The following is a letter I submitted to the CBC program The Current, hosted by talented radio personality Anna Maria Tremonti. In the letter, I have put to pen my increasing frustrations about the nature of the discussion surrounding violence against women and why it is that our public conversations never seem to get around to the root causes of the problem, and to exactly why we’re seeing the behaviour that we’re seeing. For the record…
The Jian Ghomeshi Saga and Root Causes of Violence Against Women
I’ve listened with great interest over the past few months to your podcasts and especially those about violence against women. From the #YesAllWomen campaign to the Jian Ghomeshi saga I’ve listened to a number of podcasts and even blogged and tweeted about some of the issues, myself.
What I’ve been wondering all along is when the talk is going to come around to root causes? Why aren’t we taking the discussion to a whole new level? We’ve had “conversations” and “dialogue” for a long time now and, so far, that’s not really working and, I would argue, is not going to in the longer-term either. Why is that? Is it because there’s nothing to put your feet on, nothing to *really* convince you to act one way or another? After all the conversation and dialogue, *why* should these men not take what they can get?
Again, *why* should anyone act one way or another [‘the moral argument‘] ? Just because we want them to? Things like law get people to act a certain way for the most part but it doesn’t convince them that what you’ve gotten into law is any more right than what the law prohibits in the first place. Then, if they can get away with it, they will still break that law.
We’re looking for change but it’s not any old change we’re looking for. What we’re really looking for is change that changes peoples minds and this kind of moral and ethical change only happens on a grand scale when there’s a change of heart. It’s the conviction of the heart that changes the mind and it’s a choice of the convinced will that turns somebody about from walking down the wrong path to walking down the right.
May I respectfully suggest the only comprehensive and coherent worldview with the ability to envelope and embrace all of these threads together in their rightful place, and to enact the heart change we’re looking for, is that taught by Jesus Christ who Himself firstly convicts and then redeems our hearts.