**This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**
Category: Media
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Trial by Media
**This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**
A woman gathers her courage and decides to use Twitter or Facebook to tell the story of when she was sexually assaulted as a teenager. What response can she expect?
The current social environment means that she will probably be commended for being so brave. Her message will be re-tweeted, her post will be shared. She will get a large number of likes. With this encouragement she decides to name the man who assaulted her. Someone else then finds out where he is now and posts that information along with a picture of him.
What happens to him? Most of us would think that whatever happens to him will be deserved—and probably more! Let’s say he loses his job at the charity/non-profit where he works, then his wife confronts him and his children are deeply embarrassed and lose confidence in their dad. The family breaks up. Some men in these circumstances have committed suicide. Does he still deserve it? How does the woman who accused him feel? She says he destroyed her confidence, will this rebuild it?
MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS
Is it ever possible that the woman could have a different reason for holding a grudge against this man? Is there even a remote chance that he is innocent of the charges? What does sexual assault mean? It covers such a wide range of unwelcome and damaging behavior! Most of that wide range of acts can be devastating to a woman, especially when she is young, innocent and unsure of what is really happening to her. Some acts, at the other end of the spectrum, can even be innocent in intent but misinterpreted.From my perspective, the vast majority of women who go public with a charge of sexual assault will be telling the truth. That is because there is a great cost to going public and, sadly, little chance of the person assaulting her being convicted. (More on that later.) However, the recent high-profile charges against powerful men have made it less difficult for women to make statements about sexual assault. That is a good thing!
But it also opens the door a bit wider for spurious allegations. Let’s say that over 95% of women who say that they were sexually assaulted are telling the truth; what do we say about the 5% where the men are innocent or there is mistaken identity? When the allegation gets social media interest, and sometimes print or broadcast media, the accused is almost always assumed to be guilty.
ACQUITTED BUT STILL PUNISHED
Here in the UK, the reputations of several high-profile public figures have been unfairly destroyed by the media identifying and publicizing the name and photos of the accused. After many months or years of investigations, the police or courts have dismissed the allegations as having no substance. Usually though, the original allegations get a lot more media coverage than when the case is dropped. In some cases, the accuser has been shown to be an attention-seeking or vindictive individual. But we all tend to rush to judgment against the more powerful person. In our Western cultures, most of us have a very strong, emotional bias for us to always believe the person who is the least powerful. I think that is because, in a culture influenced by the Bible, we have a bias towards protecting the weak or powerless—and that is also a good thing.However, God speaks to Moses in
Leviticus 19:15 and says, “Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly.”
JUSTICE DERIVED FROM THE BIBLE
The Bible is a primary source for our legal system and this passage is one of the more important ones. It is the reason why, in classical art, Justice is always pictured as a female who is blind-folded. She also has a set of scales in her left hand and a sword in her right hand. It symbolizes the principle in Leviticus 19; she does not judge on the basis of whether people are more or less rich, more or less powerful, young or old, male or female or any other basis for identity. She weighs the evidence and executes justice on that basis.The very low rate of convictions in cases of rape or sexual assault is the result of another fundamental principle of justice. Every person must be considered to be innocent until there is sufficient evidence to conclude that they are guilty. One person’s word against another is not enough. There must be either witnesses or convincing evidence.
Sexual assault usually occurs when there are only two people present. In addition, most of the recent high-profile allegations are about events that happened years ago, so there is no evidence and usually no witnesses. Another foundational principle of justice from scripture is
Deuteronomy 17:6, “You must not convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of only one witness. The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. ”
These are well-proven, essential principles of justice. They are essential to Western democracies with law and order and they come from Biblical Christian influence over hundreds of years. We ignore them at our peril, even though social media tempts us to pass judgment without witnesses or evidence, but because we want to believe the less-powerful against the more powerful. Whatever the reason for the rush to judgment via social media, it has become a scourge in our society. I am not sure what we will do about it, but we will have to eventually do something.
BETTER PERSONAL RESPONSES
In the meantime, we can hold ourselves accountable to the proven principles of justice. When we read accusations or allegations online or in the more traditional media, we can remind ourselves that we don’t know what really happened but we can hope that a fair process can be played out so the guilty are found guilty and the innocent are not punished.STILL FRUSTRATED?
You may have read this article thus far and found it quite frustrating because these principles of justice are so likely to allow many guilty people to go free. But that is not actually true. Our courts and other legal processes are far from perfect, but are not the final judges. King Solomon understood that well and when he dedicated the Temple. He and his people had labored to build it over the previous seven years. When the day of dedication came, he prayed,
“If someone wrongs an innocent person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar in this Temple, then hear from heaven and judge between your servants—the accuser and the accused. Punish the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence.” 1 Kings 8:31.
JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED
If a crime has been committed and there is no evidence and no credible witnesses, and the accused lies under oath, that is not the end of it. God sees and He is the final Judge. Remember, though, that His justice is sure even though it is not always immediate.Ecclesiastes 8:11-13 says; “When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off. The wicked will not prosper…”
The ultimate Judge will punish the wicked. On the other hand, God is on the side of those who suffer and he promises that He can make
“…everything work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28.
When seen in the light of God’s character and His promises, we needn’t become angry, bitter and judgmental. We can actively trust Him, knowing that He sees. We needn’t rush to judgment with the angry herds on social media, or believe all that we see, hear or read in traditional media.
Thank God that He is the all-knowing, merciful and final Judge!
Lynn Green.
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The Politics of Anger
**This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**
I have been planning to write something about this for a long time, but have wondered if it would be wise to do so. An article I read on the BBC news site a few days convinced me to go ahead and the Senate Committee hearings for the Supreme Court nominee has made it seem urgent.
Here’s the relevant quote from the BBC article:
Hawaii Democrat Mazie Hirono said “the men in this country” should “just shut up”.
“Not only do women like Dr Ford, who bravely comes forward, need to be heard, but they need to be believed,” she told a press conference.
The press conference she spoke at was called so that Senator Hirono could comment on the charges that Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, made a clumsy, unwelcome and unsuccessful attempt to have sex with Christine Ford (now Professor Ford) when he was 17 and she was 15 years old and both had been drinking.
Now the charges and Kavanaugh’s response have gone to the Senate committee and there have been more tears , shouting, anger and hostility.
If you are reading this, you will probably be likely to side with Ford if you tend to be a progressive liberal in your political persuasions, but conservatives are likely to see Dr Ford’s statement as false or irrelevant. What is going on with this humiliating process? What is driving this polarization? Something is driving the Senator to direct men to “just shut up” and to assert that “women should be believed”. It’s pretty obvious that her position is not consistent with our established understanding of truth or justice. What would happen in our courts if all women were automatically believed and men could not speak?
Why would an intelligent woman make such a foolish statement? She has enough life experience to know that the question of who is more likely to lie or tell the truth is not related in any way to sexual identity. What is the origin of such unreasonable thinking?
I am convinced that anger is a major factor in our political life. And that is not a good thing! To further illustrate the point, while I was writing this, an angry woman cornered Senator Flake in an elevator during a break in the Senate Committee hearings and berated him for not immediately taking Dr. Ford’s side.
Anger has roots. It doesn’t usually start as anger; it starts as hurt, and hurt is an unavoidable aspect of life.
Sometimes, the hurt has a systemic dimension to it. Few people are more disadvantaged than the Dalits in India. Dalits, or untouchables, are born into a caste that is at the very bottom of a stratified social system. They are discriminated against and deprived of opportunity at every stage of life and that will not change until the dominant religious system changes. Amazingly, though, you can find Dalits who have a positive outlook and have overcome all the odds to make a successful and happy life for themselves.
More often hurt comes, not from systemic injustice, but from personal encounters with other people and it therefore has little or no systemic root. I am ashamed when I think of “Raymond” who was in my class when I was 9 and 10 years old. Raymond came from a family who lived on a very poor and small farm in the nearby mountains. They did not have running water and had very few clothes. Raymond rarely washed and wore the same clothes day after day. He smelled. He was also the slowest learner in the class. Raymond had no friends in our class but he had many mockers. As far as I can remember, no one ever stood up for Raymond. My shame now is that I didn’t stand up for him either; I was one of the mockers.
I can’t remember ever seeing Raymond again after we all moved on from grade-school to junior-high school. I wonder how he coped. Did he grow up to be well adjusted and happy, or did our cruelty leave permanent, distorting scars on him? To put it another way, did Raymond find the grace to forgive his tormentors and rise above the cruel treatment, or did his hurt turn to anger and his anger to violence?
I can empathize with women who have been subjected to sexual assault. I have listened to, counselled and prayed for many victims of sexual assault by strangers or friends or family members. I know that sexual assault alters a woman’s life from that point on.
I recently had a conversation on this subject with a therapist who, since she was a woman, could say what men cannot say these days. She said, “I have also been disgusted to see many women use sexual attraction as a tool or weapon in the work place, but you can’t say that in the current climate.” It seems that sexuality is used as a weapon these days by both men and women, though the power has usually rested more with the men. Is it now shifting to the women? Will they be able to get even because we all feel obliged to believe the claims of every accusing woman?
Hurt has turned to anger and anger is dominating our public discourse. Truth and justice are the victims. That is why forgiveness is such an important alternate pathway following hurt.
