Abstract
Once upon a time there was an emperor who was very vain about his elegant clothing. Two swindlers convinced him that they could make him the finest clothes he ever had, and set to work on an empty loom. Rumors of their fame began to spread, and even the emperor's high officials were convinced that the invisible garments were the finest they had ever seen. One minister even decided, “I know I'm not stupid, so it must be my fine position I'm not fit for. Some people might think that rather funny, but I must take good care they don't get to hear of it.” And then he praised the material which he couldn't see and assured them of his delight in its charming shades and its beautiful design. The emperor finally went on parade with his new garments. Crowds gathered, and they all said how magnificently clad he was. No one dared admit they couldn't see the clothes, and many concluded there was simply something wrong with them that he appeared naked. Finally a little child said, “But he hasn't got anything on!” “Goodness gracious, do you hear what the little innocent says?” one whispered to another, until finally everyone shouted at last, “He hasn't got anything on!” The emperor was embarrassed, but he drew himself up and went on with the procession still more proudly, while his chamberlains walked after him carrying the train that wasn't there.
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Additional information
Pamela Cooper-White is the author of theCry of Tamar: Violence Against Women and the Church's Response (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995). She serves as Priest-Associate at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Park Ridge, IL. She formerly was Director of the Center for Women and Religion at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, and has worked in various women's agencies in the movement to end violence against women since the late 1970s. Currently an Episcopal Church Foundation Fellow, she is pursuing a Ph.D. at the Institute for Clinical Social Work, Chicago, and serving her doctoral internship at the Pastoral Counseling Center of Lutheran General Hospital Park Ridge, IL.
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Cooper-White, P. An emperor without clothes: The Church's views about treatment of domestic violence. Pastoral Psychol 45, 3–20 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02251405
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02251405