come from Steve Stutzman?
2/3 seemed a bit high, so I wanted to hear the opinions of others.

In the interests of full disclosure, Stutzman is of the opinion I have a rebellious spirit, a contrary spirit, an accusing spirit, and am not born again (and he was successful for about a month in convincing me of the latter). I’m very grateful to ministers in a Beachy congregation and in a Holdeman congregation for awakening me from my stupor and helping me find assurance of salvation again.

But my own conflict with Stutzman has nothing to do with the text I quoted in full.
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Josh
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Re: S. Stutzman claims 67% of Anabaptist women have been sexually abused

Post by Josh »

KingdomBuilder wrote:
Somewhere upwards of 2/3 of girls in Anabaptist- type churches, it appears to me, are suffering extensively from something of sexual nature done to them.
Really confused here. So are there any real statistics or is it all personal whim? Did he walk into the room and just get the "feeling" that two out of every three women in the room had been sexually assaulted?
What are his qualifications for judging sexual misconduct based on surface impressions?
What concerns me is how readily someone will read this and just believe it as fact.
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