from FOX 5
ATLANTA (FOX 5) -- Atlanta police said Wednesday that well-known television minister, Juanita Bynum, became the victim of domestic abuse after her husband savagely beat her in a hotel parking lot Tuesday night.
A relative of Reverend Bynum told FOX 5 News that the Reverend Bynum and her husband, Bishop Thomas Weeks, are in the middle of a separation. The relative said the two agreed to meet Tuesday night in the dining room of the Renaissance Hotel near Hartsfield-Jackson airport.
The meeting reportedly did not go well and ended with Bishop Weeks leaving abruptly. The relative said Reverend Bynum followed him to the parking lot where the two exchanged words.
According to an Atlanta Police Department report, that's when Weeks allegedly attacked her. In a statement to police, Reverend Bynum said her husband, Thomas Weeks, "choked her, pushed her down, kicked her and stomped her in the Renaissance parking lot."
Ronald Campbell of the APD said a bellhop at the hotel saw the attack, intervened and stopped it. Officer Campbell said Reverend Bynum suffered multiple bruises and swelling and required hospitalization.Reverend Bynum is being kept at an undisclosed location. Police are searching for Thomas Weeks.
This is truly a sad and embarrassing mess for the couple involved and the thousands of people who look to Bishop Weeks for leadership at the four churches he co-pastors with his wife. I swear I will never give up on God but I'm running out of patience with the hypocrisy in the black church. Is this the sanctity of marriage Bishop Weeks and Juanita Bynum along with their colleagues want to perserve? It seems that some ministers are teaching their congregation to do as I say and not as I do.
This type of behavior is dangerous for several different reasons. Not only does it affect the victim physically and emotionally, but it sends a clear message to non-believers that God's presence in your life has no dramatic altering effect, especially when you hear about a man of God abusing his wife.
I can only imagine the Jim Bakker/Jimmy Swaggart apology Bishop Weeks is going to render in an effort to save his reputation and the excessive amount of cash the couple brings in from their global ministry. I have no doubt that he will shake this scandal and will most likely remain the leader of Global Destiny. We have a bad habit in the black church of putting our ministers on a pedstal (in some cases above God), yet lucky for them when they fall, most of us are quick to forgive and forget no matter how abominable their actions may have been.
I think I'm gonna have to start a running list of the number of "christian leaders" who remain in the news for anything besides clothing the naked and feeding the hungry, this is really getting out of control.
In a funny twist of irony Bishop" Ike" preaches on how to have a "grown up" marriage in the video clip below and Juanita preaches on how to keep your husband by giving him romance. Is anyone interested in their advice on these topics now?
13 Comments:
Unfortunately people don't magically become perfect once they get saved. We all have to deal with "demons". The fact that you are so disappointed shows that you put them up on some type of pedestal yourself. Even the bible says we should not look to people because they are human. We look to Christ because he is the only one who is perfect. They messed up and yes they should know better, but love and marriage is hard. Fortunately all they have to do is repent and ask God for forgiveness and he won't remember it or hold it against them.
Thanks.
August 23, 2007 4:24 AM
I have to agree with Mary. Juanita should have let the "westside" of Chicago come out for three minutes and showed him a Chicago lesson, but she didn't.
Married couples, saved or not, go through issues. Being a Christian goes so much deeper than feeding the hungry, spreading love and visiting the sick. The Kingdom of God is more powerful than that, but people don't realize that because the church is so commercialized and broken down by external views and critics who have no clue about God.
I hope the Weeks can work it out. No marriage is perfect. This has no reflection on their salvation, God still love them and apt to forgive just like the next person.
Yet, you homosexuals find fault and make it an excuse to target the church in retaliation because your shortcomings and sins are not acceptable. That is a low blow, but still, God sits on the throne and have already judged the immorality and sin you try to press on the church.
August 23, 2007 7:52 AM
How sad and embarassing.
Mary makes a great point about them just being people. But I think what Darian means is that many Christians spend a great deal of time putting down non-Christians.
That is the ugliest manifestation of any faith practitioner and the reason why, when they behave in very unholy ways it causes ripples.
August 23, 2007 9:51 AM
Mary welcome to my blog. Captain your comment was expected and comes as no surprise. J you articulated exactly what I was feeling.
I find it absurd that when these holier than thou televangelists and often gay bashers fall from grace they all of sudden become "human" to the public. I'm aware that they're salvation doesn't spare them from having marital problems, but even as a child I'm sure he was taught that a man should never put his hands on a woman, and that's a lesson from momma and not necessarily directly from the bible.
I never put ministers on pedastals because unlike so many I realize that there is only one perfect person and that's God.
