Juanita Bynum’s Husband Gets Probation
Prophetess Juanita Bynum and her husband/attacker appeared in court on Tuesday for his sentencing. Taking into consideration a personal plea from Dr. Bynum not to give jail time, Bishop Weeks received three years probation and 200 hours of non-church related community service. He also must complete anger management counseling.
According to the AP, Dr. Bynum and her husband are “working on their marriage and the status of their relationship.” They left the courthouse together after the sentencing.
The attack on Dr. Bynum by Bishop Weeks occured in the parking lot of an Atlanta hotel last August. LCW reported on the incident in two previous articles, Televangelist Juanita Bynum Assaulted by Husband and Dr. Bynum’s Attack Brings to Light Abuse in Christian Marriage.
The story was hotly debated between supporters of both parties, with some even blaming Prophetess Bynum for her husband’s behavior. No indications have been made that Bishop Weeks had ever physically harmed his wife prior to the August attack. Dr. Bynum has shown courage and strength of faith in her recovery and dealing with the aftermath of intense public interest in a very private matter.
Would you have done the same in a similar situation? LCW has explored domestic violence in Christian marriage in the past. Arguments and Biblical justification have been given for both getting out of the situation and pursuing divorce, and remaining married and trying to work through it. In light of Juanita Bynum’s apparent decision to at least attempt to save her marriage, what are your thoughts?
Feel free to leave comments and debate the outcome of Bishop Weeks’ sentencing.
Juanita Bynum, Bishop Weeks, Bishop Weeks sentence, christians and domestic violence
March 14th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
As a Christian woman who was abused by her husband, I will say that it depends on the couple AND the willingness of the offending party to acknowledge that what they did was wrong and seek the help they need AND to make a daily effort to not commit the crime again. I was told when I decided to divorce that I was OBLIGATED to remain with him. No person is obligated in any way to remain married to the person abusing them. Also, people need to remember that no matter what the “victim” did, the only person who can be blamed for the abuse is the offender. Period. Each person does have the power to choose whether or not to handle the situation in that manner. Dr Bynum’s husband has his own mind and he DOES have the power to choose how he will deal with a situation. Unfortunately, he chose to use violence. But that was his choice. He made the choice, not her. Regardless of what SHE did to anger him, HE is the only one to blame for how he handled it.