Abuse, power and discourse in the public trial of Timothy Omotoso

Verbum et Ecclesia

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Abuse, power and discourse in the public trial of Timothy Omotoso
 
Creator Kgatle, Mookgo S. Frahm-Arp, Maria
 
Subject Gender Based Violence abuse; power; Timothy Omotoso; Cheryl Zondi, critical discourse analysis; Pentecostalism
Description Exposure of gender-based violence (GBV) has recently received attention from both scholars and the public. However, GBV within Christian discourse, and specifically as it occurs among pastors of the new Prophetic Pentecostal Churches (PPC), is yet to be explored in detail. This article begins to address this research gap by highlighting the difficulty of proving sexual and spiritual abuse in a secular court of law, as shown in the public trial of Timothy Omotoso. The study uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) as the methodology to examine aspects of the trial and the social media discourse commenting on the trial. In doing so, the article highlights three different discourses surrounding the Zondi trial, namely the discourse of GBV in Pentecostalism; the secular legal discourse and how it reshapes faith, spirituality and the abuse of believers; and the public trial victims endure on social media if they chose to come forward to testify against a church leader. By examining these discourses, the study shows how each of these need to be taken seriously and should inform pastoral care given to victims who experienced GBV by Christian leaders. Using the findings from Zondi’s testimony, this article proposes a framework of pastoral care that can support people who experience GBV within a Christian context and consider bringing their abusers to trial.Interdisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article is an interface between GBV and Pentecostalism in a public trial of Timothy Omotoso through CDA. The article proposes a pastoral care as a remedy for those undergoing trauma of abuse.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor University of South Africa
Date 2022-05-17
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Critical Discourse Analysis
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ve.v43i1.2270
 
Source Verbum et Ecclesia; Vol 43, No 1 (2022); 8 pages 2074-7705 1609-9982
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2270/5703 https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2270/5704 https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2270/5705 https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2270/5706
 
Coverage South Africa 21st century Gender
Rights Copyright (c) 2022 Mookgo S. Kgatle, Maria Frahm-Arp https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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