The Meaning of Manohara’s Confession

Beauty doesn’t always mean lucky. At least, that what happen to the Indonesian beauty Manohara. The former model turned Princess tells the world how beauty may harm some people sometime. By the age of 17 she has been through what we say as misfortune: sexually, mentally and physically abused by her own husband, a Prince from Malaysia. According to her confession she was kidnapped, imprisoned in the palace and treated as a sex toy for months. Worst than it, she had been raped by the man before they married, the time when she was just fifteen.

Now, Manohara has fame and power. After her dramatic rescue, she captured the Media attention in Indonesia. Around the clock, the media broadcast her innocent face and soft spoken voice. She becomes one of the powerful women in the country that unconsciously escalate the tension between Indonesia and its neighbor, Malaysia. Both survived a rocky relationship so far.

What Manohara’s story means for the people especially women in Indonesia, Malaysia or Asia respectively? For me, it tells that Domestic Abuse exists in any level of our society and it’s an urgent subject to talk about. That’s why Manohara’s news has more rating than the Indonesian president candidates’ campaigns. People are drained when government talk about economic, politic, welfare, what so far, less benefitted the marginal society. But the people here are eager to talk about human rights, the rights of the weak and oppressed ones.

Domestic Abuse is the issue. Women in Indonesia live with it. Some think it’s a part of our culture: Asian women are inferior to the man. Even Christianity teaches the same melody. Wives, submit to your husband as to the Lord (Ephesians 5:22). It is an elastic verse that demands women’s absolute obedience to their husband.

We have to obey the Lord. We have to serve Him. We can’t question His authority, and He is free from any wrong doing. If we have to do these to the Lord, and so the wife to her husband.

What happen in a case of Domestic Abuse? Should women accept it as destiny and endure the pain?

I was teaching Bible School students the other day and asked their opinion about a domestic violence case. What a surprise because almost everybody thinks that women have to stay, endure and pray in that situation -even when it endangers the women and their children lives-. They believe one day God will change the husband’s heart and turn him to a loving, caring and Godly man. A separation or divorce is not even a choice.

Absolutely, we can see this happened in many many of Christian marriages, but I also witness, no matter what kind of prayer, there are some women endure a harmful and destructive relationship in the name of Faith. The emotional blow does not only to the wives but also to their children. The principle that saved a Christian marriage does not always work out to the others. What happen if the husband has mental or social problem? Some of the underline factors that remain unrecognized among the lower class society.

I don’t like divorce and believe it’s unbiblical and a disgraceful act, but I think we have to discuss about the way to protect women and children from emotional, mental and physical violence that may occur in the families beyond their religion and culture. There should be a change. There should be a solution.

Tags: Entertainment, Family, Marriage, Relationship