Speaking as a man who was a young and unmarried but adult man when Roe v Wade was decided, I wonder about Alito and others. I say this because I was a senior in college in 1973 and (growing up in house of mostly boys) knew little of girls and women. I had never dated, since I was a typical academic grind - scholarship kid. So the notion that men could demand sex of their wives was something that could easily sound true to young inexperienced man given the culture of the time (so women were more restricted in their activities.)
But decades later, and Alito a long married man , it is hard to imagine that he could look at a backward way of thinking about women and think - yes, this is the man whose ideas make sense to me.
Of course even more troubling is the failure to cite the real presence of abortion in the US - mostly via herbs and controlled by midwives.
Thank you, Diana, for sounding the alarm for those who didn’t see it coming. I’m sorry to say that the Pagan and Christo-Pagan communities I know of have been expecting this for some time now – faith in ‘humanity’ is hard to maintain when your ancestors, spiritual as well as biological, have been sacrificed by the cult of Homo Testosteronus for centuries all across the globe. The new Rome won’t care whether it kills Paul, or Thecla, first; it won’t stop at gendercide. It will be a thorough cultural/attitudinal cleansing in the showers of a highly efficient and automated new Auschwitz.
We may all have to face the decision whether we wish to "behave" to save ourselves, or we are ready to commit to serve our communities and our god(s) as long as we can. That's probably the same question the Jesus Followers in the 1st and 2nd century CE had to face.... Could we be in any better company?!?!
As a PC(USA) minister who has worked to address violence against women my whole career, I’ve been stunned by the recent ads. Not because they encourage and support women choosing on their own who they will vote for, but because of the implication about the kinds of marriages that would make that necessary. If you are in a marriage where you feel threatened when you make a decision different than your husband’s, that is an abusive marriage. I am horrified by the religious right’s view of marriage as hierarchy and it is, I believe, completely antithetical to the Gospel. We work so hard to make room for all perspectives in our churches and in conversations that at times we don’t call out abuse for what it is. Hierarchical marriage, and its evil twin complementarianism, are abusive and therefore, are the opposite of the lives we are called to as Christians. I do look for the teachable moments, but as I age, I am less and less willing to accept perspectives and theologies that are harmful to others, regardless of the intent of those who hold them.
False religion creates so much division. Legitimate evangelicals' posts on FB denigrating both Diwali and our VP. How did we get to this point where, perhaps, a third of the pop. is all into pride & ego that their religion is the only one & that the VP is a wart of Satan? Crazy but dangerous!
This was powerful. Thank you, Diana, for speaking out in these pivotal times!
PS: I am currently visiting my aging parents who still live in their little parsonage they served at in what was East Germany when I grew up. They do not like Halloween and celebrate Reformation day instead 😇
Hi Diana, Your story is my story too. Rebecca Nurse (whose story was told in the Crucible by Arthur Miller) was my ancestor on my father's side. She and her sister were hanged as witches in Salem, MA. Their story, like your family's story demonstrate what happens when people in power use fear and bigotry to gain support of others who will keep them in power. That has been Trump's game plan from the beginning. You either support him totally or you are the "enemy," and he vows to destroy you. When I saw Trump proclaiming that he would protect women, that we would all be safer, happier, and healthier and that we wouldn't be thinking about abortion, he held his arms out as if he was suggesting "protection." The scene that I recalled immediately was during one of the Clinton/Trump debates in 2016. They each had a podium to stand behind, but Trump stepped away from his and circled around in back of Clinton while she was speaking. He didn't look protective. He looked menacing. I hope women turn out to vote in droves (I think they will.) If you know young women who assume that all of the battles for equality have been won, talk to them before they vote. They need to know it will soon be up to them to protect the advances we have made.
I have a new Sweatshirt On the front is a design of open hands around a 1/4 moon and stylized symbols inside including Christian. The top o f the sweatshirt says "They didn't burn Witches "Underneath the symbol it says "They burned women. " on the back starting with 1900 it lists when women and sometimes white women first basic democratic rights like voting. Thought provoking too especially when women in their 30's and 40's didn't even realize there was a time when their mothers and grandmothers could get a credit card in their own name. Or the first time I bought a car without my husband there the car salesman in ND wanted me to show my husband ,get his approval etc. Didn't happen I drove the car home . Life and Death is at stake now ,Physical and emotional for all of us female and male. Speak out and don't quit . Thank you Diana, Prayers for all of us!
Diana, thank you for this writing, although I have a white hot burn inside my body that might take the top of my head off. This week, I had limited my exposure to the nasty vitriol spewing out of THAT MAN’s mouth, along with his cohorts, so I had missed yesterday’s manifestation of a world view I despise. Forty plus years ago when I first went to seminary, followed by years of pastoral ministry, I was called to my face a Jezebel and other names not used in polite company. I gradually flipped the names as words of power, because the likes of dear old Jezebel could cause men to run for their lives (just as Elijah did in the old saga). Today, I voted and marked my “no” to using public money for private schools. Kentucky is ranked in the lower half in the nation in education. There’s been an improvement in the past decade, thanks largely to our governor who is in his second term, but as KY continually sabotages itself, I won’t be surprised if the amendment passes. But, with you as part of my trinity, along with Robbie Jones and Heather Cox Richardson, I have kept myself centered and hopeful.
Speaking as a man who was a young and unmarried but adult man when Roe v Wade was decided, I wonder about Alito and others. I say this because I was a senior in college in 1973 and (growing up in house of mostly boys) knew little of girls and women. I had never dated, since I was a typical academic grind - scholarship kid. So the notion that men could demand sex of their wives was something that could easily sound true to young inexperienced man given the culture of the time (so women were more restricted in their activities.)