These are the two competing pathways available to us: forgiveness leading to the development of strong and admirable character—or nursing the hurt until it becomes anger. The path of hurt becoming anger makes us vulnerable to exploitation by more powerful people with their own agendas. There are many who would like to marshal all the hurt into a powerful force to overthrow the democratic system we have developed over the generations.
It seems to me that all human beings admire those who forgive and don’t become bitter and angry in spite of suffering great injustices. Surely Nelson Mandela is a contender for the most admired man in modern history. We were and are deeply impressed by his gentle and forgiving attitude to the men, and the system, who imprisoned and attempted for decades to humiliate and break his dignity. His forgiveness and gracious voice enabled an entire nation to take a giant step towards justice when it seemed destined for a bloody civil war.
On the other hand, we don’t generally admire angry people who see themselves as victims of “the system” or some particular aspect of it. Other angry people might want to get behind the hurt and angry voice, but we know intuitively that anger cannot produce justice and peace.
Politicians understand that the angry groups represent votes so they attempt to “speak the language” of the bigger angry groups. If their goal is to get elected or re-elected they have to figure out how to appeal to as many of the larger or more outspoken groups as they can. But there is a problem here. The angry groups always have a louder voice than those who are not angry, so the politician can get behind a very vocal group and find they are losing votes from those who are quiet.
These are the dilemmas of the current tumultuous, angry public square. Doesn’t it make us all long for leaders who are not seeking to appeal to the emotions of the angry groups and who are motivated by selfless public service for the common good? Where are the political leaders who have deep convictions about what is right and what is wrong and who will not deviate from that path and will not violate their well-developed conscience?
If you have seen a member of that endangered, and possibly extinct, species do let me know!
Lynn Green.
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What does the Gospel say About Acid Attacks?
**This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**
As I write, this morning’s newspapers are headlining with a crime that is particularly horrifying and I think it is good to reflect on why we are horrified—as I think everyone is, or will be, when they read it.
A three-year-old toddler, sitting in his pushchair in a shop, had acid thrown over his face as his mother, helpless to stop the attack, screamed for her child. There would have been many tragedies this past weekend, as there are each and every day in this suffering world, so why is our attention drawn to the little boy?
I suppose it is because we can’t imagine how grown men could do that to a child. Four men have been arrested in connection with the crime. (No motives have been established and the toddler is now recovering at home after initial hospitalisation.) I wouldn’t be surprised if the police discover that it was vengeance attack on the father or another member of the family.
When vengeance is allowed to grow and find expression, we are capable of almost anything. Human history overwhelmingly illustrates that vengeance knows no bounds. Even Biblical history confirms the terrifying human capacity for inhuman behaviour when vengeance grows. A Hebrew poet exiled in cruel Babylon penned Psalm 37, which states:
“Happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us—he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.”
(Yes, Judaism as practiced in the OT era was vengeance-based and much of it still is today. So is Islam. No wonder we have an endless cycle of violence. Those who think it can be solved in a generation or less don’t understand the power of worldviews, which are usually generated by religion.)
Vengeance is at its worst when the powerful prey on the less powerful. That is why men in government are the most prolific murderers in history. Think of Stalin and Mao and Hitler; between them they killed vast numbers of the citizens of their own nations, with estimates running at over 100 million!
Looking at that, some people would say that the hierarchy of power is to blame and we need governments who believe in equality to do away with all hierarchy. But just a few seconds reflection on that conclusion reveals the inbuilt contradiction: you can’t do away with power by giving greater power to elite leaders.
That doesn’t mean that there is no solution. When the disciples of Jesus argued with one another about who was greater, they were jockeying for position in what they imagined would be the government that would soon emerge under Jesus, the King. In his response, Jesus did not say there would be no greater and lesser positions for people to fill, because their existence is an ineradicable fact of human nature. (Whether or not it was created to be that way or was a result of sin’s entrance into the world is another discussion.)
What Jesus said, in effect, confirmed the existence of power hierarchies, but prescribed how power should be used. “He who would be greatest among you must be the servant of all.” Elsewhere he said the humble would be exalted. Jesus did not come to do away with power and the idea of “greater and lesser”, although they will probably not exist in the new heaven and new earth. He commanded us to use whatever power we have to serve others and he said he would promote those who live humbly. The humble do not exploit the weak.
The gospel is both revolutionary and completely workable—although VERY demanding!
We react in horror when we learn that men threw acid on a toddler because the teachings of Jesus have saturated our culture for several centuries. In other cultures, that act could be accepted as necessary as long as one family or clan was “evening the score” on another. Not all cultures are equal!
This subject is another strong argument for missions and missionaries. The Good News about Jesus can transform the quality of life of any community—and illustrations abound!
But for now, evil men still visit violence on those who are lower down the power hierarchy. Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!Lynn Green
Lynn Green 