A Salon piece today references a discussion of how conservative Christian groups (who think Rick Warren is too liberal) in effect promote domestic violence. The whole "submit to your husband" and "no divorce" (except for adultery and abandonment) thing. The title of the piece says it all: "Biblical Battered Wife Syndrome: Christian Women and Domestic Violence." As with how such beliefs can threaten science (as many as forty percent of the population does not accept evolution), foreign policy and so forth, this affects lots of people. See also, how the Catholic Church was a primary force in keeping anti-contraception policies in Connecticut and Massachusetts into the 1960s.
This has led some Christian women to try to promote a different sort of still fairly conservative path while underlining the dangers involved here. This calls to mind a few Muslim women I have read who discuss how their faith does not compel one to take the path of the most conservative among them. Many practices -- as is often the case with "religious" or "value" choices -- are really more cultural. And, not a one size fits all culture either, which is why denunciations of the "Iranians" etc. as a whole is so wrong.
A healthy respect for religion requires us to take in all sides of this issue, the problems, different points of view, and possible solutions. C-SPAN had an interesting panel discussion over the weekend on how the press reports on religion (conclusion: not very well), and Obama's spiritual path/background should add more fodder to the mill. Or something. As to the divorce thing, the "let's just ridicule religion" path won't work. It is in fact dangerous, since these women are not suddenly going to become atheists (putting aside what "religion" is) because their husbands are assholes.
There are many ways to go here. After all, some do not even realize the Bible even supplies any exceptions to the "no divorce" rule. For instance, one very well might think someone who beats a spouse has "abandoned" her in some core way.