When Power Trumps Righteousness (#MeToo)

Recently I was listening to the news when there was yet another story connected to the #metoo movement. Another powerful man had used his position to take advantage of and abuse a woman. “I’m getting tired of all the male bashing,” said a voice within my hearing range. “You can’t tell me that all those women are innocent and didn’t provoke the situation.” My first thought was, “I’m tired of all the sexual harassment." But really, my heart sank. Though I obviously wasn’t the woman in the story making the accusation, when I heard these comments, I felt belittled, demeaned, unheard, minimized, less than. All the things women have felt for centuries.  

Sadly, this gentleman was making an argument we’ve all heard before. She shouldn’t have dressed like that. She shouldn’t have had too much to drink. She shouldn’t have put herself in that situation. She shouldn’t have flirted with him. She shouldn’t have slept with her window open. She shouldn’t have been at that party. Ad nauseum.

People in power like to blame the victim. Because really, it’s not about the truth, it’s about keeping power. And white men hold the power in this country. Every time we see that power threatened, we see the same pattern. Power is threatened, then the smear campaign to destroy the credibility of the one threatening it, which justifies keeping the power. Over and over again. Amanda Guyger and Botham Jean. Donald Trump and the free press. Harvey Weinstein and Rose McGowan.

Same pattern played out over and over. People in power want to keep their power. Enter Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. A man in power wants to keep his power and attain even more. Other men in power want to give him said power because they care more about power than truth. A brave woman speaks out and the smear campaign begins (this is political, she’s a pawn, blah blah blah). Powerful man angrily and in my opinion, smugly and arrogantly defends himself and says his life is ruined. Just, no. See this for some perspective.

Women are fed up (see America Ferrera) Over the past year we have heard a collective, “ENOUGH.” And yet, still, we are ridiculed and not believed. We are demeaned, belittled, questioned and victimized again. Why is it so hard for people to believe that yes, there has been a LOT of news about men abusing their power and women, and that yes, it is true? Just because you are just hearing about the volume for the first time (thanks to the heroic courage of women choosing to speak up), doesn’t mean this has not been the reality for women… well forever. 

It’s made me think a lot about the biblical story of David and Bathsheba. As the story goes, Bathsheba was a beautiful woman taking a bath on her roof. David, the King, was on a walk in his palace and saw her. He summoned her, seduced her, murdered her husband and married her. I’ve been in church most of my life. The typical sermon on this story is all about David while Bathsheba is the implied seductress. Why else would she be taking a bath on her roof? Obviously, she was putting herself on display and was asking for David to seduce her.

Except she wasn’t. Taking a bath on the roof was the norm in that day and culture. In fact, many scholars believe she was taking a ritual bath of cleansing after her monthly menstrual cycle (which according to the law made her unclean - thus the ritual bath). This was a normal occurrence of a pious woman following her religious laws.  Then she was summoned by a powerful man who also happened to be king. What choice did she have? It is reasonable to assume Bathsheba believed she had no choice, fearing the repercussions of refusing a powerful man (see Harvey Weinstein). Rightfully so. When she ended up being pregnant, David murdered her husband to hide his sin. She was left to marry the murderer. And let’s not forget, as part of God’s punishment of David, their child died. Did anyone listen to her? Did anyone hear her cries? Did anyone care about her heart? The story doesn’t say, but I believe the mistreatment of women grieves the heart of God.

We are created in His image. We should be loved, honored, cherished, respected, heard, empowered and valued. That’s what Jesus modeled. He respected Mary’s wish to learn at His feet. He discussed theology with the woman at the well. He honored Mary who poured expensive perfume on his feet. He loved the adulterous woman. And he first appeared after the resurrection, to women. We carry the image of His Father and He treated us as such. How short we fall today.

This is one of the reasons I have been so grieved by the white evangelical church’s support of a president who says it is OK to “grab ‘em by the pussy” and chooses to mock survivors. Power over righteousness, perpetuating a culture that says we are less than.

The Bible is replete with examples of women being abused and treated as less than by powerful men. And it’s always sin. As stated, this kind of treatment of women is nothing new. Just as the age of social media has brought police brutality to our attention because we’ve seen it in live videos, so has the #metoo movement raised our awareness of just how prevalent is the abuse of women. 

It’s time to believe women. Hear me. I am not saying that we should at all times believe women and disregard anything men have to say. But men have been heard and believed for ages, while women have been disregarded, judged as emotional (tell me who was more emotional - Dr. Ford or Kavanaugh? Can you imagine if Dr. Ford had behaved similarly?), demeaned, dismissed, diminished and put aside. It’s time for that to stop.

For what it’s worth, I believe Dr. Ford and stand with her. Many have questioned whether or not she could really remember whom was her attacker. I tell you she can. Because I can remember the face of the 8th grader who 33 years ago jumped on me in the bus and started caressing and kissing me against my will. I can also remember the face of the 8th grader who put his hands between my legs while sitting next to each other at a table in the middle school library. If I could find my yearbooks, I could pick them both out. Those two instances were quick and minor, nothing compared with attempted rape. But they were both unwanted assaults. I am lucky. I shoved them both away and elbowed one hard, just as I elbowed hard the person who fondled my butt on the bus in Rome from the train station to the Vatican years later. I never saw him, but I remember his touch (shout out to my friend Jeff who traded places with me!). Though I don’t lose sleep over those instances or spend time thinking about them (again, I’ve been lucky), the feelings and faces are cemented into my brain forever. I can’t imagine the pain of the memories so many of my sisters carry.

I believe Dr. Ford. I believe women. And I am grieved that more than likely, Republicans will vote to confirm him to the Supreme Court, using an incomplete investigation, limited by the White House, as “proof” of innocence. There is quite honestly, enough evidence out there to convince us that Brett Kavanaugh should not be on the Supreme Court, including the opposition of over 2400 law professors (see here). Honestly, it feels like every survivor is being violated again. It hurts.

Also for what it’s worth, to all and any who believe similarly to the gentleman above, let me be clear. No man has a right or permission to touch, caress, fondle, grab, have sex with, etc. any woman without consent. I don’t care how she’s dressed. I don’t care if she walked in naked. I don’t care what party she is at, how much she’s flirted, or how drunk she is. I don’t care. Without her clear consent, it’s assault and rape. Period.  

This is an era of reckoning. Enough is enough. It’s time for men to be held accountable for their actions, even if they happened 30 years ago. It’s time to do better, to hold our leaders to higher standards, to teach our sons to be better, to honor the Imago Dei in us all. It’s time for righteousness to trump power. That is the way of Jesus. And that is the Jesus I follow.