Humans have not outgrown violence

October is domestic violence prevention month, and brings to awareness possibly the most heart wrenching aspect of reality that we can ever encounter.

Regular readers of this column, over the years, know that it's no secret what this columnist thinks of domestic abusers, or how they should be dealt with, so I won't go into that again.

The stark truth is, domestic abuse will not disappear until we start calling it out into the open and dealing with it instead of turning a blind eye to its existence.

Pretending it doesn't happen is not in any way productive. It is your business, if someone, child, woman or man, is being assualted within their own family. It is your business because you have an obligation to your fellow human.

Despite the world view of many rap songs, it is not okay to hit a woman-ever. It is not okay, in broader terms, to use violence to settle your issues. (Because we all know that there are cases where men suffer abuse from women, as well.) It is not okay to physically punish a child by slapping or punching him or her.

This columnist did his student ministry in an Appalachian section of Ohio, where it was still considered okay to "slap yore woman around a bit, to get her attention." I am not trying to be funny. It's pathetic.

In the same culture, children are treated as property (a legal precedent still occasionally used) and corporeal punishment was the norm, not the exception. I am not talking about simple spanking, either.

It would be naive to see this as only a problem in backwoods and benighted areas of the country. That conveniently makes it "someone else's concern."

The truth is, domestic violence happens behind mansion walls as well as ghettoes, in idyllic towns as well as hovels. It happens across educational spectrums, and even in homes where it would seem impossible to believe-clergy, police, teachers, social workers.

I do not know of a solution to this complex problem. What I do know is that we have not, apparently, outgrown it as a human race. Each of us must be aware, awake, and not afraid to get involved.

Clyde Davis is a Presbyterian pastor and teacher at Clovis Christian High School. He can be contacted at:

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