SCARCELY a week goes by without yet another report in the media of sickening sexual exploitation or physical abuse - most often against women or children but sometimes against men. Many are left wondering what the world is coming to.

The tragic truth is that human freedom means that unless, as individuals and society, we have good moral compasses, there will be those who, in each new generation, will abuse others.

One of the less well known stories of the Old Testament is that of Tamar, the young daughter of King David, who is raped by her half brother Amnon; an act of violation that brings such shame on her family that attempts are made to cover it up.

The reader is left wondering why those who are supposed to care for this girl treat her in this way; and her situation raises questions like, why is she so little regarded? Why doesn’t Amnon listen to her pleas? Is lust not to be denied? Does male power transcend decency? Why doesn’t David, the head of the family and King, do something about it? The story, from 2 Samuel 13.1-33, ends with a shocking twist when Absalom, Tamar’s brother, takes matters into his own hands and murders Amnon.

Tamar’s story signals a warning and a wake-up call to the conscience of everyone who reads it. It is one of many biblical episodes that illuminate human wickedness in order to point to a better way.

The thread of truth running right through the bible, which culminates in the teaching of Jesus, is the absolute importance of treating others as we would like them to treat us. This "golden rule" is expressed in various ways by Jesus, particularly powerfully in his command to "love God, and your neighbour as yourself".

The more of us who take that completely seriously, the less likely it will be that history - and the history of abuse – will just go on and on repeating itself. We certainly need a strong framework of law, but mutual respect and the kind of unselfish love we see in the life and death of Jesus point the way to reducing the sum total of human suffering.

The Rev David Batchelor,

Retired United Reformed Church minister