Captain this post is not retaliation on the church because of their mistreatment of LGBT people. The black church is doing a fine job on it's own airing it's dirty laundry . If only you were so wrapped up in a real relationship with God and spent less time as the poster boy for christian hypocrisy you would see it too.
August 23, 2007 10:10 AM
An event such as this was sure to make it's way to public light. I’ve watched the Weeks for a couple of years during my tenure at the Ritz Carlton, act like animals not only to themselves but to the hotel staff as well. “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops” Matthew 10:26-27. Of course the claim will be made that we are all human and such is life, but how does one preach one thing but practice another?
August 23, 2007 10:48 AM
If a "real" relationship with God has ANY correlations with what you have, I rather jump from the Sears Tower downtown.
August 23, 2007 2:41 PM
LMAO!! Sounds like a good idea Captain. Why did it take you so long to think about jumping...you could have spared everyone in the black gay blogosphere your homophobic BS a long time ago.
August 23, 2007 3:08 PM
I guess its easy to pass on the WOrd.. but living it is a whole different story for these hypocrites !
Can someone pleASE let me know when the Captain is gonna make that jump?? People gotta be warned that a whole lotta poison gonna come spraying out. OSHA ! OSHA !
August 23, 2007 4:05 PM
I'm glad that you posted about this because there is a post that I just typed that covers all that you said. Covered very nicely, I couldn't have wrote it better!
August 23, 2007 4:14 PM
@Captain: jump, jump, jump, jump! Please jump! It's not bad idea captain, probably you're best so far.
Anyway, we're not imposing anything on the church. Not our so-called sin of being just yourself. Your moral code is pointless, and stop putting words in God's mouth. Typical hypocritical christian
Captain take your misconception of God and choke on it!
August 24, 2007 1:41 PM
This is the reason she has such a following... She exposes her wounds both physical and emotional. Dr. Bynum and Bishop TD Jakes have both shown the world the things that make us first human, secondly Christian. It hurts me when people expect that the men and women of God not to have real human situations. I don't think any woman should ever take a beating for the sake of marriage. I certainly, don't think she should take it because of the ministry. They will overcome this even if they do decide to divorce. Advice to woman married to a man of God who tries to put his hands on you. "Bash his head in and think about heaven later." Turning the other cheek may give him a chance to slap that one.If anything, they next time I have a fight with my husband. I won't feel like I am such a bad Christian, but human with real human emotions. Million dollar wedding or not, God is going to get some glory out of this situation.
August 25, 2007 10:58 PM
**GOD HAVE MERCY ON US ALL** *Part 1 of 4*
I am a female – but in light of the circumstances at hand – I am led to post the excerpts below. The *excerpts below are taken from a website (menstuff.org)* **Every man and woman needs** to **READ THIS**
**Violence against women is only part of the problem**. It is sometimes the woman who is violent towards her man. This is known as the hidden side of domestic violence. For a man to be on the receiving end of abuse is often seen as a comic situation, and sadly this adds to the reluctance men have to come forward and speak about it. But it happens all the same. The humiliation which accompanies this abuse makes it just as hard for men to break free and seek help.
**"Primary aggressor"** laws usually result in arrest of the male and ignore research showing 50% of domestic assaults are mutual combat. **The woman is thus encouraged to abuse her partner further until finally he will take no more. Such provocation of the human male is dangerous.** Studies consistently find women use weapons more often in assaults than do men (~80% for women; ~25% for men). **Women are significantly more likely to throw an object**, slap, kick, bite, or hit with their fist or an object.
Table 2: Results of 1994 national study from England on causes of violence (Carrado et al., 1996)
Reasons For Assault By Female By Male
Get through to... 53% 64%
Something said or threatened... 52% 53%
Some physical action... (Self-Defense) 21% 27%
Stop doing something... 33% 43%
Make do something.. 26% 26%
About to use physical action. (Self-Defense) 17% 21%
Influence of alcohol, etc.... 13% 35%
In character... 16% 27%
Other 12% 7%
Percent of 1,978 respondents committing an assault 11% 10%
**GOD HAVE MERCY ON US ALL** *Part 2 of 4*
The *excerpts below are taken from a website (menstuff.org)* **Every man and woman needs** to **READ THIS**
**Dangerous Behavior Patterns**
If we are to control domestic violence and abuse of men we must first recognize and define female archetypes that are predictive of such behavior:
• **Violence prone women. A 'violence prone' woman is a woman who, while complaining that she is the innocent victim of the malice and aggression of all other relationships in her life, is in fact a victim of her own violence and aggression.** Pizzey (1998) provides considerable evidence that such individuals form an addiction to violence early in life.**
• Abused as a child: A woman who was physically or sexually abused as a child, particularly during her teenage years, is a likely candidate to be abusive as an adult. She will also know all the games to play, just who to call, and what to say when the abuse begins.
