Dear People of St. James’,
This week, we learned that Cesar Chavez, a labor leader celebrated for building one of the most momentous labor movements in the history of the United States, sexually abused women and girls. We deplore this abuse and pray for its many victims. The reporting in The New York Times left many asking how could the leader of a movement for the human dignity of farm workers so damage and disregard the human dignity of his female victims. How could a movement culture founded on the hope of human dignity protect such an abusive person for so many decades? Meanwhile, many victims of sexual violence (and there are many) have true but often untold stories of beloved and powerful people who have committed heinous acts while communities strive to protect the family, the movement, the “work”, or the iconic person.
I know that some of you have your own stories of this. I do too. You and I, we are not alone.
Research indicates that about 90% of abused children and adults know and trust the person who harmed them. Abusers are often people in relationship to the victim: family members, caregivers, and other known adults. Nearly 1 in 2 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime. And yet, instead of receiving support, the victims are often further isolated through shame and blame and through demands for proof and a story that makes sense when the mind and body are just seeking to survive.
As I was listening to Dolores Huerta tell her story in an interview with Gina Hinojosa, I was pained by her sense for 60 years that somehow this horrific set of violent experiences and the consequences of the experiences were simply her own “cross to bear.” Feminist Mary Daly has long been telling us that when women speak of domestic abuse and sexual assault as their “cross to bear,” we know that Christian communities have failures for which they must one day answer. Too often are women (and children) told that their suffering is unimportant or too shameful to speak of, or that it is a worthy sacrifice on the altar of family or community cohesion, or of workplace productivity and advancement. This is a sinful lie that subjects many women to silently enduring repeated attacks upon their humanity and their bodies in order to hold the broken community that abuses them together.
I know that Jesus says, “take up your cross and follow me,” but we also see in the gospels that following Jesus to the cross looks like boldly taking the crucified peoples of the world down from the cross, holding them in the arms of mercy, and repenting of the patriarchal and paternalistic violence that put them up there in the first place. The latter actually is the worthy goal of liberation movements like the United Farm Workers, and as The Rev. Jim Harrington says, this work must continue. This liberating work can only continue with integrity if we listen to those who have difficult things to tell us, if we repent of the ways that groups love to crucify the victim while allowing the abuser to wash their hands, and if we all, regardless of gender, seek to honor the human dignity all of God’s people.
There is more to say about this that I don’t have time to write and you don’t have time to read here. Maybe I didn’t address the question on your mind here. So, I invite you into prayer, into listening, and into further conversation. If the news of this week has opened old wounds, know that your clergy are here for you and that we can connect you with other therapeutic resources. You are not alone.
If you aren’t familiar with our Safeguarding God’s People program and policies, Aimee Estep or I would love to talk with you about participating in that training. I truly think that the training for as many St. Jamesians as possible is an important step as we seek to build up a community that honors the human dignity of every person. It, along with One Human Race’s work, helps us remember how power works and can distort our efforts. Our consciences need to be awake.
May God’s peace which surpasses all understanding bless and keep you, and may we brought together to be a part of the Spirit’s continuing work of transformation.
Rev. Eileen
