There’s no argument against the flaws of the church here. My assumption that most of them are not being abused does not come from specifically giving churches the benefit of the doubt, but from the assumption that there are probably few circles anywhere (besides perhaps police officers’ wives, 40% of whom are abused according to the National Center for Women and Policing) in which the majority of women are being abused, although the number of abusive marriages is still obviously far too high.

And the realization that physical abuse is only one reason a woman might feel relieved at her husband’s death was my motivation to write this article. I was wrong in previously thinking that, was then surprised by what my mother revealed, and accordingly focused on how resentment builds in subtler, non-physical ways.