• A common warning sign is that a woman's partner can no longer do anything right. What had seemed like a caring, loving person becomes an abusive, angry harpy who is critical of every action a man takes. She may also start to hit, push, or throw things. Such personality changes may be symptoms of a medical or mental problem that proper treatment might cure or control.
• **She hits or throw things**: It seems obvious, but it may just seem cute, or funny, or done in play. In one survey of college students, 20% of men who had been attacked by their girlfriends thought it was simply funny. It isn't!
• **The change of life or perimenopause. About 10-15% of women suffer severe emotional or physical problems as they enter perimenopause. The average age at which this begins is 43, though it may occur as young as age 35.** A hysterectomy, or surgical menopause, can also be associated with emotional problems including abusive and violent behavior.
**GOD HAVE MERCY ON US ALL** *Part 3 of 4*
The *excerpts below are taken from a website (menstuff.org)* **Every man and woman needs** to **READ THIS**
**Violence Prone Women**
Pizzey and Shapiro (1982) and Pizzey (2000) have recognized for many years that women are more violent in a domestic situation than men. This categorization must be understood to exclude men and women with recognised personality disorders and, particularly, men with criminal histories of violence who batter their women and children.
There must also be a clear distinction made by the general public between "battering," and "family conflict" or what Johnson (1995) refers to as "common couple violence." Family conflicts, for the most part, are not and must not be the province of the law or the concern of society in general.
Thus, the distinction must be made between:
• Men and women who accidentally become involved with a violent partner and now wish to leave and to never return again.
• Violence-prone individuals who, for deep psychological reasons of their own, seek out a violent relationship, or a series of violent relationships, with no intention of leaving.
It is essential to understand the differentiation between our use of the words battered and violence-prone . For us, a battered person is the innocent victim of another person's violence; **a violence-prone person is the victim of their own addiction to violence. Note that gender is not a defining issue for batteredor violence-prone individuals.**
Where marital quarrelling involves pushing, shoving, kicking, throwing things and generally behaving like a terrorist, such 'orgasmic' violent outbursts are largely ignored at present when they are done by women, but are taken seriously when they are perpetrated by men.
**GOD HAVE MERCY ON US ALL** *Part 4 of 4*
The *excerpts below are taken from a website (menstuff.org)* **Every man and woman needs** to **READ THIS**
**Why Do Women Hit Men?**
Gelles (1997, p. 133) put it succinctly: "People hit and abuse family members because they can." And in today's society, as reflected in TV, movies, and feminist doctrine, women are openly given permission to hit men. For example, a woman slapping a man in the face is rarely, if ever, viewed as "domestic violence."
Fiebert and Gonzales (1997) have looked at the reasons why women assault from a sample of 978 college women in California. Within a 5-year period, 20%, or 285 of the women surveyed admitted to physical aggression against their male partners.
There does not seem to be any support in the available data for the feminist proposition that women only use violence against men in self defense. The most-common reasons the women in the Fiebert and Gonzales (1997) study gave for assaulting their male partners included:
• My partner wasn't sensitive to my needs
• **I wished to gain my partner's attention. **
• **My partner was not listening to me.**
The factor of the male being abusive to the woman was one of the less-frequently stated reasons for the female's assault.
Table 4: Perpetrator of violence based on U.S. Army data (Cook, 1995)
Spouse only Self only Both violent Total
Male soldiers 23% 13-14% 62-64% 8,500
Female soldiers 17-23% 23% 60-64% 1,246
Total sample size was 55,000 married soldiers of whom 8,500 males and 1,246 females experienced some level of domestic violence.
**Anyone who has been married knows that domestic disputes typically involve both parties.**
Experience with human nature suggests it usually takes two to tangle.
**"Primary aggressor"** laws may also increase the danger for a woman in such situations **should her partner be provoked beyond the bounds of reason by this injustice.**
**GOD HAVE MERCY ON US ALL**
**Disclaimer **- Information is designed for educational purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice or professional services. Any medical decisions should be made in conjunction with your physician. We will not be liable for any complications, injuries or other medical accidents arising from or in connection with, the use of or reliance upon any information on the web.
September 06, 2007 2:30 PM
Let's not get side tracked here. Just because you except God as your Savior does not mean that you are excluded from the trials and tribulations of life. "For we have all fallen short to the Glory of God". In that lets not emotionalize the problem here. Let's be real believers and pray for healing and peace to come to Pastor Bynum and Bishop Weeks. Truth be told how many of us have problems in out marriage or household, only difference is that you were not on t.v
Let your Good be Better and your Better be Blessed
October 15, 2007 4:14 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home