While scrolling through the Facebooks and other social media today I was surprised to find out that it's International Women's Day. I hadn't heard anything about the day, no fanfare, no big announcement, nothing. To top all off, the day selected for this commemoration was the only day of the year that's 23 hours! That's right, the day selected for celebrating women is only 23 hours long. Odds are that was not intentional, but the impact should not be lost on us.
A National Women's Day should not have to exist. Nor should Women's History Month, which is going on right now. Nor should Black History Month, which we honored in February. Any commemoration that singles out a particular group should not HAVE to exist. All men and women, of every shape, size, color, creed, and lifestyle should be honored and celebrated every single day of the year. That's how it SHOULD be. But sadly, that's not our current reality.
The fact is that the white, heteronormative, Christian narrative has dominated the history of western civilization. This narrative has subjugated anyone and everyone that does not fit nicely into these categories. As a result, women have been treated as little more than personal property, people of different skin tones have been enslaved and systematically eradicated, non-Christian peoples have been killed in the name of righteousness, and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender peoples have had basic human rights denied to them. All of this because the people in power fit a certain profile: white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, heterosexual, men. Blessedly, this trend is (very slowly) changing, and the tide of history is beginning to turn. But it is not so simple to turn centuries-old thinking.
This is why a National Women's Day is important. It's why Black History Month still matters and why social media trends such as #TransLivesMatter are needed. I've heard the argument: 'There's not White History Month, so we shouldn't make special concessions for minority groups!' I've heard the phrase 'Tyranny of the Minority' more than once. Here's the thing: the people in power don't get to dictate how the Other should feel. As a white, heterosexual, cisgender male, I do not have the right to tell a black man that he shouldn't be outraged over police violence or a transwoman that her experiences of being outcast are not valid. I simply do not have that right, nor does anyone!
I am a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, who I believe is the living embodiment of God Almighty and whose life I try to model, so that this world might look a little more like this Kingdom of Heaven that he spoke of so often. When I hear so-called Christians say that racism no longer exists, or that women are treated as equals, or that gay and trans people are somehow infringing on Christian values, it makes me ill. Either they're stupid or they're not paying attention! It's a complacency and a willingness to just accept the centuries-old ways we have always done things. But the Jesus that I serve is a much more radical person, someone who looked at the standards of his own time and said, 'It doesn't have to be this way!' The Jesus that I know is the one who said that God has "lifted up the lowly," (Luke 1: 52) and again that "those who are not against us are for us," (Mark 9: 40) and again "love one another as I have loved you" (John 13: 34). The Jesus I know shows no partiality and sees none of the petty barriers that we have erected for one another. Those Christians who use their faith to continue holding women and other minorities back in the name of righteousness are simply bigots. Simple as that. And they do not represent me or the faith upon which I stand.
I pray that the day does come when things like International Women's Day are no longer needed, when women are celebrated with the same fervor as men, when they make the same living wage as men, and when the images of the "fairer sex" that we have erected over the years are torn down. I pray for the day when African Americans can walk down a white neighborhood without fear of being questioned simply for who they are. And I pray for a day when the right to love unconditionally is granted to all God's children. But we are not there yet, and that is why days like this are still necessary. So until that day, it falls to us to continue to raise up the rights of those who have, for so long, had those rights denied. It is up to us to make this world look a little bit more like the Kingdom of which Jesus spoke.
#nationalwomensday #blacklivesmatter #lgbt #translivesmatter #equality
