Derek: 00:28

Welcome back to The Fourth Way Podcast. This episode is the end of our section on propaganda as it relates to abuse. As I'm planning on doing with all of the sections, today, I am going to do a review and unpacking episode to close out the section. But please don't hear me saying that this is just a pure review of what we've discussed so far. Not at all, I hope.

Derek: 00:52

My hope is that this episode will be worth your while because I'm going to give you some great resources and topics to pursue, which I didn't have time to discuss in the section, or I just didn't think it, really fit within the flow of things. So let's start off by talking about some of the most influential books that I read in relation to abuse for this this, section. And it's important to note that that, none of these books actually had to do with propaganda and abuse. Like nobody's looking at the idea of propaganda. They look at manipulation and things like that, but I just I don't think people have really been applying the idea of propaganda to the small scale, like with things like abuse.

Derek: 01:39

But I I think it's there's a very clear connection between those things. And I think the absolute best resource that you can get in regard to abuse and power is Why Does He Do That? Of all the books that I've read so far for this season, this book is absolutely the most jam packed comprehensive work on a topic that I think I've found. I mean, there's there's really no one book on race that I could recommend to you, no one book on government and empire and the military or anything like that. But, I mean, this this one book on the topic of abuse is so comprehensive and thorough and insightful.

Derek: 02:21

Why Does He That? Is a fantastic read and something that you should definitely read. I mean, some people might think that Why Does He Do That? Is such a good book and so comprehensive and does a great job at that because, you know, maybe abuse requires somewhat less unpacking than something like racism or governmental abuse. But I really do think that, while that might be part of it, I think that the author really nailed this book on abuse.

Derek: 02:48

You you're gonna find absolutely everything that you can imagine on abuse in this book, and you can tell that the author was extremely experienced with the topic. And it's actually because his book was so good that I really didn't read a ton of resources on abuse. Of course, is a smaller scale sort of thing than something like racism or the government, but also it's just this book does such a good job that I didn't feel the need to research much further. I mean, would love to, there are lots of other books on my list and I did read a handful of things on abuse because I I think it is important to to fill out your view there. But again, I've said it a million times, this book is is so good that I think it it gave me a good education without having to do as much legwork as I did for other sections of the season.

Derek: 03:42

Another great resource, which was recommended to me over and over and over again is the work of Chris Moles. Now, while I didn't end up reading any of his books, I did see some of his videos and looked at some of his stuff online, and I think that Moles is a a really good resource, especially for Christians, because he has a background in dealing with abuse, particularly in the context of the church. And beyond the general issue of abuse, there are a number of works out there which explore specific abuse conspiracies and scandals. So Catch and Kill is probably the most famous book dealing with the infamous Harvey Weinstein case. There's The Godfathers of Sex Abuse, which isn't I don't I don't think it's that popular of a book, but it kind of goes into the details on Jeffrey Epstein.

Derek: 04:29

And it was an interesting read and avoided getting super conspiratorial. I've but there were there were lots of interesting pieces of evidence in there that you can follow-up on, and just I think the thing that stands out particularly in that book with with Epstein, but also in the Weinstein case and and the more thorough book Catch and Kill, is just these details about how abuse is able to continue and how it's fostered by power, money, and influence, and how these people avoid consequences. So there's a whole lot in there that's going to help you understand how how these people get away with it. So those are our two resources that I'd recommend. Obviously, this section was about abusers and how they wield propaganda, but, while I think it's important to look directly at cases of abuse, I think it's also important to understand the ideology which underlies abuse and makes it possible.

Derek: 05:32

How can abusers abuse and how can they get away with it in plain sight? One book I'd recommend in helping to see this is entitled Invisible Women. While if you listen to the the first review episode I did for propaganda in general, I did a lot of the the groundwork types of things, the ideological, philosophical readings first, right? So like Elul's Propaganda and and Setting the Stage or How Do We Think, How Does Cognition Work, How Does that kind of stuff. I read a lot of those books first to get an understanding of, you know, knowledge and perception, and then I kind of started to dig into specifics of propaganda and abuse, propaganda and racism, propaganda in the government.

Derek: 06:21

Here, in the case of abuse, I actually think it's good, you could do it that way, but I think it's good to have a framework for what abuse looks like just because I think abuse in particular is often misconstrued. We have these faulty ideas of what it is and isn't. And so I think seeing it in action and really starting to understand abuse might actually be helpful before you understand why, like where our perception goes wrong. So the this book, Invisible Women, is extremely interesting. The book isn't about abuse in particular, but I think it shows how our cognitive and perceptual blindness can lend itself to abusive tendencies or to abuse going unnoticed.

