Yesterday I wrote about misogyny and the online influencer and recently arrested Andrew Tate. Since then, I heard a report on NPR about the incredible distances some women have to travel to get abortion care, and how there are some in-state governments who are trying to make it illegal to get medication by mail that induces abortions. I began to think about justice, and how misogyny has tainted our religious and secular systems so badly that most people can’t – or won’t – see how badly women are at a disadvantage in both. I mean, most men. Most women know all too well just how these systems are stacked against them.
There is a story in John 8 about a woman who was caught in the act of adultery and brought before Jesus by some of the religious elite. His answer was that anyone without sin was allowed to cast the first stone, but I tell my congregation that Jesus was dealing with unequal justice. The obvious question, at least to me, is why, if she was caught, was the person she was caught with not there also? Assuming she was caught with a man (since there is no law in Hebrew Scripture condemning a woman laying with a woman), Jesus faced the inequity of the situation and diffused it. He did not approve of her adultery; He told her to sin no more. By letting her go, though, I think He made a statement: the men’s act of injustice was far worse than her act of adultery.
Banning abortion punishes women, not sperm donors or rapists. If those who are so vehemently opposed to abortion really cared about life, they would work just as hard to make sure that men in the equation took on the same responsibility to support the child as women. They would allow women easy access to birth control the same way men can buy contraceptives at the grocery store. If opponents of abortion really cared about life, they would make sure we spent as much on childcare and early education as we do on the B-2 Spirit military aircraft, which cost over $1.3 billion each, by the way. There is nothing wrong with opposing abortion if you try to help women and children out of poverty. No – opposition to safe abortion and inexpensive childcare and good education is rooted in misogyny. It is rooted in religious bigotry and evil theology that believes women are only good for making babies.
I don’t imagine that Jesus would approve of the rare cases of abortion as birth control, and I think it would make Him sad when the decision is made to terminate a baby’s life. But like the story in John 8, Jesus cared about justice and equality, and many of His stories were focused on achieving a better world for everyone. Not just men. Everyone. If you don’t like abortion, do something about the men who are part of the creation of children. Jail rapists for life. Force sperm donors to financially support their children. Let Justice roll down like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Recognize how misogyny has made life unequal for women, and do something about it. Or sit down and be quiet. Be the solution, not the problem.
Prayer – We pray, O God, for women who are faced with impossible choices. Urge us to keep their well-being in mind as we work for justice, equity, and equality. Amen.
Today’s art is called “The Beast of Misogyny” by Rick Sealock (2016).