By Faith Chatham Jan. 21, 2017
Some people don't vote. Others vote and do nothing else. Then there comes a point where those who previously were silent step out and actively express their political views and determination. This is one of those watershed times when the genie will not go back into the box. Trump claims to represent a small sliver of America who professed to be the silent marjority. In reality, there are many women in the streets who had been silent.
We are the ones who were told not to discuss rape, sexual assault, incest, domestic violence, sexual harassment, work place discrimination, economic injustice. NO MORE. We have only just begun and you haven't seen anything yet. This is just to show you the tip of the iceberg of people who are standing shoulder to shoulder because we are fully Americans and will not be intimdated. We stand for ourselves and for those unable to stand up for themselves.
Across this nation and around the world we stand in solidarity. Bullies have told us we should unify. We are. It's not the unity you tried to force upon us. Instead of empowering the sexual predator we are standing for decency and justice.
Day 1 brought more people into the Washington Mall than were there for the Inauguration. Those numbers are multiplied by hundreds of thousands more in venues in cities across the nation. We have only just begun. Watch us roar. Watch us organize. Watch us alert others. Watch us enlist others. Watch us equip others. Watch us elect others. Watch us defeat others. Watch us change the culture and preserve what is worthy and revamp what is not!
We hold every individual who voted for Donald Trump accountable for every shred of damage he and his team does to this nation and the people of this country. Actions have consequences and as we bear the brunt of the consequences of your action, we are giving you a taste of what consequence your act has for you. It may be having to cook your own supper. It may be not having the comfort of our company, service or wisdom. It may be not having us spend our money in your firm or give you a job or contract. It may be you not being re-elect to public office. There are lots of consequence. Some will be public. Others will be private or even intimate. As your actions have multiple of consequences to many people,l pay back will take many forms. There are millions of women and enlighted men who are prepared to weigh the circumstance and act within the law to respond (react) accordingl
The one sure thing is that this is only the first cannon ball in the squimish Until Donald Trump and his "team" are out of the White House we will persiste. You'll probably be more relieved that we will be when he is finally out of office. Life is not returning to normal any time soon and we will not be the only people distressed.
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Wise Women Won't Wait Any More
Showing posts with label Sexual harrassment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sexual harrassment. Show all posts
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Monday, January 9, 2017
Choosing Dangerous over flawed
By Faith Chatham - Jan. 9, 2017
Sarah Lerner sums it up:
"“Perfect is the enemy of the good.”
Those are the words I keep coming back to after the improbable, yet all-too-cliche, election of Donald Trump. Of course we empowered the least qualified and most dangerous man to the highest office of the land. Because his female opponent wasn’t perfect."
In a similar vein, I have been struggling with the quandray of how people can sit in the same church pews, participate in the same liturgy, and internalize it in vastly different ways when it comes to applying faith to political action and social justice. Some of the most scripturall literate, generous, devout people I know voted for Donald Trump.
I know that if a man were to put his hands up the skirt of a woman in the church or a woman were to grope a man's crotch these very same individuals would be meeting with the Senior pastoral staff and lay leaders to ensure that such unacceptable behavior ceased, and that if the perperator had any position of authority, that role be terminated. However,, they were able to listen to the tapes where Donald spoke of groping women and of pursuing a married woman despite her not showing any interest in him. They voted for him despite over a dozen women coming forward and sharing that he had groped them.
I know these people would be furious if they learned that a pastor, or large donor, used their authority to be in the dressing room of teenagers when they were not fully clothed; yet these same people vote for him despite numerous accounts of him barging into the dressing room of beauty pagent contestants, includng teen contestants. They voted for him despite release of tapes where in his own words he explained that being able to be in the dressing room when beautiful women were undressed was one of the benefits of pagent ownership.
I find it impossible to process this and make sense of it. Among my closest associates, people I admire for truly living their faith by not only study, but by being generous with their material resources and time,, serving in the community, and being there ready to lend people who need a helping hand, yet despite all of this are able to compartmentalize enough to still pull the lever to give Donald Trump control over the Attorney General, the DOJ, to be able to fill over 100 Federal Court vacancie where the judges will hear sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence cases.
I am uncomfortable in the pew because my mind keeps trying to make sense of this. Somehow it seems that the very best amound us,, those who truly apply their minds toward learning what religion should mean and applying it in their daily lives instead of being just pew potatos who show up on Sunday and lay it aside once they leave the church house... Somehow I cannot help but question if the best among us can know what is known about Donald Trump and can vote to give him this level of control over people's lives, then perhaps what we do "best" is greatly flawed as a faith community.