Derek: 07:10

The book is fascinating. It explores how women face a number of hardships and health issues in large part because of the way that objects are designed for men and not women. All sorts of objects and, you know, city planning and whatnot. There's there's so much in the book and so much that I just had no clue to even think about. And so it's not this malicious sort of, hey, we're out to make the world harmful for women or not good for women, it's just it shows you that perceptual cognitive blindness and how that can lead towards injustices, disparities, whatever you want to call them.

Derek: 07:52

Sometimes one or the other or both. And when you understand that, when you understand some of that faulty thinking and how we don't see women in our society, in our world, then that's gonna help you to understand how we don't see women in regard to abuse and how we can misconstrue testimonies or the cases that they bring before us. Now for those with a Christian background, there are a number of books that I would recommend, which I think help to paint a picture of how abuse develops and is fostered, particularly in Christian thought. So I'd recommend starting off with the book Valiant or Virtuous. Again, this isn't a book which is at all about abuse, but it does show how ideological bents shape language and how language can then shape our perception.

Derek: 08:43

It's this vicious cycle, right? You choose the language because of a particular ideology, but then as that language perpetuates throughout a belief system or a society, a culture, then that actually shapes an ideology. And so you've got this mutually reinforcing cycle that is very vicious. So the author of Valiant or Virtuous shows a number of cases where words related to women in the Bible are significantly altered or applied with a double standard or rendered with different connotations and and it makes the meaning or image very different than when those same terms are applied to a man. And I I think the author does a really really good job of showing, you know, there might be some words which, yeah, of course you'd apply it differently in different situations.

Derek: 09:37

But I think the author chooses her examples very very well and makes a very strong case for how ideology shapes Biblical interpretation in regard to women. So Valiant or Virtuous is a good warm up text, it's a good foundation to have. And then you can move on to other great books like The Great Sex Rescue, which is gonna take a look at how women are because of particularly conservative Christian views on women, whether that's patriarchal or complementarian, especially the more conservative end of the complementarian spectrum, it has a significant impact on women in regard to marriage relationships and sex and that can be extremely problematic. And so The Great Sex Rescue is fantastic. And then the Headship of Men and the Abuse of Women is something that was recommended by Doctor.

Derek: 10:33

William Witt in this season and that's going to get into, you know, he takes a look at complementarianism in particular and says, Okay, where do these where do patriarchal or complementarian views lead? Like, do they lead to more abuse or not? Because you would expect a right ideology to lead to safety, to lead to goodness. And so this is an idea, this is not consequentialism. So it's not saying something is right because it's good, but it's rather saying, Look, if God created the world to be good, to work a certain way, then you would think that by doing the good thing, there would be a tendency for it to work out better, to create better environments, to create better people, whatever.

Derek: 11:25

If you're following God's commandments, then it should lead to flourishing, right? That's an idea, I don't know how to pronounce it, I've read it a million times like eudaimonism, eudaimonism, something like that. It's this idea that the good works because if God created the world good and He knew what He was doing, then what is good should function properly, should flourish, should create Shalom. So in the book, The Headship of Men and Abuse of Women, the author takes a look and says, Okay, do patriarchal or complementarian beliefs create Shalom between genders? Does it or does it create and foster more abuse?

Derek: 12:07

Now, this book is a good jumping off point, to take a look at the issue, but, it's a pretty short read and you definitely have to look at a lot more studies and do a lot more legwork there. But it's a it's a good introduction to this idea. Now I do wanna pause at this point for all of my Christian listeners and emphasize that I'm not at all taking a position here on the issue of complementarianism, patriarchy, egalitarianism, any of that kind of stuff. It is possible that God created a world in which each gender has particular roles that He wants them to fulfill. And if that's the case, we ought to fulfill those roles whether we understand why or not.

Derek: 12:49

However, I think that, what the book, The Headship of Men and the Abusive Women argues well is that if a position like complementarianism is right, it seems that it tends to lead to some very dark places in regard to abuse. At the least, this just means that if one adheres to complementarianism, they ought to be on the lookout for how this theological view can be hijacked to lead to abuse or to overlooking abuse. I hear conservative Christians talking all the time about how certain theological positions lead to liberalism, communism, Marxism, whatever. But it's important for these same Christians to note that the slope is slippery on both sides, right? Perhaps egalitarians tend to slide more towards theologically liberal views, but I'm not convinced that sliding back the other way towards abuse and controlling power dynamics is functionally worse.

