Question:
How does the Church deal with spouse and child abuse?
Answer:
Gordon B. Hinckley, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, issued the following statement on the abuse of spouses and children:
"We condemn most strongly abusive behaviour in any form. We denounce the physical, sexual, verbal, or emotional abuse of one’s spouse or children. Our proclamation on the family declares: 'Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. . . . Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs. . . . Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations'" (Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102). . . . "When there is recognition of equality between the husband and the wife, when there is acknowledgment that each child born into the world is a child of God, then there will follow a greater sense of responsibility to nurture, to help, to love with an enduring love those for whom we are responsible. "No man who abuses his wife or children is worthy to hold the priesthood of God. No man who abuses his wife or children is worthy to be a member in good standing in this Church. The abuse of one’s spouse and children is a most serious offence before God, and any who indulge in it may expect to be disciplined by the Church" (Ensign, Nov. 1998, 72). |
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