Photographer as Witness: A Portrait of Domestic Violence

Time - Light Box ^ | 2/27/13 | Sara Naomi Lewkowicz

[1010RD]

Domestic violence is often shielded from public view. Usually, we only hear it muffled through walls or see it manifested in the faded yellow and purple bruises of a woman who “walked into a wall” or “fell down the stairs.”

[1010RD]

You've got all the elements here: unwed teen mother, smoking, alcohol, piercings, tattoos, immaturity, mental illness, crime, etc.

The answer isn't VAWA or any government intervention.

The answer is strong, Christ-centered families built on the ordinance of marriage.

[Servant of the Cross]

The answer is strong, Christ-centered families built on the ordinance of marriage.

Very true. This reminds me of the testimony of Archbishop Charles Chaput (at the time) to a Senate Committee regarding Columbine .....

My second observation is this: Blaming shock-rock performers like Marilyn Manson for the violence in our culture is easy. It's also, in a way, probably right. But the problem of violence isn't out there in bad music and bloody films. The real problem is in here, in us, and it won't be fixed by v-chips. In the last four decades, we've created a culture that markets violence in dozens of different ways, seven days a week. It's part of our social fabric. When we build our advertising campaigns on consumer selfishness and greed, and when money becomes the universal measure of value, how can we be surprised when our sense of community erodes? When we glorify and multiply guns, why are we shocked when kids use them? When we answer murder with more violence in the death penalty, we put the state's seal of approval on revenge. When the most dangerous place in the country is a mother's womb, and the unborn child can have his or her head crushed in an abortion, even in the process of being born . . . the body language of that message is that life isn't sacred and may not be worth much at all. In fact, certain kinds of killing no longer even count officially as "killing." Certain kinds of killing we enshrine as rights and protect by law. When we live this kind of contradiction, why are we surprised at the results? The Columbine murders will mark my community for years to come. They're a wound felt by the entire country - but I don't think they'll be the last. We live in the most violent century in history.

[shineon]

He died so we might live.

[awelliott]

You've got all the elements here: unwed teen mother, smoking, alcohol, piercings, tattoos, immaturity, mental illness, crime, etc.

The answer isn't VAWA or any government intervention.

The answer is strong, Christ-centered families built on the ordinance of marriage.

Yeah, but then we would be imposing our narrow-minded opinions on others. After all, what's right for us isn't necessarily right for them. /sarc

[shineon]

The ordinance of a thousand prayer warriors in the name of Jesus.
The ordinance of Golgotha.
The ordinance of the Son of Man, the great I AM, Chirst in you -
The hope of Glory.

[1010RD]

What’s surprising is that we have decades of social science proving the Ten Commandments correct. Pile on the teachings of Jesus Christ and secularism is utterly condemned, but we’re wrong?

[shineon]

I apologize from deviating from the debate, but the battle is over, Christ rose from the dead.

[albie]

So the photog saw that she was about to get a beating and the little girl entered the scene for more dangerous possibilities and the photog just kept snapping pics?!

[DTogo]

After I confirmed one of the housemates had called the police, I then continued to document the abuse — my instincts as a photojournalist began kicking in.

Never mind intervening to try and stop the abuse, it's more important to document it as a photojournalist.

Humanity FAIL

[Bigg Red]

Exactly. Just keep taking the photos. Oh, but she was just trying to help other women. What a bunch of baloney.

It is just so infuriating the way these dopes try to portray battered women as having no control over their own destiny. The only people I feel sorry for are the poor children, the only ones that have no choice in all of this.

And now this tramp has rejoined her husband who is in the military. I wonder how long that will last.

[cport]

It won't last long if she insists on giving her children all her attention. No marriage can survive that. The woman's top priority should be her husband, and the man's his wife. We have generations of kids that were taught that they are the most important thing in the world, and we are now reaping the seeds sewn from that backwards thinking.

Long after the kids are gone, the husband and wife will be there. If they have not been serving each other as Christ intended and laid out in Ephesians 25, they will enjoy their final days. And have progeny that will know the importance of the authorative head of the household, the Christ-husband-wife unit.

[Twinkie]

Because people WILL NOT accept the authority, GRACE, and mercy of Christ; rather choose to live in FEAR and dependency on government, being tied to their mama’s pantybands, to a certain locale,or whatever else they worship, all these sorts of things continue. - THIS is ALL going to be OVER soon, and very soon; and what we’ve always thought was important will be a non-issue, soon, and very soon. FEAR NOT!!

The Kingdom is coming; oh tell ye the story - God’s banner exalted shall be; the earth shall be full of His knowledge and glory, as the waters that cover the sea!

[cport]

Oops! Post correction:

If they have not been serving each other as Christ intended

[Bigg Red]

I do not agree with anything that you said. The mother should show her husband proper respect as head of the household and should teach her children to do the same.

It is obvious that this woman does not give a tinker’s darn about her children, or she would not have shacked up with the ex-con that beat her up. In this action, she also chose to dishonor her husband and her marriage.

While the couple should concentrate on making their marriage the center of it all, they must, also, make sure that the decisions they make will benefit the welfare of their children and not harm them. Choices such as mommy’s shacking up with some thug would fall into the latter category.

Believe me, I know what you mean when you speak of children who have been raised with a false sense of entitlement, as I used to teach high school.

[cport]

Children will exploit any detected divisiveness between the parents. Favoritism toward any child or the children over a spouse should never be displayed, as it undermines the absolute authority of either parent.

I agree that the mother should show respect for the husband, and submit accordingly, but the husband also has the duty and obligation to serve her as Christ served the church, with sacrifice, as pointed out in Ephesians. If they do this, then the welfare of the children will more than likely be taken care of, as both parents will raise them with the ultimate show of love for a child, discipline and limits.

Your point about mommy shacking up is well taken. I was basing my comment on the supposition that once with said thug, she was going to make a proper go of it, and "act" like a couple should act. Of course, the relationship was doomed from the start, as it was not Christ-centric, and was all about each other's own needs. And yes, her first mistake was dishonoring her husband, and I pray that she has learned her lesson and that God will bless the reuniting of that family. It will be hard, and God will be necessary, because much forgiveness and grace will have to take place.

[SaraJohnson]

When all else fails, the second amendment kicks in. That monster had to sleep sometime and that is why God made chain saws.

If you don’t want to end up killing a monster or being killed by one, don’t head down the spookey path of life. The slut thang may be gangsta “cool” but monsters and their violence is not pretty in the end.