On Her Behalf

This morning I woke to a flood of texts and emails from women around the country.These women should be heard. So I will speak, not as an authority but as one of them.First, let me say, this isn’t about Donald Trump – it’s about my brothers and the message you have sent to your sisters. It’s not about whom you voted for; it’s about the fact that you let it slide. It hurts.We women are disturbed that we elected a man who called his daughter “a nice piece of _____“ to be our next president.We are deeply disturbed because we just winked at sexism. We’re not shocked, we’ve lived it our whole lives, but we are deeply disturbed. To be honest, it hurts.We are deeply disturbed by our brothers. The white evangelical vote heavily contributed to our electing a sexist president into office. Our male leaders, the shepherds of our flocks - James Dobson, Robert Jeffress, and Jerry Falwell Jr. backed Trump and in doing so stated that we women aren’t that important. Our brothers spoke against abortion but not misogyny. It hurts.We women who have tirelessly served in your churches, tithed, and helped with your building campaigns, have been told sexism isn’t that big of a deal. We aren’t shocked, we’ve heard it our whole lives, but we expected more from you, our deacons, our elders, and our pastors.We are deeply disturbed that too many of our brothers simply went “radio silent.” You didn’t stand with sexism, but you didn’t fight against it either. Radio silence to 60% of your congregation. We’re not shocked, we’ve lived it our whole life, but we are disappointed – deeply disappointed. It makes us want to ask you, "At what point will you stand up for us, your other half, the Imago Dei?"You missed the chance this time around, but you will get that chance again.For those men of faith who did step up, stand up, and speak up – Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It mattered to us.I’m writing this for those of us who are grieving today, not about politics whether we’re red or blue – but about the message we’ve just sent to women and girls around the globe. We’re not shocked, we’ve lived it our whole lives. We know locker room talk exists – we just never expected our brothers to go along.On behalf of my sisters, I say to our Christian leaders, shame on you. “As surely as I live, says the Lord, you have abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal.” (Ezekiel 34:8)To my sisters – I want to say, our Lord God Almighty hears our cries of distress.My sweet daughters – “I have certainly seen the oppression… I have heard your cries of distress … I am aware of your suffering.” (Exodus 3:7) "I am your defender." (Psalm 18)Some of you women have shared that you’re ready to throw in the towel because your male leadership let you down. Don’t leave. Stay. The Church needs you. We women of faith need you. Your brothers need you. Turn this pain into passion. Use your skills and resources to bring change. Join us in helping reshape the way we view women. Never before has sexual objectification and misogyny been center stage during an election year. Perhaps Jesus just threw us an opening.Reshaping our view. Let’s do this together.Ennobler of women,Jackie