How does one examine the sexual misconduct issue as related to John Howard Yoder?
I know none of the details or gossip. Is it wrong to be curious?
Such a topic is interesting in relation to the legacies of Clinton, Kennedy, and King; to one's personal sexual excesses and inadequacies; to the question of homosexual behavior; and to the religious right's obsession about sexual matters, including voting for "sexual morality" at the expense of a better social ethic of peacemaking, sacrifice, and servanthood...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I think Mennonite Quarterly Review had an article 6 or 7 years ago that examined what happened in some detail. If you google "John Howard Yoder" "sexual misconduct" you will find many references to it, although the ones I looked at didn't give any details. My recollection is that probably few of the women involved considered it sexual misconduct since everyone involved was an adult. I think he had a modus operandi of flattering bright young women who fell in love with his mind, with attention and then crossing sexual boundaries, although as I recall it didn't actually involve intercourse. He also had some weird definition of marriage that allowed him to appeal to the Bible as justification for his relationships. I'm sure you can find more
JHY left two legacies behind him: one his intellectual legacy and the second a legacy of suffering in the lives of the women who were his victims.
If we think of sexual misconduct as adultery, then JHY was guilty of sexual abuse. 40 known women reported this to the church; 8 women reported it to the secular church.
But there were more victims than ever were reported.
I asked several of them if Yoder ever apologized and the answer has been consistentlyh "NO!"
I think it is quite apporptirate - indeed vital for the academic community to know what he did. However, the church has choses to bury this in secrecy.
The only accurate public information is in the Elkhart Truth articles written by journalist Tom Price in June and July, 1992.
REK
Boy is there a HUGE knowledge gap here!
I was closely involved with the JHY scandal as a close friend of several of the women who came forward to finally expose the abuses of JHY.
I can tell you that these were not consensual encounters, but sexual assaults.
I can tell you that at least 50 letters of complaint from around the world were sent to the office of Marvin Miller, Dean of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries. Who sends letters of complaint regarding adultery or consensual sexual experience?
I can tell you that JHY told me that he wanted to offer apologies to the women and was kept from doing so by those that were in charge of his "process."
I can tell you that when it comes to sexual abuse, whether intercourse is involved is irrelevant.
I can tell you that his actions were vile, violent, coercive, mean, ugly and against the law. He should have been put in prison, but Mennonites don't believe in taking matters to the courts (how convenient). At this point I blame the Church for its cover-up and for denying the man the opportunity to truly make confession directly to those he harmed.
I can tell you that although scholars may acurately report that he was "disciplined and reinstated" or "reconciled to the church"---he was not reconciled to the women whose spiritual and emotional well-being he destroyed.
REK is correct. The only accurate public information is in the Elkart Truth articles of June/July 1992. Does anyone out there have the tech savvy to see that those articles are included as a link in the Wikipedia entry on JHY?
The fact that the man was so blatantly NOT practicing what he preached seems an important and relevant discussion.
Elkart Truth articles are now posted here: http://peacetheology.net/john-h-yoder/john-howard-yoder’s-sexual-misconduct—part-five-2/
Post a Comment