Derek: 13:39

Do you think a slave would have seen Jesus more in a conservative Christian slave master or in a Unitarian abolitionist who's liberal? Do you think Jesus can be seen more in an egalitarian liberal who doesn't beat his wife or foster abuse or a complementarian abuser? You know, orthopraxy, right action, in my opinion, gets the short end of the stick in modern evangelical circles. So again, I'm not at all trying to argue for a theological orthodoxy here of complementarianism, egalitarianism, what try to keep that out of the season. We talk about it and broach some of the tendencies and cautions, but I'm not taking a position.

Derek: 14:21

The fact that something good can be wielded terribly doesn't necessarily prove that an idea is wrong. Misuse doesn't necessarily prove untruth. So for example, you know, Christians believe that grace is vital to the Christian life, yet people can corrupt the idea of grace and turn it into licentiousness, right? Do whatever you want and just ask for forgiveness later. Now that can lead to some really terrible lifestyles and damage to relationships or to an individual.

Derek: 14:53

Likewise, a focus on works which is a necessary truth of the Christian religion that we should do good works, Right? Jesus says it all the time. You know, if you don't abide in Him, thrown into the fire. He who does he who keeps my commandments, right, is the one who loves me. The one who builds his house on a rock isn't the one who just has faith in Jesus.

Derek: 15:17

Jesus says, He who hears and obeys My commandment is the one who is building his house on the rock, right? Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Jesus talks a whole lot about works and they are a part of the Christian faith. There needs to be fruit. If there's no fruit of the Spirit, then there's probably no Spirit in you.

Derek: 15:39

However, this focus on works, if you focus so much on works, to the exclusion of grace, then it's gonna lead to pride, to despising and dehumanizing others who you don't think are as good as you, and to systems of meritocracy that leads to a graceless, dark, cold place. So both grace and works are true and both are wonderful, yet each can be wielded in a corrupt and abusive manner despite their being true. So in this episode, I don't at all want to get into landing on a particular theological position, that's for you to work out. But I do want to help complementarians and patriarchists to see the huge pitfalls that these theologies can lead to. Sure, egalitarians have their own pitfalls.

Derek: 16:29

I I completely agree and understand that. But because we're talking about abuse, and that's one of the blind spots of more patriarchal or complementarian viewpoints, theological views, then I think it's necessary to to talk about this here. So again, all I'm simply saying is that we need to be careful about our orthopraxy going askew, and therefore, we ought to be cognizant of where certain theological views tend to lead us. Finally, let me leave you with a few other resources that I haven't gotten to yet, but which might be worth your time. You should definitely look more into the Weinstein, Epstein and Nasser cases which we mentioned throughout the season, But also check out more about Ravi Zacharias as well as the Catholic abuse scandal, which the Catholic abuse scandal I didn't touch on at all, but it was it was big.

Derek: 17:24

I didn't touch on it in part because it was, you know, even though it was individual priests, it got into bigger institutional cover up sorts of things. So I I wanted to kinda keep this on the small scale, but you could definitely fit the Catholic abuse scandal in here as as a way that propaganda was wielded in regard to abuse. There's also a documentary out there entitled Abducted in Plain Sight, which was turned into a movie called A Friend of the Family, which is the story of how an abuser manipulated a whole family over a period of I want to say decades, I I don't know exactly. But it looked fascinating but horrible. So you can watch the trailers to the documentary or to the to the movie if you'd like.

Derek: 18:16

Hopefully you found this episode informative and interesting. Again, these these episodes really are just scratching the surface of, all of the legwork that I've done to, to put these things together. So if you want a deeper look, maybe not quite as much on on abuse because like I said, I didn't read a ton ton on it, but go check out the My Goodreads reading list as well and you can see the the books that I've I've gone through for these kinds of things. So in just a few days, a week, something like that, we will be moving on to our next section which will be about propaganda in regards to race. I hope you'll come back and join us for that.

Derek: 18:59

That's all for now, so peace and because I'm a pacifist, when I say it, I mean it. This podcast is a part of the Kingdom Outpost Network. Please check out the links below to find other great podcasts and content related to non violence and Kingdom Living.