“God has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does
the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with your God?”
--
Micah 6:8
Why
now?
What is it about this moment that
women are speaking out against harassers and abusers?
Is it the high profile of the abusers or the
accusers?
Is it the ability to be
instantly heard by thousands on social media?
Is it some new knowledge or insight that has led us as a society to see
how unjustly imbalanced power is distributed in our society?
Growing
up in a household with no sisters, I didn’t do a lot of thinking about what
women experience.
I loved James Bond
movies, despite the uneasy feeling I got from the way women were used in them.
I knew women could be strong and achieve
whatever a man could, but figured many just chose not to try.
It never occurred to me how much they had to overcome, how much they had to fear.
When my
mom went to seminary to become a pastor, I watched her work hard and struggle –
not just with the schoolwork, but also with people’s attitudes.
The assumptions ran deep – pastors had been exclusively men for so long, people just assumed that was the way it was supposed to
be.
A few of those people changed their
minds after knowing her and hearing her preach.
But she was faced with colleagues in a career field who felt the same
way.
Some of them who sat in halls of
power were able to put major roadblocks in her way.
The
biggest shock of all came in the one counseling class I was required to take to
become a pastor.
The professor had us
all put our heads down and close our eyes and asked the women in class to raise
their hands if they had ever been sexually abused.
He told us that a quarter of the women had
raised their hands.
Later, a good friend
told me she was one of them.
I was
stunned and wondered what it meant for my classmates and what it said about our
world.
Many
people feel the Bible is the culprit.
After all, doesn’t it say that women were made to stay home and make
babies?
Actually, it doesn’t.
Doesn’t it say they are to keep silent and
keep their heads covered?
Well, in one
particular case, the Apostle Paul says that to one particular
congregation.
Doesn’t it say that wives
are to obey their husbands?
Yes, in the
same passage where it tells husbands to love and honor their wives as Christ
loves and honors the Church.
Since the
Bible came out of a culture where men were more likely to be literate and
employed, they were naturally expected to be the head of the household.
But this same Bible is full of examples of
capable and heroic women.
Think of Sarah
and Mary, Esther, Ruth, Mary Magdalene and Hannah (and don’t forget the
daughters of Zelophead in Numbers 27).
The Bible also describes households like Timothy’s, where the mother’s
line was far more influential than the father’s.
Our ELCA
denomination has been putting together a series of Social Statements,
explaining our positions on various topics from the perspective of Biblical and
church teaching.
If you go to this
link:
http://www.elca.org/Faith/Faith-and-Society/Social-Statements
you will find documents on abortion, caring for creation, the death penalty,
education, and other major issues.
The
ELCA puts together a task force to draft each of these statements, and in the
process they ask for input from church members and congregations.
These are used to describe our ELCA’s
position on these major topics, for use in teaching and developing policies.
This
year, the ELCA has put together the task force which will be writing a social
statement on Women and Justice.
They
invite you to participate by reading the first draft of the statement, either
individually or with a group.
This draft
is available online at
www.elca.org/womenandjustice
and includes a response form with questions.
You are encouraged to send in this form with your own thoughts and
opinions you’d like to contribute to the discussions.
Forms need to be in by September 30.
Big change
doesn’t happen overnight.
It may begin
like an earthquake, but may take years of aftershocks to reach its full
expression.
In the #MeToo movement we
have heard brave women speak out against abuse.
We’ve seen harassers and abusers in power positions fall like
dominoes.
By using their voices, they
have made real change happen in our world.
Here is a chance for you to have a voice, and perhaps have it magnified
in the megaphone of a social statement.
Let me know if you’d like more info, or if you’re interested in putting
together a group to study this issue at Atonement.
Peace,
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