Can Legal Action be Taken Against Religious Leaders when Advice Fails
By pastorkayte
@pastorkayte (2255)
United States
March 10, 2010 1:55pm CST
This is a question someone asked me the other day, I had to listen to what they were saying. The person asked this leader if she should leave her husband, she said that he was demanding. I asked her was he abusive, she said yes. However when she went to this leader she omitted this information. Days after she asked the leader if she should stay, the husband physically abused her and she was hospitalized, she decided she would press charges against him, however was told that it would not be a good case, so she asked my opinion. My opinion was that if she failed to tell the leader that the husband was physically abusive and only said that he was demanding then that is not a reason to press charges against him. Many men are demanding and like the leader I would have advised her to seek professional counselling to help him overcome this problem. I also would have advised that the marriage stay intact. However if given the proper information the leader would have been able to advise that she get somewhere safe. Since he was not informed correctly he had no reason to believe this would have happened to her. What would you have done?
5 people like this
8 responses
@angelajoy (1825)
• Philippines
11 Mar 10
No matter how badly advised we are, we can't sue anyone for giving a bad advice. It's not like they are forcing us to do what they want. They are just advising. It's still up to us if we would follow the advice or not. That's why it's called an advice.
1 person likes this
@sheenmadness (1286)
• Philippines
11 Mar 10
I completely agree with you. No one is responsible for our own welfare except for ourselves. Other's are not responsible for us, they can only give advices it's still up to the person involve to weigh the advices and take it if he believes it will be of help. That is why we have our individual freewill. Its up to us how to use it.
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
10 Mar 10
I think that spiritual leaders can be a light in our life. Offer us support when we feel weak. HOwever spiritual leaders are not there to take decisions for us. We can discuss our personal life with them and then it is up to us to ask for direction to God and take a better informed decision.
I don't think that the Pastor in question is to blame. First she has omitted a very important information from her story. Secondly he was offering an advice. It is she that took the decision to stay with her husband. So if it was a bad one and she suffered she cannot blame it on anybody else.
If I was the Pastor in question I would have directed her to a marriage counselor. I would have made an effort to hear the other side of the story and try to see if they can be reconciled.
1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
11 Mar 10
I don't think she has anything to pinpoint at. Her leader is not at fault in my opinion.
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@pastorkayte (2255)
• United States
11 Mar 10
She was advised to seek professional help from this leader, I wrote that.
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@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
10 Mar 10
I completely agree with you. If someone is given advice which is based on incomplete information, then the person giving the advice can only be responsible for giving advice based on the circumstances which, to the best of his or her knowledge, were true and complete at the time.
Religious leaders are human and, when giving advice, act in a human capacity. It is to be hoped that they are, in general, more sensitive and better educated in counselling than others but that is not a given, unfortunately.
1 person likes this
@bluehibiscus (702)
• United States
10 Mar 10
She had the opportunity to go to the police first, instead she went to someone who has absolutely no practical training in this area (sorry to offend but reading religious texts does not make one qualified to give medical, psychological, or any other type of advice aside from spiritual) She doesn't have a case because she entrusted her safety to a layman rather than going to the proper authorities, it's no different than if you gave her the advice. Also she had the will to go against his advice.
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@pastorkayte (2255)
• United States
11 Mar 10
The person she went to was a trained professional, and she was directed to a more qualified professional.
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@srjac0902 (1169)
• Italy
10 Mar 10
Every human being deserves respect. If she went to the leader, then at least in confidence she should reveal the whole truth without abruptness. Submission to husband is christian way of acceptance even torture. But in the interest of the husband's good it is prudent to live separately, it is advisable to tell her to decide what her moral conscience dictates. Men are not abusive all 24 hours. Some times it is better to escape temporarily. Every being is the temple of God. So safeguarding the holiness of body, mind and soul is everyone's duty.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
10 Mar 10
"Submission to husband is christian way of acceptance even torture." and "safeguarding the holiness of body, mind and soul is everyone's duty." are in direct conflict, it seems to me.
If a husband abuses his wife, it seems to me that she owes it to herself, at least, to call him out and to leave him if it seems to be something he cannot or will not control. "For better and for worse" does NOT include abuse that one person may do to the other! It means that both husband and wife agree to stay together and support each other in mutual love through good fortune and bad.
1 person likes this
@srjac0902 (1169)
• Italy
11 Mar 10
What I mean is a wife undergoes even the torture of the husband and still remains with him . I also said that safeguarding the purity of body, mind and soul is everybody's duty so when one undergoes trauma, and morally it is suffocating, it is prudence to escape. In our Christianity forgiving love has the primacy. Counseling, treatment yes, but seeking legal action..... legally morally can be justified but when we think of the christian values, it is the christian parish community has to show the solidarity to set right the things. After all God's grace will assist.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
10 Mar 10
She should have told her religious leader about her husband's abusiveness. He would have then told her to go to the police and press charges. But by not telling that her husband was beating her and showing some of the bruises, the clergyman or pastor or whatever just assumed that she was a discontented wife and told her not to press charges. So it was her fault by not telling the truth.
So if a judge heard the case in civil court, the religious leader would have gotten the case dismissed as the woman did not tell the truth.
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