Ancient secular myths and theories recasted as Divine imperatives in Canon law and Christian tradition, which the State accepted as custom and law, shaped the courts' acceptance of violence against women in private and in some instances public spheres. Despite the criminal and civil justice system's modification of laws concerning domestic violence, Professor Ammons argues that many religious communities have been slow to reevaluate their traditions, to acknowledge their culpability in tolerating domestic violence, and to actively challenge the ideological assumptions that support violence against women within the belief structures of such religious communities. Battered women who hold traditional religious views on male supremacy remain vulnerable because of their need to reconcile the tensions of their legal rights of bodily integrity and autonomy with their understanding of what their faiths require.