It seems that every day we see reports of new accusations of sexual harassment or abuse, usually of young women at the hands of men who were over them in the social or business world. News media carry their stories and name the offenders. Much of the country is upset over men who use their place and/or their power to take advantage of these women against their will. To be sure, there are a few men complaining of sexual harassment by women with power, and there are many more men coming forward to tell of the same from men — often from when they were young, even children.
Some people who have brought the subject up in my presence are bothered that we keep talking about it. They complain that female accusers are always believed, and the men accused are not. They are concerned that men may be falsely accused and their reputation destroyed because of lies by vindictive women. Although that is a possibility, I’m concerned that some make that possibility the focus of the issue. As I see it, this isn’t primarily about sex — it’s about power. And the very private area of sex is where it is played out.
Males with money or positions of leadership have power. Females who are socially lower have always been powerless. Men “just being men” can be crude and terribly offensive. And the women around them, particularly in work situations, feel threatened, intimidated and violated. Other men go way beyond crudeness with intentional sexual advances on unwilling but defenseless women. Men of power never have to be afraid, because the women they victimize have no voice, no resources. They cannot tell anybody of their shame. Suddenly that is changing.
A few women began to speak out publicly about how they were abused by Harvey Weinstein. Soon a movement began, the #MeToo movement, as previously voiceless victims began speaking out against what happened to them, sometimes decades ago. They suddenly became aware that they have a voice, and are using it. Businessmen, actors, teachers, company CEOs, preachers and others are being accused publicly.
The people who don’t want to hear it, many of them women, simply have no understanding of what’s going on. I assure you, in our society the powerless are still no threat to the powerful. However, in these isolated cases they have gained a voice, and have succeeded in bringing the offenders to a point of having to answer and suffer consequences for their abuse of power.
As a Christian I look to the Bible for where we should stand on these issues. While there is not a lot of scripture about sexual harassment, a theme carried out through the Bible is that God supports the powerless against the powerful. Beginning in the Pentateuch, through the Wisdom literature and the Prophets, and in the entire New Testament we are taught to help the poor, the elderly, the widows and orphans, the foreigners within our borders, and keep them from being taken advantage of by the people of power.
We talk against bullying among our children. But in the adult world, bullying occurs all the time. The rich, the educated, the white, the elected, the socially accepted often treat the rest of the world with disdain, contempt, doubt and domination. Much of our society is based on such domination, with valiant efforts by Christian and community organizations to minimize it and to defend the defenseless. The efforts are significant, but inadequate.
Only when professing Christians begin to have the mind and attitudes of Christ will we see a change. You must have the same attitude that Jesus had… (Philippians 2:5) Let us develop that mindset and begin to emulate Jesus in our lives, suggesting the same to our believing, and even our unbelieving friends.
by Ken McGarvey
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