I am part of a congregation where we do not discuss politics in the Sunday School classes or from the pulpit. However, as individuals we get to know each other andwith such knowledge come knowing partisan prefence. My perception is that I am in the minority. I am not uncomfortable because I am in the minority. I am accustomed to that. This year however, it goes much farther than Democrat or Republican. It reaches to the core of who we are as decent human beings, what is acceptable in those old fashioned terms we call "common decency" and how we relate to others. I know we are not supposed to judge and I am acutely aware of my many shortcomings. I probably have many more than many of the individuals I know in my church who voted for Trump. However, I find that empowering him once it is known how he conducts himself with women and girls (and people who are disabled or are minorities) propels me to distance myself from the appearance that I condone such behavior. My faith and spiritual formation teaches me to denounce the kinds of practices he boast are his because he is a celebrity.
Those who rejected Hillary because she was "flawed" and empowered him despite his being perverted and aggressive and criminal perplex me. I cannot process this and come to grips with how we can study the same words, worship in the same ways, serve side by side, and asipre to similar ideals and yet come to such vastly different conclusions when we enter the privacy of the voting booth.
Sarah Lerner sums it up:
"“Perfect is the enemy of the good.”
Those are the words I keep coming back to after the improbable, yet all-too-cliche, election of Donald Trump. Of course we empowered the least qualified and most dangerous man to the highest office of the land. Because his female opponent wasn’t perfect."
In a similar vein, I have been struggling with the quandray of how people can sit in the same church pews, participate in the same liturgy, and internalize it in vastly different ways when it comes to applying faith to political action and social justice. Some of the most scripturall literate, generous, devout people I know voted for Donald Trump.
I know that if a man were to put his hands up the skirt of a woman in the church or a woman were to grope a man's crotch these very same individuals would be meeting with the Senior pastoral staff and lay leaders to ensure that such unacceptable behavior ceased, and that if the perperator had any position of authority, that role be terminated. However,, they were able to listen to the tapes where Donald spoke of groping women and of pursuing a married woman despite her not showing any interest in him. They voted for him despite over a dozen women coming forward and sharing that he had groped them.
I know these people would be furious if they learned that a pastor, or large donor, used their authority to be in the dressing room of teenagers when they were not fully clothed; yet these same people vote for him despite numerous accounts of him barging into the dressing room of beauty pagent contestants, includng teen contestants. They voted for him despite release of tapes where in his own words he explained that being able to be in the dressing room when beautiful women were undressed was one of the benefits of pagent ownership.
I find it impossible to process this and make sense of it. Among my closest associates, people I admire for truly living their faith by not only study, but by being generous with their material resources and time,, serving in the community, and being there ready to lend people who need a helping hand, yet despite all of this are able to compartmentalize enough to still pull the lever to give Donald Trump control over the Attorney General, the DOJ, to be able to fill over 100 Federal Court vacancie where the judges will hear sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence cases.
I am uncomfortable in the pew because my mind keeps trying to make sense of this. Somehow it seems that the very best amound us,, those who truly apply their minds toward learning what religion should mean and applying it in their daily lives instead of being just pew potatos who show up on Sunday and lay it aside once they leave the church house... Somehow I cannot help but question if the best among us can know what is known about Donald Trump and can vote to give him this level of control over people's lives, then perhaps what we do "best" is greatly flawed as a faith community.
I am part of a congregation where we do not discuss politics in the Sunday School classes or from the pulpit. However, as individuals we get to know each other andwith such knowledge come knowing partisan prefence. My perception is that I am in the minority. I am not uncomfortable because I am in the minority. I am accustomed to that. This year however, it goes much farther than Democrat or Republican. It reaches to the core of who we are as decent human beings, what is acceptable in those old fashioned terms we call "common decency" and how we relate to others. I know we are not supposed to judge and I am acutely aware of my many shortcomings. I probably have many more than many of the individuals I know in my church who voted for Trump. However, I find that empowering him once it is known how he conducts himself with women and girls (and people who are disabled or are minorities) propels me to distance myself from the appearance that I condone such behavior. My faith and spiritual formation teaches me to denounce the kinds of practices he boast are his because he is a celebrity.
Those who rejected Hillary because she was "flawed" and empowered him despite his being perverted and aggressive and criminal perplex me. I cannot process this and come to grips with how we can study the same words, worship in the same ways, serve side by side, and asipre to similar ideals and yet come to such vastly different conclusions when we enter the privacy of the voting booth.
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