But decades later, and Alito a long married man , it is hard to imagine that he could look at a backward way of thinking about women and think - yes, this is the man whose ideas make sense to me.
Of course even more troubling is the failure to cite the real presence of abortion in the US - mostly via herbs and controlled by midwives.
I am reading this a couple of days late - but the message is extremely timely and WELL STATED! Thank you so much.
Next bumper sticker:
“I GIVE YOU PERMISSION”
That was one of the creepiest movies I've ever seen.
What is happening now in our political system is horrifying.
Thank you, Diana.
Thank you for saying this. Not a funny joke!
Thank you, Diana, for sounding the alarm for those who didn’t see it coming. I’m sorry to say that the Pagan and Christo-Pagan communities I know of have been expecting this for some time now – faith in ‘humanity’ is hard to maintain when your ancestors, spiritual as well as biological, have been sacrificed by the cult of Homo Testosteronus for centuries all across the globe. The new Rome won’t care whether it kills Paul, or Thecla, first; it won’t stop at gendercide. It will be a thorough cultural/attitudinal cleansing in the showers of a highly efficient and automated new Auschwitz.
We may all have to face the decision whether we wish to "behave" to save ourselves, or we are ready to commit to serve our communities and our god(s) as long as we can. That's probably the same question the Jesus Followers in the 1st and 2nd century CE had to face.... Could we be in any better company?!?!
This ‘Nice-Girl’/‘Slut’ Syndrome (and Spectrum) is the root cause of our (sister) suffering across the millennia…
The truth will effing set us free! Make it so!
Thank you for exposing this trembling, the vicious fear wrapped up in a prairie woman dress with a string of pearls like a noose around our neck.
As a PC(USA) minister who has worked to address violence against women my whole career, I’ve been stunned by the recent ads. Not because they encourage and support women choosing on their own who they will vote for, but because of the implication about the kinds of marriages that would make that necessary. If you are in a marriage where you feel threatened when you make a decision different than your husband’s, that is an abusive marriage. I am horrified by the religious right’s view of marriage as hierarchy and it is, I believe, completely antithetical to the Gospel. We work so hard to make room for all perspectives in our churches and in conversations that at times we don’t call out abuse for what it is. Hierarchical marriage, and its evil twin complementarianism, are abusive and therefore, are the opposite of the lives we are called to as Christians. I do look for the teachable moments, but as I age, I am less and less willing to accept perspectives and theologies that are harmful to others, regardless of the intent of those who hold them.
False religion creates so much division. Legitimate evangelicals' posts on FB denigrating both Diwali and our VP. How did we get to this point where, perhaps, a third of the pop. is all into pride & ego that their religion is the only one & that the VP is a wart of Satan? Crazy but dangerous!
Thank you.
This was powerful. Thank you, Diana, for speaking out in these pivotal times!
PS: I am currently visiting my aging parents who still live in their little parsonage they served at in what was East Germany when I grew up. They do not like Halloween and celebrate Reformation day instead 😇
I also am a descendant of a woman, Susanna Martin hanged in Salem. The trial transcript is something to read.
Hi Diana, Your story is my story too. Rebecca Nurse (whose story was told in the Crucible by Arthur Miller) was my ancestor on my father's side. She and her sister were hanged as witches in Salem, MA. Their story, like your family's story demonstrate what happens when people in power use fear and bigotry to gain support of others who will keep them in power. That has been Trump's game plan from the beginning. You either support him totally or you are the "enemy," and he vows to destroy you. When I saw Trump proclaiming that he would protect women, that we would all be safer, happier, and healthier and that we wouldn't be thinking about abortion, he held his arms out as if he was suggesting "protection." The scene that I recalled immediately was during one of the Clinton/Trump debates in 2016. They each had a podium to stand behind, but Trump stepped away from his and circled around in back of Clinton while she was speaking. He didn't look protective. He looked menacing. I hope women turn out to vote in droves (I think they will.) If you know young women who assume that all of the battles for equality have been won, talk to them before they vote. They need to know it will soon be up to them to protect the advances we have made.
I have a new Sweatshirt On the front is a design of open hands around a 1/4 moon and stylized symbols inside including Christian. The top o f the sweatshirt says "They didn't burn Witches "Underneath the symbol it says "They burned women. " on the back starting with 1900 it lists when women and sometimes white women first basic democratic rights like voting. Thought provoking too especially when women in their 30's and 40's didn't even realize there was a time when their mothers and grandmothers could get a credit card in their own name. Or the first time I bought a car without my husband there the car salesman in ND wanted me to show my husband ,get his approval etc. Didn't happen I drove the car home . Life and Death is at stake now ,Physical and emotional for all of us female and male. Speak out and don't quit . Thank you Diana, Prayers for all of us!
could not get a credit card --correction to 6th line
Chilling. Jack Jezreel suggests that if we want justice, the first step is to dismantle the distorted religions used to justify injustice.
Diana, thank you for this writing, although I have a white hot burn inside my body that might take the top of my head off. This week, I had limited my exposure to the nasty vitriol spewing out of THAT MAN’s mouth, along with his cohorts, so I had missed yesterday’s manifestation of a world view I despise. Forty plus years ago when I first went to seminary, followed by years of pastoral ministry, I was called to my face a Jezebel and other names not used in polite company. I gradually flipped the names as words of power, because the likes of dear old Jezebel could cause men to run for their lives (just as Elijah did in the old saga). Today, I voted and marked my “no” to using public money for private schools. Kentucky is ranked in the lower half in the nation in education. There’s been an improvement in the past decade, thanks largely to our governor who is in his second term, but as KY continually sabotages itself, I won’t be surprised if the amendment passes. But, with you as part of my trinity, along with Robbie Jones and Heather Cox Richardson, I have kept myself centered and hopeful.